So it has been almost two months since I have posted in this. In that time, I have seen a lot of things, met a lot of people, and gone a lot of places.
So, now that you have been caught up, yesterday (Friday the 29th) was the Royal Wedding. Firstly, people have been asking why anyone cares about the Royal Wedding. There are several answers to that question, why I almost posted on Facebook but didn't want to engage in a pointless Facebook debate. First, because a marriage in the Royal Family is a really big deal. As one Facebook user astutely pointed out, there have been several Royal weddings since Diana's in 1981 that people haven't cared as much about. Well, the answer to that question is simple, and should be kind-of obvious to anyone who understands how the monarchy works. It is because William is a direct heir to the throne. Which means, after the Queen either dies or abdicates (she has stated multiple times she won't), and Prince Charles either dies or abdicates, William will be the King. The other Royal Weddings since Diana's (apart from Charles' second wedding) have not directly affected the ascent to the throne. Charles' wedding to Camilla was not as much of a big deal for multiple reasons. Basically, it is because everybody was in love with Diana. Her wedding was a huge deal, and nobody was really happy when they divorced. Charles had been in love with Camilla for years, and was still in love with her when he married Diana. In 2005, Charles married Camilla, but nobody liked Charles because he kind-of screwed over Diana, and nobody liked Camilla because she kind-of screwed over Diana as well. So in that case, the marriage was between two people who were not in particularly good standing in the public eye.
However, in this case, both Prince William and Kate Middleton are loved by the public. Kate Middleton has become a style icon, as evinced by the countless silly hats worn on the day of the wedding in London. Also, one of the big reasons the wedding was such a big deal was because Kate Middleton was a commoner. True, Diana was a "commoner" as well, except she had a title before her marriage, and she was also a direct descendent of Charles II. Kate Middleton does not have a drop of royal blood in her body. Her parents were originally working-class people until they opened up this party supplies website which made them incredibly rich. The Middleton's ended up paying for the great majority of the wedding. She has also been a great girlfriend to Prince William in the public eye, never causing any controversy or doing anything to make anyone dislike her. She is adored by the public. Most importantly, Kate Middleton's commoner status has made this quite the fairytale story. Kate Middleton went from being essentially a nobody, to being, quite literally, a princess (quite literally in terms of status, but in terms of title she has actually become a duchess since the marriage, a position that is the same thing as the modern day view of a princess). Kate Middleton will one day be the Queen of England. Everybody always goes on and on about how the monarchy is stupid because the Queen is just a figurehead, which, while true, doesn't give full appreciation to the power of the monarchy. The practice of the Queen actually calling the shots has gone out, the power has not. The Queen has the ability to create whatever laws she wants, declare war whenever and on whomever she wants, without having to refer to anyone. If she wanted to, the Queen could declare war on the United States and order an invasion of the country, and the army would have no choice but to listen to her. However, that doesn't ever happen anymore. But the power is still there. The reigning monarchs are, quite possibly, the most powerful people in the world because they control the country and do not have to report to anyone. The President of the United States does not have nearly as much power as they do. But anyways, that is why everyone cares about the wedding so much. Also, because Kate Middleton is really good looking.
Anyways, for my experience with the wedding. My friends and I arrived at Buckingham Palace on Thursday at about 2:30pm to camp out to guarantee us a spot to see the Bridge and Groom as they rode past. Suited up in my Royal Wedding t-shirt, and carrying a bag with two sweaters, a wool coat, and a hat and some gloves, I headed over to Buckingham Palace prepared to stake out a spot.
When I first got there it was total madness. My friends and I had spread out a bit over our spot to make sure that nobody else attempted to get it, but there was still thousands upon thousands of people walking around attempting to, I guess, see Buckingham Palace the day before the wedding? I'm still pretty unclear as to why there were so many people there at that time who weren't camping out. But we ended up next to this group of people who were camping out as well. One was in a RAF uniform, masquerading as Prince William, along with a girl wearing a wedding dress, masquerading at Kate Middleton. With them were there two friends, one wearing a tutu and one with a guitar. As we sat there, as my Canadian friends had brought the flags of their country, they were approached by countless Canadians. Most of them had flown over just for the wedding and were trying to see if they had as well. I didn't meet any Americans, but then again I did not have any defining things on my body that would call out to the crowd that I was an American. However, our group was also approached by several different news organisations asking to interview people who were camping out. I personally was approached by Italian and some other foreign countries news organisations for an interview. The problem with those things is that these people approach you asking strange questions, which make sense for the news, but are ultimately hard to answer in real life. For instance, "why are you camping out for the wedding?" Answer: to make sure I get a good spot to see the bridge and groom as they go by. However, that answer is a bit too obvious and would make for an awkward answer. Anyways, as we waited, we talked and were hassled by people and listened to the masses sing around us. It was really a great time. The most awesome part of that day was when some members of the Royal Family first drove by. The police suddenly cleared the road totally, and several police officers set themselves on guard. One officer quickly rolled up to the middle of the intersection on a motorcycle, and spent about a minute holding traffic making sure that the situation was clear. Suddenly, about four police officers on motorcycles flew by and several Bentley's rolled by flanked by police officers, containing the Royal Family. The way the motorcycles flew by was so incredibly awesome it is hard to describe.
Eventually, the sun began to set and we had to get food. We left in groups to preserve our spot, and I ended up in the second group. As we walked by the side of Buckingham Palace, it was heavily guarded off as the Royal Family was set to leave at 8pm. We waited around a bit and several very expensive cars, mostly Bentleys, rolled out. They went pretty quickly, but you were able to quickly glimpse into them. I am 99% sure that I saw Prince Charles, Prince Harry, and Kate Middleton roll by. It was very exciting! Except nobody was actually sure who was in them, as I witnessed an argument between somebody arguing about whether it was Prince Charles (old man) or Kate Middleton (young woman) in one of the cars. So who was actually in them is a bit up in the air. Anyways, we then headed to Victoria station and I got some Burger King (lol? Get it?) and ate before heading back to the palace.
The crowd had significantly thinned out by this point, and apart from several hundred people walking around, it was mostly the people camping out who were there. Somebody was handing out this card game, called Top Trump, which apparently they make for lots of different things, but in this case itw as Royal Wedding addition. The game works with each card, representing a person or thing involved with the wedding, having five different point ratings. You split the cards, and take turns drawing a card from your hand and picking a category they are strongest at and challenging the other players card. Essentially it is war with five numbers to pick from. The strongest cards at Kate Middleton, who had a Big Day Rating of 100, and a Fashion Icon rating of 20 (the highest number). She is also more powerful than Prince William in that she is more of a fashion icon, and also older. However, her VIP rating (her status in the world) was not that high, and Prince William is higher in that ranking than her, and the Queen is higher than him, I believe. So we played that countless times and ended up taking it very seriously. The weather called for rain, so a couple hundred people brought tents, which we did not have. We were all prepared to simply tough it out until the morning. As the hours passed, we drank a little bit and talked and joked, and my friend Fred and I got up to wander around the Palace and the surrounding area where the Royal Family and the Middleton's were all staying. Apparently at around 11pm Prince William and Prince Harry (his brother) went outside of Clarence House, where they were staying, to greet the people lining the streets. Clarence House was right near where we were staying, and Fred and I actually wandered by and there was a heavy police presence. However, I'm not sure if that was because they were heading outside or if they were simply guarding the House. If I had been there though, I would have shaken their hands, but I don't think I would have said anything to them. I really wouldn't have anything to say. How many times does the man need to hear "good luck" from strangers? Anyways, as Fred and I wandered, we found a backdoor to a courtyard open (which seemed as if it shouldn't be open), which we were pretty sure would have lead us to Clarence House. We started to venture in, but were ultimately afraid to get too far. We could have potentially gotten shot if we accidently wandered onto the property of Clarence House. So we retreated. We then wandered around for a bit and went through the surrounding parks before heading back to the Palace.
When we got back, our party had been joined by a few more people that Fred knew, who had come while we were away. While not unwanted company, it was a tad annoying, as with these new people, Fred and I had nowhere to lie down, thereby deciding for us that we would not sleep. We hung around for a while, before Fred, two other people, and I went out to rent the Barclay's Bank bicycles scattered around London. We got there, and realised that the only person who had a card capable of renting bikes was Fred, and he could only take out two bicycles. So I walked back to the Palace and found that everyone was sleeping. "Well!" thought I. "This sucks!" So basically I sat there perched on the gate for a while waiting for something to do. Eventually I got really really tired, as it was around 2 in the morning, so I attempted to find a place to lie down. I ended up on the opposite side of the gate, lying on top of the metal feet of it, horribly horribly uncomfortable. I was using my England scarf as a pillow, which left a huge pain in my neck. Eventually, the bad situation got worse, as a street sweeper came by to clean up people's crap. I was on the very edge of the sidewalk, so I knew that the machinery wouldn't hit me, so I stayed where I was. It was basically the scariest thing that has ever happened to me though. As it came closer, the machine's whirring got louder and louder till it sounded as if I was about to be sucked into Hell. It was awful. I didn't budge though and managed to escape the terror unscathed.
The bikers returned, and Fred and I went out to find a place where Fred would be able to charge his cell phone. We found a little shop and bought samosa's to kill time while the phone charged. The shop owner was a total asshole, however, and wouldn't let him charge it. So we spent an awkward 20 minutes eating the samosa's and talking before leaving to find a new shop. We found one down the street and the guy there let him charge the phone. So we stood around for half an hour talking to the young Sri Lankan waiting for the phone to charge. I only had 20p on me, so he gave me a free coffee. The coffee was really awful (perhaps that was because it was my first coffee since returning from Italy) but I drank it anyways, but felt as if it was going to give me a heart attack so I gave up. On our search, we headed down towards Westminster Abbey, where the service was to take place. It was also crowded there, and as it was around 5am people who hadn't camped out were beginning to arrive. We got back and found everyone awake, and it crowded to the point where we almost couldn't get back to our spot. We managed to however, and spent a few cramped hours trying to make the best of the time. Which wasn't hard, as it was an awesome environment. The place was filled with people wearing silly hats. Kate Middleton has made these really big hats that sit on the side of your head very popular, and all the women there were wearing them. Look at pictures of the actual service to see the silliest of all hats. Apart from the Queen. The Queen wore a very traditional hat. http://i.imgur.com/IemyX.jpg
Here is the stupidest of all hats from the wedding, as worn by Princess Beatrice: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP8I_Jo5Q_Fd192JGuNQlcQ8wGYWkMgd7c61hzABiVHjbRHVYfa_0e3uonqwnpQhdF_bckRTHvd5DXWff3KBDcmUGd3E-1f_y5Gt9Uf9oT6pNCeJlt29NXbtK0qPO8aLALAX2bwRQ5fWw/s1600/princess+beatrice+ugly+royal+wedding+hat.jpg (note: I found that image by Google Image Searching Stupid Hat Royal Wedding).
The difference between all of those silly hats and Kate Middleton's silly hats is that Kate Middleton looks really good in a silly hat.
As the sun rose, the police presence increased more and more. Police were lining the roads, and Special Police were walking around with Sub-Machine Guns. There were four snipers on the roof of Buckingham Palace, and several police helicopters circling the location. There were several bomb sniffing dogs out, who were the least frightening dogs I have ever seen, as they spent the majority of the time jumping around, rolling on the ground, and playing with the police officers. Not very intimidating. http://estb.msn.com/i/C1/F6593ACCC272139D2898D599C59434.jpg (Note: picture not taken at the wedding. But that basically sums them up).
Eventually, Prince William and Prince Harry left Clarence House to lots of cheering, but we couldn't see anything. Then, the other Royals began to roll by from Buckingham Palace, and I had a great view of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. The Queen, as you have seen from that hat picture, was wearing a really sweet yellow dress and hat. In her Rolls-Royce, however, she looked pretty sour and gave a really half-assed wave to the cheering thousands. Countless other Royalty from other countries drove by, many sporting flags of countries I did not recognize, that were British Sovereign states. Eventually, a Bentley drove by the other side of the road, and everyone was sure it was Kate Middleton, so people were firing off streamers as the car went by. We did photographic evidence, and confirmed it was Kate Middleton. However, about five minutes later, a Rolls-Royce with clear windows rolled by showing Kate Middleton in her wedding dress in the backseat (the other woman was her sister, Pippa Middleton). Everyone began screaming about the dress she was wearing, as it is tradition that the wedding dress worn by the bride in a Royal Wedding remain a secret until she is revealed on the wedding. Rest assured, it was better than Diana's ridiculous dress, which was about half a mile long. So we waited around with baited breath, listening to the radio as news of the events came in. Eventually, the service began and the audio was broadcasted around Buckingham Palace over loud-speaker. It felt very 1940s-esque, with us only hearing audio of the news as it happened. My first views of the wedding itself were found in the London Evening Standard after we left the Palace which had managed to churn out their wedding edition by that time.
The service went pretty quickly, and the couple had said their vows within, what felt like, 15 minutes. However, then there was about an hour and fifteen minutes of Church service and singing. When they performed Jerusalem, I must admit, it was epic as hell. Eventually, the Royal Family (including the new Duchess of Cambridge!) left Westminster Abbey to go back to Buckingham Palace, where they were to spend the night. Prince William had been officially appointed Duke of Cambridge at 8am that morning, thereby making his official title His Royal Highness Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, Baron Carrickfergus (he will only go by HRH Prince William, Duke of Cambridge though), and Kate Middleton's new name and title Her Royal Highness Princess William Arthur Philip Louis, Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Strathearn, Baroness Carrickfergus. She will merely go by HRH Catherine, Duchess of Camrbridge. They all rode by us in their carriages, as the road was lined by the Royal Guard and surrounded by countless mounted cavalry. They rode in this ballin'-ass carriage, waving to the crowds as they went by. They arrived at Buckingham Palace at 12:25, scheduled to appear on the balcony on 1:25 for their first kiss as husband and wife.
There is really nothing like this in the United States. A Presidential Inauguration is the closest thing, but there is nothing like the monarchy. When someone becomes President, in person they are refered to as "Mr. President." A member of the monarchy has to be referred to as "Your Highness." It is incredibly interesting and ridiculous that the monarchy still exists, but it is tradition and an inexorable part of their culture.
Around 1, the police told us we would all have to calmly file down the sidewalk to go towards the gates of Buckingham Palace to see the Royal Kiss. As would be expected, it seem most of the public decided to say, "fuck that." So, as the people began to file past, everyone simply jumped over the barricade. The police handled everything incredibly well though. They formed a wall of police officers, and would walk forward about 5-10 meters at a time, allowing more people to come in without everyone bumrushing the gates and trampling the elderly. So I was about 15-20 meters back from the gate, so I had a very good view of the balcony. After waiting for about 15 minutes or whatever, the doors opened, and out came the couple, giving many their first real view of them. The crowd went insane, with everyone waving their little British flags and taking pictures and chanting "kiss her!" Eventually, the two pecked, in what was the most underwhelming first kiss ever. Apparently the Royal Family doesn't kiss in public really, so that explains that. I practically missed it. Then, as both William and Harry are members of the RAF (Royal Air Force), a bunch of different fighter planes flew over the palace. I knew they were coming, but it was really awesome because I was looking at Kate and William and William nudged Kate and gave a little point upwards behind the crowd, and everyone turned around and saw the planes flying towards the Castle. The entire Royal Family came out, including the Queen and Prince Harry, who looked like a total badass, as he spent the majority of the time scowling and wearing an awesome military uniform. The crowd broke into a rousing rendition of God Save the Queen, and it was epic as hell. After them standing there waving for about 10 minutes, they all went inside. The Queen was then spotted peaking through a curtain of another room, in a "get off of my property" manner. We then spent hours attempting to leave the palace grounds as the thousands and thousands of people attempted to leave as well. The entire wedding ordeal was my favourite thing I have done in London so far, and will definitely be my strongest memory, as it ruled that hard.
Now, for why I have been singing Prince Harry's praises so much so far. Because he is a total badass. At age 17, he got caught smoking weed. I'm hoping it was by his grandmother (the Queen), and I'm hoping it was in Buckingham Palace. After graduating, he decided he didn't want to bother going to college, and enlisted directly into the army. He was set to serve on the frontlines in Afghanistan, and was all set to go, before he was told he couldn't due to his status. That would make his regiment a particularly strong target, and he would be putting them all at risk. Plus, he can't really get killed in combat. So, as a showing of solidarity for how pissed off he was, his entire regiment made t-shirts that said "I'm Harry" on them, as in "I'm Spartacus." He then proceeded to spend his time going around drinking heavily and going to strange, exclusive sex fetish shows (as the Evening Standard reported so well, including pictures [I saved that issue]). Once, Harry took a shot of vodka straight to the eyeball. They put it in a turkey baster or something like that and squirted the shot directly into his eye ball so that the alcohol goes straight to his brain. It's better for your liver that way. I don't think that was why he did it though. Anyway, he is a notorious rogue. Today the Royal Family were hosting what they termed the "survivor's breakfast," meaning everyone was going to kill themselves with alcohol last night. It was predicted that most people would be too hung over (or, I guess, dead) to attend the breakfast. Prince Harry ordered a bacon sandwich a few days ago. Fuck yeah.
Anyways, I took a bunch of pictures, but my camera was dying so I didn't get that many. I can't upload them until I get home and get a new computer though, so don't hold your breath waiting for them. Check the BBC or ANY OTHER NEWS ORGANISATION IN THE ENTIRE WORLD if you want to see what it looked like. I spent a good 10 minutes staring at Anderson Cooper so, it was heavily documented. Also, there is this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13200114
Find me there. Here are directions:
In the main view, see the two statutes that are obstructing a lot of people and significantly closer than the crowd? They shot that picture from the main statue in front of Buckingham Palace. There are two statues there, one on the right of the road and one on the left (all of my directions will be from the point of view of the image). See the left statue? Zoom in on it a bit. See the row of police officers guarding the crowd? See the first police officer on the left of the aforementioned statue? Zoom in on him. I am standing about a meter to his right, in what amounts to the second row. I am wearing a white William and Kate t-shirt and a grey cardigan. I am holding up my camera and wearing sunglasses. Find me!
Saturday, 30 April 2011
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
Long Updates!
Well, haven't updated this in a while! I guess it's that I've either been busy, or have had nothing to talk about - pretty diametrically opposed there, but here's a recap of what I have been up to!
Last Wednesday I went to the BFI to see the 400 Blows, as I have Wednesday's off from class. It was, as would be expected, awesome, and they showed Francois Truffaut's first film, a short called Les Mistons (The Brats) that he made before the 400 Blows which dealt with similar childhood themes. My one complaint was that previously my experiences at the BFI had been great because I was surrounded by a crowd of appreciative older people - this time I was surrounded by crotchety OLDER people (I went around 2pm, so the retirees were able to make it to that showing) who all kept grunting and complaining about whatever they could think of.
The next day, Thursday, for my Modern Art in London class, we went to the Museum of Everything. This particular exhibit they were showing consisted of props and memorabilia from circuses/sideshows/vaudeville acts, etc. They had their own collection of Punch and Judy characters and sets, a whole room full of miniature carousels, a room full of stuffed (as in taxidermied) animals, set into fun positions - for instance, a court room full of squirrels, frogs pushing each other on swings on a playground, stuff of that sort. That was really the most amazing part of the museum, because it was like those books you read as a kid where the human world is populated with animals going about their own human-esque lives - that is exactly what it would look like. So we hung out there for a while before heading to another museum across town that specialized in Italian Modern Art, which was good, but not as interesting as the Museum of Everything. After that we were supposed to go to these things called First Thursdays, where the local, independent, more avant-garde galleries have exhibits where you go and there are drinks and it is a very social way of viewing the work, and I believe the artists show up if possible. However, we arrived a little early and none of the people in my class wanted to wait the fifteen minutes for the gallery to open, so we ended up dispersing. Hungry, my friends and I set out to find a restaurant. Fortunately, we happened to be next to this street filled with Indian restaurants where someone was posted outside, harassing you to come eat there. So we walked until we found the best discount, which was fitting as it was probably the worst restaurant. There was also a Rough Trade record store in the area, and since Rough Trade is a great label (The Fall, the Smiths, the Feelies, Galaxie 500, Arcade Fire, Jonathan Richman, This Heat, Swell Maps, the Raincoats, the Red Krayola, Young Marble Giants, Belle and Sebastian, Pere Ubu, ......(!!!!!!!!!!!) I went in to check it out. I have to go into record shops with a plan, or else I get overwhelmed, so I only stayed there briefly before heading out. Fortunately, the London Underground makes sure to shut down as many lines as possible whenever given the chance, so it took me two hours to get home.
The next day I want to have a good time that night, as I was a little restless, so I made plans to go see the King's Speech and have a quiet night out on the town. So I went back to the Rough Trade shop and picked up Kraftwerk's Trans-Europe-Express and a Rough Trade t-shirt. I then headed to the West End and got my outrageously expensive ticket and had a really mediocre dinner where people were staring at me because of my accent. But then, the King's Speech, oh my God. That is in a really tense race for the Best Movie of the Year, in my opinion. Colin Firth, of course, was amazing. After that and a Single Man, I'm pretty convinced that he is one of the best actors out there today. After the movie, I came out in a "Fuck yeah" kind-of mood, and saw this British flag waving proudly in the breeze. It was mad epic. That night, feeling lots of English pride, I bought myself a ticket to go watch the English National Football (soccer) team play Ghana at Wembley Park, which I can see from my room. It's in late March, and ought to be a really good time.
Saturday I got up and didn't have much of a plan. So I stayed inside reading, before deciding I was going to go out that night. After fumbling around with some plans, my friend Meghan and I headed to Central London to meet up with her Australian friend Pete, whom we went out with, along with his friend Marco, who looks just like Max Everett. We all went out, and had a great time and spent way too much money. We hit up some pubs before they all closed, and were then forced to go into a Casino to drink and hang out, as that was one of the few places open. I had a few drinks there, while Marco played some Poker and won 40pounds. It was then around four in the morning or so, and we were all tired, so we headed back to Harrow to hit the hay. After coming back Meghan and Pete came over to my room and we drank wine and talked music and art, and had a general good time.
I woke up hurting the next morning, so I took it easy and sat around reading and lying in bed all day. That night was the Super Bowl, so I headed into London to go to the Student Union to hang out with some friends, have a buffet and cheap beer, and watch the game. The game was actually pretty exciting, the food was cold and bad, and the beer was cheap as shit. So I had a pretty good time and then had to take the God forsaken bus back to campus, which takes roughly an hour. We accidentally got on the bus going the wrong way - luckily some vagrant decided the top story of the bus was an appropriate place to get up and go to the bathroom, so we got off and hopped on the bus in the other direction.
I didn't do anything Monday. I played chess, read, and listened to music.
Today I made sure to get up at 9am so that I could finally get un-jetlagged. I've been waking up at like 11:30, and falling asleep around 3, so nothing has really changed in my schedule. Time to do something about that. I did some reading, played some chess, listened to some music, and then headed to class where we watched a clip from Die Hard, a clip from Paris, Texas, a clip from Do the Right Thing, and discussed Radiohead. Which was sweet.
Now I'm here.
Last Wednesday I went to the BFI to see the 400 Blows, as I have Wednesday's off from class. It was, as would be expected, awesome, and they showed Francois Truffaut's first film, a short called Les Mistons (The Brats) that he made before the 400 Blows which dealt with similar childhood themes. My one complaint was that previously my experiences at the BFI had been great because I was surrounded by a crowd of appreciative older people - this time I was surrounded by crotchety OLDER people (I went around 2pm, so the retirees were able to make it to that showing) who all kept grunting and complaining about whatever they could think of.
The next day, Thursday, for my Modern Art in London class, we went to the Museum of Everything. This particular exhibit they were showing consisted of props and memorabilia from circuses/sideshows/vaudeville acts, etc. They had their own collection of Punch and Judy characters and sets, a whole room full of miniature carousels, a room full of stuffed (as in taxidermied) animals, set into fun positions - for instance, a court room full of squirrels, frogs pushing each other on swings on a playground, stuff of that sort. That was really the most amazing part of the museum, because it was like those books you read as a kid where the human world is populated with animals going about their own human-esque lives - that is exactly what it would look like. So we hung out there for a while before heading to another museum across town that specialized in Italian Modern Art, which was good, but not as interesting as the Museum of Everything. After that we were supposed to go to these things called First Thursdays, where the local, independent, more avant-garde galleries have exhibits where you go and there are drinks and it is a very social way of viewing the work, and I believe the artists show up if possible. However, we arrived a little early and none of the people in my class wanted to wait the fifteen minutes for the gallery to open, so we ended up dispersing. Hungry, my friends and I set out to find a restaurant. Fortunately, we happened to be next to this street filled with Indian restaurants where someone was posted outside, harassing you to come eat there. So we walked until we found the best discount, which was fitting as it was probably the worst restaurant. There was also a Rough Trade record store in the area, and since Rough Trade is a great label (The Fall, the Smiths, the Feelies, Galaxie 500, Arcade Fire, Jonathan Richman, This Heat, Swell Maps, the Raincoats, the Red Krayola, Young Marble Giants, Belle and Sebastian, Pere Ubu, ......(!!!!!!!!!!!) I went in to check it out. I have to go into record shops with a plan, or else I get overwhelmed, so I only stayed there briefly before heading out. Fortunately, the London Underground makes sure to shut down as many lines as possible whenever given the chance, so it took me two hours to get home.
The next day I want to have a good time that night, as I was a little restless, so I made plans to go see the King's Speech and have a quiet night out on the town. So I went back to the Rough Trade shop and picked up Kraftwerk's Trans-Europe-Express and a Rough Trade t-shirt. I then headed to the West End and got my outrageously expensive ticket and had a really mediocre dinner where people were staring at me because of my accent. But then, the King's Speech, oh my God. That is in a really tense race for the Best Movie of the Year, in my opinion. Colin Firth, of course, was amazing. After that and a Single Man, I'm pretty convinced that he is one of the best actors out there today. After the movie, I came out in a "Fuck yeah" kind-of mood, and saw this British flag waving proudly in the breeze. It was mad epic. That night, feeling lots of English pride, I bought myself a ticket to go watch the English National Football (soccer) team play Ghana at Wembley Park, which I can see from my room. It's in late March, and ought to be a really good time.
Saturday I got up and didn't have much of a plan. So I stayed inside reading, before deciding I was going to go out that night. After fumbling around with some plans, my friend Meghan and I headed to Central London to meet up with her Australian friend Pete, whom we went out with, along with his friend Marco, who looks just like Max Everett. We all went out, and had a great time and spent way too much money. We hit up some pubs before they all closed, and were then forced to go into a Casino to drink and hang out, as that was one of the few places open. I had a few drinks there, while Marco played some Poker and won 40pounds. It was then around four in the morning or so, and we were all tired, so we headed back to Harrow to hit the hay. After coming back Meghan and Pete came over to my room and we drank wine and talked music and art, and had a general good time.
I woke up hurting the next morning, so I took it easy and sat around reading and lying in bed all day. That night was the Super Bowl, so I headed into London to go to the Student Union to hang out with some friends, have a buffet and cheap beer, and watch the game. The game was actually pretty exciting, the food was cold and bad, and the beer was cheap as shit. So I had a pretty good time and then had to take the God forsaken bus back to campus, which takes roughly an hour. We accidentally got on the bus going the wrong way - luckily some vagrant decided the top story of the bus was an appropriate place to get up and go to the bathroom, so we got off and hopped on the bus in the other direction.
I didn't do anything Monday. I played chess, read, and listened to music.
Today I made sure to get up at 9am so that I could finally get un-jetlagged. I've been waking up at like 11:30, and falling asleep around 3, so nothing has really changed in my schedule. Time to do something about that. I did some reading, played some chess, listened to some music, and then headed to class where we watched a clip from Die Hard, a clip from Paris, Texas, a clip from Do the Right Thing, and discussed Radiohead. Which was sweet.
Now I'm here.
Sunday, 30 January 2011
Saturday Night
Hello there,
So I slept in Zone 1 (Central London) last night. But I will get to that later.
Weekend is happening. But more than that! Thursday I went to the Courtauld Gallery here in London, which is this small gallery that is part of a university here. They have an extremely impressive collection, which includes (among others) a copy of Manet's "Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe" that he did himself, "A Bar at the Folies-Bergère" (also by Manet), Degas' Dancers, and Van Gogh's "Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear." Whilst admiring the van Goghs, I happened to bump into this kid Roger from first semester of freshman year of college. I hadn't seen him or spoken to him since then, so I totally freaked out and ran away. I realized I had to say something to him, so I approached him and he acted as if it was no big deal. Which was totally wrong, we were on separate continents. Anyways, After that museum we had our first lecture for Modern Art in London which I did find very interesting.
Friday I had nothing to do, so I attempted to get tickets to see a performance of Anton Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard," as a Russian theatre company had come to London to perform it for two nights only. I called, and unfortunately both nights were sold out. While on the phone, however, I ran out of minutes and was forced to "top up my mobile," so I called the company and gave them my credit card information to purchase 30 pounds worth of phone usage. However, despite knowing that I was studying in London, my bank considered that suspicious usage and put my card on hold. I tried to contact the company, but they wouldn't accept my information on the website and I couldn't very well call them, so I sent my mother an email and went into London to buy some books for classes and drop my computer off at the Apple Store. I got to London relatively late (3pm) and they said they didn't expect to be able to fix my computer that day, which was expected. I then headed over to the book shop. After gathering up all of my books (spending about half an hour in the process), I went to checkout to have my card declined. I then frantically called my mom to get her to contact Bank of America, but she was unreachable and I was stuck with my useless card and 10pounds in my pocket. So I then went to a pub and got a pie and sat there for a while, watching the crazy protests in Egypt on the television. I then got on the tube and headed back to Harrow. On the last train I had to ride, I got a call from the Apple Store saying that they had fixed my computer and I could pick it up whenever. I could have taken the tube back (it would have taken like fifteen minutes), but my card wasn't working so I wouldn't be able to pay for it, so I didn't have my computer for that night somewhat unnecessarily, which was frustrating.
I decided that when heading to the Apple Store the next day I would see as much of London as possible, so I decided to go to Hyde Park and picked some shops and things out of my travel guide that seemed interesting. So I headed out around 11, making my first stop at Hyde Park. Hyde Park seemed very beautiful, except 20 degree weather in January under a gray sky is probably not the best time to see it. I took some nice pictures there, which will be posted up ASAP. They have a lake there that you are allowed to boat in, for the rather reasonable price of 9pounds per hour, so I will be spending a lot of time there come Spring. I stopped in this cute little café right off of the water and got a mocha and a raspberry muffin, but only after having to battle my way through this huge barrage of pigeons that were flying away from the edge of the lake.
After that I headed to this art book store, Taschen, which I suspect is a chain where I picked up a bunch of reasonably priced art books. I was able to purchase several smaller ones, compared to the huge monolithic volumes usually sold on art, which saved me a considerable amount of money. I then headed to this cute little independent bookstore to grab some other books I needed for class. Afterward, I realized I was right near the Saatchi Gallery so I stopped in there and gave it a quick look away. I didn't stay for too long because we are going there in my Modern Art in London class so I wanted to save most of it for there. I took some pictures of some of the better works though, which, as before, will be online ASAP. I also stopped by the book store from the day before and books I was forced to leave there the day before.
I then found my way to this independent record store with the highly promising name Sister Ray's (after the Velvet Underground song). In there, I found this incredible discovery of their selection of used single's by the Smiths, which in addition to, obviously, sounding great have awesome covers of duotone images of 60s celebrities. I found two to get, one being Shakespeare's Sister (a reference to Virginia Woolf on top of it) which has a 60s British television star on it, and another one which I forget because they didn't have the actual ep in the back. I also found a small poster for the Fall, and managed to get both the Shakespeare's Sister ep and the poster for 4.99 (both featured at the bottom).
I was then totally exhausted after my long day and carrying about thirty pounds of books around (one of the straps for the larger bag broke as well) plus an umbrella, so I decided to start plotting out my evening. I wanted to have a night out, so I was going to start by going to this wine bar, Gordon's, and having some wine and dinner there. I would then make my way to this apparently incredibly friendly pub, the Golden Eagle, where there is a piano and lots of boozy group singing, which seemed incredibly appealing. Apparently "Consider Yourself" from Oliver! makes its way into the playlist occasionally, which would make me feel very welcomed. So I stopped at the Apple Store and picked up my computer beforehand, adding to the weight I had to carry. However, they fixed the disc drive and replaced the casing of my computer (it was a little cracked and dirty as hell and is now crisp and clean) for free! Apparently my computer is still under warranty, whereas it would have cost 84pounds before, roughly $140.
I got to Gordon's expecting to have a relatively quiet time with my wine and dinner, but the place was totally packed. I was forced to leave my bags outside with a friendly looking group of people - probably not the best idea but I ran inside really quickly and they seemed trustworthy. After getting to the bar and placing my order I realized I had no cash and there was a 10pound minimum for credit cards, so I had to run out to an ATM down the street. I then came back and got my Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon and ordered a steak sandwich, both of which were great. This is where my night got vastly different from expectations. I was sitting at this table outside (under heatlamps) next to these two girls who looked to be about 25-27. While sitting there eating and drinking, I noticed that they seemed to be talking about me (they were very close so it wasn't hard for me to figure that out). So I just like, kept sitting there, at which point they said excuse me and asked if I would like to join them. So I moved about a foot over and sat at their table, at which time we all introduced ourselves, their names being Kitty and Alex. So we sat talking, mostly about American television and what it is like being an American in London, and ended up having a pretty pleasant time actually. It turned out that Alex had just turned 25, and I am assuming Kitty is around the same age as they were friends from school. I don't think they expected me to be five years younger than them, as I look pretty old, so I tried to keep the conversation away from revealing that embarrassing fact. They had a cask of Amontillado inside (as in the Edgar Allan Poe story), so I also got a glass of that. It was alright. I think it is a type of Sherry. I wouldn't let myself be entombed in a madman's wine cellar over it though.
Kitty and Alex were going to this Belgian restaurant and invited me along with them, so I accepted and we set off, me still carrying my massive bag collection, which was incredibly unwieldy. We got to the restaurant and there was about a forty minute wait, so we went to a very old bar down the street where I got some sort of IPA. Kitty refused to allow me to pay for myself, which was kind-of embarrassing. On the other side, they were like adults with careers so, whatever. After discussing college life in America and frat parties, we headed over to the restaurant. We went down into this basement, which actually did have the feeling of a Belgian monastery, helped by the fact that the waiters had robe like uniforms on. They specialized in mussels (one of my favorite foods), so we each ordered a pot of mussels and got a bottle of wine for the table. We ate and drank, enjoying the company and the atmosphere. The food and the wine was incredibly good, and afterward I ordered myself a Belgian beer brewed in typical monastery style, apparently. The beer was really good. We then discussed sharks, shark week, and Steven Spielberg movies (perhaps you can see the line of thought there).
So we finished up the meal and they asked me for my plan for the rest of the evening, having no real plan, I told them that and they asked if I would like to go to a club or something with them. I accepted and we set off to find a club. We didn't find anything for a while, so we stopped in this one bar that Kitty knew. Apparently, the wizened old bartender, Tom (BOOM great reference), told Kitty that he thought girls from Wingham (some random coal mining town in England) are beautiful, or something, and it turns out that Alex was from Wingham, so they told Tom that, and he freaked out, and gave Alex her drink for free and invited her back behind the bar to take a picture with them. So I got myself a Manhattan and we talked over different things, including fears of flying, the socioeconomic state of New York, and a bunch of other topics. I then told them I had to be getting back on the tube, as it was 11:30 and I was probably already going to miss the Metropolitan line back to Harrow, because the tubes stop running at the most ridiculously early time they could think of (it is around 12:05 usually). However, they told me they would stay out till 7 with me (when the tubes resume running) or I could sleep on the couch at Kitty's flat. So I accepted the offer and we went out to find a club. We passed many up because they didn't want to listen to house music, and finally found our way to this club where the bouncer said they were playing 60s and 70s-esque music inside, so we went inside. It turned out it seemed as though the club was for rich trophy wives and their husbands to go to, so we ended up inside with a bunch of 50 year old woman fighting desperately against their aging. We danced in their for about two hours (the club required I check my bags which was an incredibly welcome relief) and we all had a few drinks and had a very good time. Around three the bar was closing down so we had to leave, so we stumbled out and make a long trip to a bus station to take the bus back to Kitty's flat. We waited at the stop and discussed Prince William and Kate Middleton's upcoming wedding, which I personally can't wait for. I saw a shirt that said William <3 (real heart) Kate, which I might get. Because I'm stupid. Even if I don't get the shirt, I'm definitely going to go to Westminster Abbey (well, stand far away from Westminster Abbey) and watch the procession and see the wedding. Maybe I'll even get to catch a glimpse of Elizabeth!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So we got back to Kitty's flat and I was tired as hell after my extremely long day and really wanted to go to sleep, but the couch was in Kitty's kitchen and the two of them were talking. So I just sat there fighting off sleep, not really contributing much to the conversation. After a while the two of them went off to bed, me telling them I probably wouldn't see them again as I was going to get up at 7 and catch the tube. Kitty said she would get up then to let me out. So I passed out for like 2 hours and woke up from my cell phone alarm, around when Kitty actually came in to see me out. So I headed for the tube, carrying my huge haul, and got back around 8. I then took a nap and woke up and wrote this. I'm really hungry, but I don't have any groceries, so I might go into London to go see Regent's Park and get some food while I am there. Hope this was informative and entertaining! Here are the pictures of the Smiths ep and the Fall poster.
So I slept in Zone 1 (Central London) last night. But I will get to that later.
Weekend is happening. But more than that! Thursday I went to the Courtauld Gallery here in London, which is this small gallery that is part of a university here. They have an extremely impressive collection, which includes (among others) a copy of Manet's "Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe" that he did himself, "A Bar at the Folies-Bergère" (also by Manet), Degas' Dancers, and Van Gogh's "Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear." Whilst admiring the van Goghs, I happened to bump into this kid Roger from first semester of freshman year of college. I hadn't seen him or spoken to him since then, so I totally freaked out and ran away. I realized I had to say something to him, so I approached him and he acted as if it was no big deal. Which was totally wrong, we were on separate continents. Anyways, After that museum we had our first lecture for Modern Art in London which I did find very interesting.
Friday I had nothing to do, so I attempted to get tickets to see a performance of Anton Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard," as a Russian theatre company had come to London to perform it for two nights only. I called, and unfortunately both nights were sold out. While on the phone, however, I ran out of minutes and was forced to "top up my mobile," so I called the company and gave them my credit card information to purchase 30 pounds worth of phone usage. However, despite knowing that I was studying in London, my bank considered that suspicious usage and put my card on hold. I tried to contact the company, but they wouldn't accept my information on the website and I couldn't very well call them, so I sent my mother an email and went into London to buy some books for classes and drop my computer off at the Apple Store. I got to London relatively late (3pm) and they said they didn't expect to be able to fix my computer that day, which was expected. I then headed over to the book shop. After gathering up all of my books (spending about half an hour in the process), I went to checkout to have my card declined. I then frantically called my mom to get her to contact Bank of America, but she was unreachable and I was stuck with my useless card and 10pounds in my pocket. So I then went to a pub and got a pie and sat there for a while, watching the crazy protests in Egypt on the television. I then got on the tube and headed back to Harrow. On the last train I had to ride, I got a call from the Apple Store saying that they had fixed my computer and I could pick it up whenever. I could have taken the tube back (it would have taken like fifteen minutes), but my card wasn't working so I wouldn't be able to pay for it, so I didn't have my computer for that night somewhat unnecessarily, which was frustrating.
I decided that when heading to the Apple Store the next day I would see as much of London as possible, so I decided to go to Hyde Park and picked some shops and things out of my travel guide that seemed interesting. So I headed out around 11, making my first stop at Hyde Park. Hyde Park seemed very beautiful, except 20 degree weather in January under a gray sky is probably not the best time to see it. I took some nice pictures there, which will be posted up ASAP. They have a lake there that you are allowed to boat in, for the rather reasonable price of 9pounds per hour, so I will be spending a lot of time there come Spring. I stopped in this cute little café right off of the water and got a mocha and a raspberry muffin, but only after having to battle my way through this huge barrage of pigeons that were flying away from the edge of the lake.
After that I headed to this art book store, Taschen, which I suspect is a chain where I picked up a bunch of reasonably priced art books. I was able to purchase several smaller ones, compared to the huge monolithic volumes usually sold on art, which saved me a considerable amount of money. I then headed to this cute little independent bookstore to grab some other books I needed for class. Afterward, I realized I was right near the Saatchi Gallery so I stopped in there and gave it a quick look away. I didn't stay for too long because we are going there in my Modern Art in London class so I wanted to save most of it for there. I took some pictures of some of the better works though, which, as before, will be online ASAP. I also stopped by the book store from the day before and books I was forced to leave there the day before.
I then found my way to this independent record store with the highly promising name Sister Ray's (after the Velvet Underground song). In there, I found this incredible discovery of their selection of used single's by the Smiths, which in addition to, obviously, sounding great have awesome covers of duotone images of 60s celebrities. I found two to get, one being Shakespeare's Sister (a reference to Virginia Woolf on top of it) which has a 60s British television star on it, and another one which I forget because they didn't have the actual ep in the back. I also found a small poster for the Fall, and managed to get both the Shakespeare's Sister ep and the poster for 4.99 (both featured at the bottom).
I was then totally exhausted after my long day and carrying about thirty pounds of books around (one of the straps for the larger bag broke as well) plus an umbrella, so I decided to start plotting out my evening. I wanted to have a night out, so I was going to start by going to this wine bar, Gordon's, and having some wine and dinner there. I would then make my way to this apparently incredibly friendly pub, the Golden Eagle, where there is a piano and lots of boozy group singing, which seemed incredibly appealing. Apparently "Consider Yourself" from Oliver! makes its way into the playlist occasionally, which would make me feel very welcomed. So I stopped at the Apple Store and picked up my computer beforehand, adding to the weight I had to carry. However, they fixed the disc drive and replaced the casing of my computer (it was a little cracked and dirty as hell and is now crisp and clean) for free! Apparently my computer is still under warranty, whereas it would have cost 84pounds before, roughly $140.
I got to Gordon's expecting to have a relatively quiet time with my wine and dinner, but the place was totally packed. I was forced to leave my bags outside with a friendly looking group of people - probably not the best idea but I ran inside really quickly and they seemed trustworthy. After getting to the bar and placing my order I realized I had no cash and there was a 10pound minimum for credit cards, so I had to run out to an ATM down the street. I then came back and got my Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon and ordered a steak sandwich, both of which were great. This is where my night got vastly different from expectations. I was sitting at this table outside (under heatlamps) next to these two girls who looked to be about 25-27. While sitting there eating and drinking, I noticed that they seemed to be talking about me (they were very close so it wasn't hard for me to figure that out). So I just like, kept sitting there, at which point they said excuse me and asked if I would like to join them. So I moved about a foot over and sat at their table, at which time we all introduced ourselves, their names being Kitty and Alex. So we sat talking, mostly about American television and what it is like being an American in London, and ended up having a pretty pleasant time actually. It turned out that Alex had just turned 25, and I am assuming Kitty is around the same age as they were friends from school. I don't think they expected me to be five years younger than them, as I look pretty old, so I tried to keep the conversation away from revealing that embarrassing fact. They had a cask of Amontillado inside (as in the Edgar Allan Poe story), so I also got a glass of that. It was alright. I think it is a type of Sherry. I wouldn't let myself be entombed in a madman's wine cellar over it though.
Kitty and Alex were going to this Belgian restaurant and invited me along with them, so I accepted and we set off, me still carrying my massive bag collection, which was incredibly unwieldy. We got to the restaurant and there was about a forty minute wait, so we went to a very old bar down the street where I got some sort of IPA. Kitty refused to allow me to pay for myself, which was kind-of embarrassing. On the other side, they were like adults with careers so, whatever. After discussing college life in America and frat parties, we headed over to the restaurant. We went down into this basement, which actually did have the feeling of a Belgian monastery, helped by the fact that the waiters had robe like uniforms on. They specialized in mussels (one of my favorite foods), so we each ordered a pot of mussels and got a bottle of wine for the table. We ate and drank, enjoying the company and the atmosphere. The food and the wine was incredibly good, and afterward I ordered myself a Belgian beer brewed in typical monastery style, apparently. The beer was really good. We then discussed sharks, shark week, and Steven Spielberg movies (perhaps you can see the line of thought there).
So we finished up the meal and they asked me for my plan for the rest of the evening, having no real plan, I told them that and they asked if I would like to go to a club or something with them. I accepted and we set off to find a club. We didn't find anything for a while, so we stopped in this one bar that Kitty knew. Apparently, the wizened old bartender, Tom (BOOM great reference), told Kitty that he thought girls from Wingham (some random coal mining town in England) are beautiful, or something, and it turns out that Alex was from Wingham, so they told Tom that, and he freaked out, and gave Alex her drink for free and invited her back behind the bar to take a picture with them. So I got myself a Manhattan and we talked over different things, including fears of flying, the socioeconomic state of New York, and a bunch of other topics. I then told them I had to be getting back on the tube, as it was 11:30 and I was probably already going to miss the Metropolitan line back to Harrow, because the tubes stop running at the most ridiculously early time they could think of (it is around 12:05 usually). However, they told me they would stay out till 7 with me (when the tubes resume running) or I could sleep on the couch at Kitty's flat. So I accepted the offer and we went out to find a club. We passed many up because they didn't want to listen to house music, and finally found our way to this club where the bouncer said they were playing 60s and 70s-esque music inside, so we went inside. It turned out it seemed as though the club was for rich trophy wives and their husbands to go to, so we ended up inside with a bunch of 50 year old woman fighting desperately against their aging. We danced in their for about two hours (the club required I check my bags which was an incredibly welcome relief) and we all had a few drinks and had a very good time. Around three the bar was closing down so we had to leave, so we stumbled out and make a long trip to a bus station to take the bus back to Kitty's flat. We waited at the stop and discussed Prince William and Kate Middleton's upcoming wedding, which I personally can't wait for. I saw a shirt that said William <3 (real heart) Kate, which I might get. Because I'm stupid. Even if I don't get the shirt, I'm definitely going to go to Westminster Abbey (well, stand far away from Westminster Abbey) and watch the procession and see the wedding. Maybe I'll even get to catch a glimpse of Elizabeth!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So we got back to Kitty's flat and I was tired as hell after my extremely long day and really wanted to go to sleep, but the couch was in Kitty's kitchen and the two of them were talking. So I just sat there fighting off sleep, not really contributing much to the conversation. After a while the two of them went off to bed, me telling them I probably wouldn't see them again as I was going to get up at 7 and catch the tube. Kitty said she would get up then to let me out. So I passed out for like 2 hours and woke up from my cell phone alarm, around when Kitty actually came in to see me out. So I headed for the tube, carrying my huge haul, and got back around 8. I then took a nap and woke up and wrote this. I'm really hungry, but I don't have any groceries, so I might go into London to go see Regent's Park and get some food while I am there. Hope this was informative and entertaining! Here are the pictures of the Smiths ep and the Fall poster.
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
January 26th
So I haven't updated this in a while, so I figured I'd let everybody know what is going on in my life.
Monday, I went into London to get my computer checked out, as my drive is broken. I headed over to the Regent Street Apple Store and it turns out I have to get my entire disc drive replaced. Which is annoying but necessary. After going to the Apple Store, I walked around for a bit and went into Hamleys Toy Store and watched a puppet show. Hamleys is the biggest toy store in London and I saw colorful characters outside so I decided to stop in for a bit. I spent a bit of time looking through the store, then looked at some clothes before catching the Tube back right as Rush Hour was starting to kick in. I then came back, had some dinner, watched some Frasier, and read for a while.
Tuesday I had class from 2-5, which was my Space/Place:Text/Context class, wherein we look at different visual media and look at it from a Modernist perspective and think of how it relates to the culture it was produced in. The teacher is some twenty-something hipster with a stutter who wanted us to watch a Radiohead music video, but we ran out of time. He seems very knowledgeable and passionate about the subject, so he ought to be a good professor. I briefly spoke to him and I think he took quite a shine to me, so we will see how the year goes there. I then came back and repeated the night before.
Today I got up really late for some reason and had some breakfast. I had no class so I did some of my readings that are due this week and researched some of the textbooks I'm required to get. I still haven't figured out where exactly I'm supposed to pick them up, but I will figure that out one day. It may be the library, but I'm not sure. I got really overwhelmed because the other day my Modernism and After professor gave us this like 60 double-sided pages packet of papers, and I was under the impression we were supposed to read it all by tomorrow and I was worried I had gotten in over my head here before I realized it is the reading for the entire semester. I suppose I could do it in a week, it would just require more work than expected.
I like to buy like fresh, natural foods that don't last for very long, so I'm very bad at getting all of them in before they expire. I've got to start buying in smaller quantities or food with more preservatives. Probably the former.
If it were up to me, the only way people would be able to read this blog would be with Yakety Sax blasting out of their computer speakers. Unfortunately, I do not have that kind of power. Here is a link to Youtube video featuring it though in case you would like to do it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnHmskwqCCQ
Tomorrow I'm going into London to see this museum with a great Impressionist collection for class, and I will try to swing by the Apple store afterwards. Hopefully, they won't have to keep my computer for too long. I'm probably just going to watch some Frasier and fall asleep at this point. Have fun!
Monday, I went into London to get my computer checked out, as my drive is broken. I headed over to the Regent Street Apple Store and it turns out I have to get my entire disc drive replaced. Which is annoying but necessary. After going to the Apple Store, I walked around for a bit and went into Hamleys Toy Store and watched a puppet show. Hamleys is the biggest toy store in London and I saw colorful characters outside so I decided to stop in for a bit. I spent a bit of time looking through the store, then looked at some clothes before catching the Tube back right as Rush Hour was starting to kick in. I then came back, had some dinner, watched some Frasier, and read for a while.
Tuesday I had class from 2-5, which was my Space/Place:Text/Context class, wherein we look at different visual media and look at it from a Modernist perspective and think of how it relates to the culture it was produced in. The teacher is some twenty-something hipster with a stutter who wanted us to watch a Radiohead music video, but we ran out of time. He seems very knowledgeable and passionate about the subject, so he ought to be a good professor. I briefly spoke to him and I think he took quite a shine to me, so we will see how the year goes there. I then came back and repeated the night before.
Today I got up really late for some reason and had some breakfast. I had no class so I did some of my readings that are due this week and researched some of the textbooks I'm required to get. I still haven't figured out where exactly I'm supposed to pick them up, but I will figure that out one day. It may be the library, but I'm not sure. I got really overwhelmed because the other day my Modernism and After professor gave us this like 60 double-sided pages packet of papers, and I was under the impression we were supposed to read it all by tomorrow and I was worried I had gotten in over my head here before I realized it is the reading for the entire semester. I suppose I could do it in a week, it would just require more work than expected.
I like to buy like fresh, natural foods that don't last for very long, so I'm very bad at getting all of them in before they expire. I've got to start buying in smaller quantities or food with more preservatives. Probably the former.
If it were up to me, the only way people would be able to read this blog would be with Yakety Sax blasting out of their computer speakers. Unfortunately, I do not have that kind of power. Here is a link to Youtube video featuring it though in case you would like to do it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnHmskwqCCQ
Tomorrow I'm going into London to see this museum with a great Impressionist collection for class, and I will try to swing by the Apple store afterwards. Hopefully, they won't have to keep my computer for too long. I'm probably just going to watch some Frasier and fall asleep at this point. Have fun!
Sunday, 23 January 2011
London at Night
So I finished up my week of classes here with no problems. I was able to find everything successfully and all. Thursday I had Issues and Challenges in Creative Practice which is a general media studies class, and then I had Modern Art in London after that. That class seems especially cool, every week we go to a different museum and then head back to campus to discuss it afterward. For our first meeting we went to Tate Modern and had to walk around and describe like 25 paintings we saw in our notebooks. Time consuming, albeit enjoyable. Friday I had Modernity and After, not really sure what it was. I figured it was some kind of class on Modern art, but I did not know anything more specific than that. Turns out it was a class on Modernist Photography, which ought to be interesting.
After class I went and took a nap, then headed to London to go to the BFI with some friends. I went in a little early and walked around Oxford Circus before heading down to Southbank to go see Breakfast at Tiffany's. It was incredible; seeing some of these movies in theatres is definitely a totally different, better experience than watching it at home on a small tv on a dvd. Firstly, the quality of the image there was unbelievable. Also, the sheer size of the screen was welcome. It was especially great during that first scene where she gets out of the cab and stands in front of Tiffany's (eating her breakfast). There is a shot where she stands in front of the building and the camera pans up showing the size of the building. And with the orchestrated Moon River playing in the background I almost lost it. Afterward we walked around Southbank for a little bit and got some dinner (it wasn't particularly good). Then I swung by the International Students House for a little bit before heading home.
As I got off the tube at Northwick Park (the stop for the University) around 11:30, I bumped into some people I knew who were going out to some club and invited me to go with them. With my only real plans being to go back to my room and watch the Simpsons for hours I decided to go with them.
We took the Tube into London with two other guys who went to the University, one who lives in my flat and ended up at this club. We stood in like for about half an hour - fourty-five minutes and got in. It was extremely crowded and we had to stand in line for another twenty minutes to get our coats checked.
We went into the club, I got myself a drink and danced to this DJ set that was performing. They did a pretty good job and I had a fun time. We then moved around the club a little bit and I watched some guy on some sort of drug get carried out by security because he couldn't stand. As they pulled him away, he did that thing that dramatic baby did where he held his hand up and screamed "NOOO!!" into it. Around four in the morning, one of my friends felt sick so we all left and the rest of the group got food but I wasn't particularly hungry.
Then the tubes didn't run until around 6:30 or so, so we walked around London realizing how close to the Thames we were. We had a good look at St. Paul's by the moonlight with nobody else around which was really incredible. It is extremely hard to see London totally alone I would imagine; you'd have to go at a very specific time I bet.
We crossed the Millennium Bridge and went to the other side of the Thames and walked along the river there, passing Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on the way. There are steps leading out of the river, I suppose for if you fall in and need to get out, which are very easy to access from along the riverside. Like, steps leading over the barrier and down to the river. So I went down that to put my hand in the Thames. As would be expected, at 5 in the morning in January, the Thames is REALLY cold. We then made our way back to the Tube and caught it back and I ended up at home around 7.
Yesterday I got up around 3 and went out and bought groceries because I was out of food. After that I just came back and watched the Simpsons all night basically because I was worn out from the night before and the grocery trip. Buying groceries is a grueling experience. The supermarket is about a 10 minute walk away, but when you're carrying about a weeks worth of food it is super hard. Today I will probably just stay in and read or something. Tomorrow I am going into London to get my computer looked at and then I am going to go see The Birth of a Nation at the BFI at 6:10. I'm also trying to get tickets to see Swan Lake at the Royal Opera House, and either The Magic Flute or the Barber of Seville. We'll see what happens there.
After class I went and took a nap, then headed to London to go to the BFI with some friends. I went in a little early and walked around Oxford Circus before heading down to Southbank to go see Breakfast at Tiffany's. It was incredible; seeing some of these movies in theatres is definitely a totally different, better experience than watching it at home on a small tv on a dvd. Firstly, the quality of the image there was unbelievable. Also, the sheer size of the screen was welcome. It was especially great during that first scene where she gets out of the cab and stands in front of Tiffany's (eating her breakfast). There is a shot where she stands in front of the building and the camera pans up showing the size of the building. And with the orchestrated Moon River playing in the background I almost lost it. Afterward we walked around Southbank for a little bit and got some dinner (it wasn't particularly good). Then I swung by the International Students House for a little bit before heading home.
As I got off the tube at Northwick Park (the stop for the University) around 11:30, I bumped into some people I knew who were going out to some club and invited me to go with them. With my only real plans being to go back to my room and watch the Simpsons for hours I decided to go with them.
We took the Tube into London with two other guys who went to the University, one who lives in my flat and ended up at this club. We stood in like for about half an hour - fourty-five minutes and got in. It was extremely crowded and we had to stand in line for another twenty minutes to get our coats checked.
We went into the club, I got myself a drink and danced to this DJ set that was performing. They did a pretty good job and I had a fun time. We then moved around the club a little bit and I watched some guy on some sort of drug get carried out by security because he couldn't stand. As they pulled him away, he did that thing that dramatic baby did where he held his hand up and screamed "NOOO!!" into it. Around four in the morning, one of my friends felt sick so we all left and the rest of the group got food but I wasn't particularly hungry.
Then the tubes didn't run until around 6:30 or so, so we walked around London realizing how close to the Thames we were. We had a good look at St. Paul's by the moonlight with nobody else around which was really incredible. It is extremely hard to see London totally alone I would imagine; you'd have to go at a very specific time I bet.
We crossed the Millennium Bridge and went to the other side of the Thames and walked along the river there, passing Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on the way. There are steps leading out of the river, I suppose for if you fall in and need to get out, which are very easy to access from along the riverside. Like, steps leading over the barrier and down to the river. So I went down that to put my hand in the Thames. As would be expected, at 5 in the morning in January, the Thames is REALLY cold. We then made our way back to the Tube and caught it back and I ended up at home around 7.
Yesterday I got up around 3 and went out and bought groceries because I was out of food. After that I just came back and watched the Simpsons all night basically because I was worn out from the night before and the grocery trip. Buying groceries is a grueling experience. The supermarket is about a 10 minute walk away, but when you're carrying about a weeks worth of food it is super hard. Today I will probably just stay in and read or something. Tomorrow I am going into London to get my computer looked at and then I am going to go see The Birth of a Nation at the BFI at 6:10. I'm also trying to get tickets to see Swan Lake at the Royal Opera House, and either The Magic Flute or the Barber of Seville. We'll see what happens there.
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
18/1/11
Today I had my first class. Today my first class was canceled. So after having gotten up and dressed and fed and everything, I decided to watch Nosferatu the Vampyre (Herzog) that I got out of the library the other day. I was really enjoying the movie, Herzog does a great job getting a dreamlike state for the movie, but about 40 minutes into the movie my disc drive just kicked out. I have had trouble with my disc drive for the past year and a half at least, but it seems as though today was the breaking point. It got to the point where I can't insert discs or it seems as though I won't get them out. So that was the end of me watching Nosferatu (at least Werner Herzog's version {!?}).
So since I had nothing to do, nothing to watch, and I don't have class on Wednesdays, I decided to look at the calendar for the BFI. They were showing Night of the Hunter tonight which I have really wanted to see, but it was for Member's Only. However, they were also showing the Big Sleep to the general public which I have wanted to see, so I ordered a ticket for that offline.
A little while later, I headed into London using the marvelously easy to use Underground and got off at Oxford Circus, because the Apple Store is on Regent Street and I wanted to look into getting my disc drive fixed. I made an appointment for next Monday so hopefully it will not be too much to replace the disc drive (because I'm sure that is what is going to have to happen).
I then grabbed some McDonald's as a larf and to compare how it is in London. It is basically the same here. And I felt sick afterwards.
Then I headed over to Topman to just look around and kill some time. They have a vintage section there and I found this really really nice old suitcase, the kind I have been trying to find for fucking years. It was £48 and I figured fuck it, I'm never going to be able to find a suitcase like that again. Turns out £48 is $78. So I didn't get the suitcase. But I did get this nice checkered red and blue short sleeve shirt that's skinny and you are supposed to button up at the top button and style your hair really intensely to look like a real British person in.
Then I headed over to the BFI as I didn't know how long it would take to get to Waterloo. It didn't take very long and it was an extremely easy walk from the underground stop so I got there really early. Getting a membership only costs £30 for the rest of the month, so I might do that (if I see about 3 movies a week [they are playing really good things that I would love to see in theatres {Breakfast at Tiffany's!! (gay voice}] it would be a good idea economically. So I headed over to the free private viewing area to kill time before the movie started and found that they had Nosferatu by F.W. Murnau, so I popped that on to compare the two versions.
Then I watched The Big Sleep, which ruled and was a great experience seeing it in a theatre. It was really nice they had a red curtain that opened to reveal the wall they would be projecting on, and showed a trailer for Breakfast at Tiffany's (they're doing an Audrey Hepburn retrospective thing this month). Seeing the movie was great, and I was in a theatre of appreciate older British people. Which ruled.
Anyways, after that I was hungry as shit so I got off the tube at Baker Street and found a pub and got a steak and ale pie and a pint of beer. Upstairs was the Sherlock Holmes Bar (he lived at 228B Baker Street), but I didn't go up because I'm not an idiot. Then I just got on the tube and came back here. So now I know getting to the BFI is extremely easy and you only have to transfer once. So looks like I will be going there a lot more.
So now I'm back at my room and probably am just going to read, watch some Simpsons, and write some. I decided on the tube that I want to do that picture a day thing to see if London changes me at all, so here is the first. January 18th. (This is me in that new shirt I bought, attempting to look as British as possible. I may have failed).
So since I had nothing to do, nothing to watch, and I don't have class on Wednesdays, I decided to look at the calendar for the BFI. They were showing Night of the Hunter tonight which I have really wanted to see, but it was for Member's Only. However, they were also showing the Big Sleep to the general public which I have wanted to see, so I ordered a ticket for that offline.
A little while later, I headed into London using the marvelously easy to use Underground and got off at Oxford Circus, because the Apple Store is on Regent Street and I wanted to look into getting my disc drive fixed. I made an appointment for next Monday so hopefully it will not be too much to replace the disc drive (because I'm sure that is what is going to have to happen).
I then grabbed some McDonald's as a larf and to compare how it is in London. It is basically the same here. And I felt sick afterwards.
Then I headed over to Topman to just look around and kill some time. They have a vintage section there and I found this really really nice old suitcase, the kind I have been trying to find for fucking years. It was £48 and I figured fuck it, I'm never going to be able to find a suitcase like that again. Turns out £48 is $78. So I didn't get the suitcase. But I did get this nice checkered red and blue short sleeve shirt that's skinny and you are supposed to button up at the top button and style your hair really intensely to look like a real British person in.
Then I headed over to the BFI as I didn't know how long it would take to get to Waterloo. It didn't take very long and it was an extremely easy walk from the underground stop so I got there really early. Getting a membership only costs £30 for the rest of the month, so I might do that (if I see about 3 movies a week [they are playing really good things that I would love to see in theatres {Breakfast at Tiffany's!! (gay voice}] it would be a good idea economically. So I headed over to the free private viewing area to kill time before the movie started and found that they had Nosferatu by F.W. Murnau, so I popped that on to compare the two versions.
Then I watched The Big Sleep, which ruled and was a great experience seeing it in a theatre. It was really nice they had a red curtain that opened to reveal the wall they would be projecting on, and showed a trailer for Breakfast at Tiffany's (they're doing an Audrey Hepburn retrospective thing this month). Seeing the movie was great, and I was in a theatre of appreciate older British people. Which ruled.
Anyways, after that I was hungry as shit so I got off the tube at Baker Street and found a pub and got a steak and ale pie and a pint of beer. Upstairs was the Sherlock Holmes Bar (he lived at 228B Baker Street), but I didn't go up because I'm not an idiot. Then I just got on the tube and came back here. So now I know getting to the BFI is extremely easy and you only have to transfer once. So looks like I will be going there a lot more.
So now I'm back at my room and probably am just going to read, watch some Simpsons, and write some. I decided on the tube that I want to do that picture a day thing to see if London changes me at all, so here is the first. January 18th. (This is me in that new shirt I bought, attempting to look as British as possible. I may have failed).
Saturday, 15 January 2011
Last Few Days
So, I haven't updated in a few days. And, comparatively, a lot has happened! Wow, looking back I have missed a lot. So, Wednesday we had this "treasure hunt" (I guess they don't use the term scavenger hunt here) throughout London with these random groups we were assigned. I was in a group where 3 of the 4 other people were excited to do the treasure hunt (whereas I wasn't all that excited), which turned out to really be a blessing in disguise. I actually was like, "Oh, this will be so lame I don't want to do this," but ended up going along because I really had nothing to do. In fact, the night before I ended up sending the wheels in motion via Facebook. So, Wednesday I went into London to meet with my adviser and tried to move my Friday class to another day so that I would have a four-day weekend (I don't have class on Monday) - didn't happen. So, three day weekend. Nothing to complain about.
So, it turned out my whole group was meeting with our advisers at the same time. Afterward, we walked through a great portion of London (we were walking from 1-8:30) doing the treasure hunt. Some of the places we went really ruled, such as the Royal Portrait Gallery, which was a a part of Trafalgar's Square, where I almost had a breakdown because I couldn't handle how beautiful I thought the square was. The sun was setting and a light rain was falling and all the streetlights were turning on, and the way the light was glistening off the water was almost too much to handle. I have found that London at sundown (which generally occurs around like, 3 o'clock or something fucking stupid like that) is really the most beautiful time to look at London. Also went over to the BFI (British Film Institute) where, by the looks of things, I will be spending a lot of time because they are showing a lot of really great movies there (such as Breakfast at Tiffany's) that I would love to see in a theatre. Royal Portrait Gallery had some great portraits, most of the awesome ones I took pictures of which will someday make their way to Facebook. But, I got Ian McKellan, that Thomas Moore from the Barnes and Noble copy of Utopia, James Joyce, Robert Louis Stevenson, Charles Dickens (who looked very different from what I expected), that Blur painting, and a few more. Anyways, that night I went over with the hunt-mates to some college in the area where one of the girls boyfriend went to school, and we went out drinking around there. I had a great time, but am required to take the Tubes back because my school is so far away. The tubes shut down at midnight, so I had to leave at like, 10:30 to make sure I got back. That seems like it will be a problem this semester, especially if I want to go to concerts or something. Looks like I will have to be using the London Black Cab system a lot.
Thursday we had this fucking boat cruise down the Thames which was basically the thing I was probably most excited about on this trip. I also thought we had an open bar on it (turned out I was wrong). But so I woke up at 1 and caught the like 3:30 tube out to the harbor to catch the train. The international students got two boats and I was one a different one from several of my Harrow friends so I got to hang out with some other people I had met along the way. Being on the boat, of course, ruled. Despite the fact that the bar wasn't open I was still drinking and, admittedly, after a while the waves were kind-of leaving my stomach a bit queasy, but nothing really came of that. I ended up hanging out with one of the girls from my treasure hunt most of the time and some girls from the Nordic Isles, which was interesting. My only faux-pas of the night occured when, the two girls who didn't know each other both realized they both spoke Swedish and told me this, and I didn't really know what to say. My only real encounter with Swedish is from like Ingmar Bergman movies, so in a desperate attempt to keep conversation going, I mentioned that to Americans Swedish sounded weird. Why I thought that was the best thing to say, I don't know. But they seemed to brush it off and it didn't ruin my rap or anything so the night went on. I also wore my tie with the little anchors on it in celebration but was worried people were going to make fun of me for looking like an idiot, but actually received two compliments on my dress so that went well. After I got off the boat I went out to get some drinks, and then ended up going back to the tube pretty quickly. On the way there I ran into the most horrifying woman, some British beggar woman, who was screaming in some square for someone to help her who made my blood run cold so I just quickly walked past her. After I got past her and into the station I found I had like 15 minutes before the train left and knew nobody would help her, so I went out and gave her like 2 pounds 50. Hearing her speak again was just as scary, and I tried to call out "good luck" to her but my voice caught in my throat and nothing came out. It was awful.
So I took the tube back home and went to bed.
Yesterday, nothing happened. Towards the end of the day I started to feel a little sick, kind-of like I did when I had mono, so I stayed in that night to see if it came to anything. #hypochondriac
Today I woke up and did some reading, took a nap, took a shower, and did a bunch of other useless shit. I also watched some Simpsons (I have done that every day, including watching repeat episodes with commentary - pretty interesting). Then I walked into town to grab some dinner and got a beef-and-ale pie and some sort of British ale which I didn't like all that much. On the way back I was invited out with some people to go into town to grab some drinks which I did. I ended up having a pretty good time. We ended up going to the pub I went the first night and it was karaoke night I guess? After a little bit some British guy walked up to me and mentioned I had an American accent and started talking to me about it. Feeling awkward in this conversation, I introduced the rest of the people I was with and let them take over in the conversation. He was clearly there to talk to them, so I just sat back and chilled for a little. But he was actually a nice guy and did talk to me a fair share. After a while, he was like, "I'm buying a round of drinks! Who wants one!?" and nobody took him up on the offer, but somehow I ended up being the only person he was buying a drink for. That was the first time anyone has ever bought me a drink. So I didn't know the etiquette or anything of if I was supposed to wait in line with him or anything, so I ended up just staying where I was. Anyways, it was kind-of awkward, and then I realized someone was buying me a drink and the only thing I have ever learned was if someone buys you a drink, make sure they don't put anything in it. So I kept my eye on it. He didn't put anything in it. Later, before I left I wanted to take a shot for the road and asked my group if they wanted a shot. They were all like yeah!, including the British guys friend. After I got to the bar, I realized it kind-of seemed like I was offering to buy them all shots, so I got in this really awkward situation where I had to go back for money and seemed to have offended the friend. But oh well, I will probably never see those guys again.
Anyways, I came back here and am probably just going to watch some Simpsons and go to bed. It was a pretty good day. Apparently tomorrow there is a big student union meeting at the bar on campus which ought to be fun. We'll see how that goes. Bye!
(Also, got Scott 4 by Scott Walker, Olé by John Coltrane, and Ogdens Nut Gone Flake by Small Faces. All very good. Except for that ridiculous Seventh Seal song by Scott Walker).
So, it turned out my whole group was meeting with our advisers at the same time. Afterward, we walked through a great portion of London (we were walking from 1-8:30) doing the treasure hunt. Some of the places we went really ruled, such as the Royal Portrait Gallery, which was a a part of Trafalgar's Square, where I almost had a breakdown because I couldn't handle how beautiful I thought the square was. The sun was setting and a light rain was falling and all the streetlights were turning on, and the way the light was glistening off the water was almost too much to handle. I have found that London at sundown (which generally occurs around like, 3 o'clock or something fucking stupid like that) is really the most beautiful time to look at London. Also went over to the BFI (British Film Institute) where, by the looks of things, I will be spending a lot of time because they are showing a lot of really great movies there (such as Breakfast at Tiffany's) that I would love to see in a theatre. Royal Portrait Gallery had some great portraits, most of the awesome ones I took pictures of which will someday make their way to Facebook. But, I got Ian McKellan, that Thomas Moore from the Barnes and Noble copy of Utopia, James Joyce, Robert Louis Stevenson, Charles Dickens (who looked very different from what I expected), that Blur painting, and a few more. Anyways, that night I went over with the hunt-mates to some college in the area where one of the girls boyfriend went to school, and we went out drinking around there. I had a great time, but am required to take the Tubes back because my school is so far away. The tubes shut down at midnight, so I had to leave at like, 10:30 to make sure I got back. That seems like it will be a problem this semester, especially if I want to go to concerts or something. Looks like I will have to be using the London Black Cab system a lot.
Thursday we had this fucking boat cruise down the Thames which was basically the thing I was probably most excited about on this trip. I also thought we had an open bar on it (turned out I was wrong). But so I woke up at 1 and caught the like 3:30 tube out to the harbor to catch the train. The international students got two boats and I was one a different one from several of my Harrow friends so I got to hang out with some other people I had met along the way. Being on the boat, of course, ruled. Despite the fact that the bar wasn't open I was still drinking and, admittedly, after a while the waves were kind-of leaving my stomach a bit queasy, but nothing really came of that. I ended up hanging out with one of the girls from my treasure hunt most of the time and some girls from the Nordic Isles, which was interesting. My only faux-pas of the night occured when, the two girls who didn't know each other both realized they both spoke Swedish and told me this, and I didn't really know what to say. My only real encounter with Swedish is from like Ingmar Bergman movies, so in a desperate attempt to keep conversation going, I mentioned that to Americans Swedish sounded weird. Why I thought that was the best thing to say, I don't know. But they seemed to brush it off and it didn't ruin my rap or anything so the night went on. I also wore my tie with the little anchors on it in celebration but was worried people were going to make fun of me for looking like an idiot, but actually received two compliments on my dress so that went well. After I got off the boat I went out to get some drinks, and then ended up going back to the tube pretty quickly. On the way there I ran into the most horrifying woman, some British beggar woman, who was screaming in some square for someone to help her who made my blood run cold so I just quickly walked past her. After I got past her and into the station I found I had like 15 minutes before the train left and knew nobody would help her, so I went out and gave her like 2 pounds 50. Hearing her speak again was just as scary, and I tried to call out "good luck" to her but my voice caught in my throat and nothing came out. It was awful.
So I took the tube back home and went to bed.
Yesterday, nothing happened. Towards the end of the day I started to feel a little sick, kind-of like I did when I had mono, so I stayed in that night to see if it came to anything. #hypochondriac
Today I woke up and did some reading, took a nap, took a shower, and did a bunch of other useless shit. I also watched some Simpsons (I have done that every day, including watching repeat episodes with commentary - pretty interesting). Then I walked into town to grab some dinner and got a beef-and-ale pie and some sort of British ale which I didn't like all that much. On the way back I was invited out with some people to go into town to grab some drinks which I did. I ended up having a pretty good time. We ended up going to the pub I went the first night and it was karaoke night I guess? After a little bit some British guy walked up to me and mentioned I had an American accent and started talking to me about it. Feeling awkward in this conversation, I introduced the rest of the people I was with and let them take over in the conversation. He was clearly there to talk to them, so I just sat back and chilled for a little. But he was actually a nice guy and did talk to me a fair share. After a while, he was like, "I'm buying a round of drinks! Who wants one!?" and nobody took him up on the offer, but somehow I ended up being the only person he was buying a drink for. That was the first time anyone has ever bought me a drink. So I didn't know the etiquette or anything of if I was supposed to wait in line with him or anything, so I ended up just staying where I was. Anyways, it was kind-of awkward, and then I realized someone was buying me a drink and the only thing I have ever learned was if someone buys you a drink, make sure they don't put anything in it. So I kept my eye on it. He didn't put anything in it. Later, before I left I wanted to take a shot for the road and asked my group if they wanted a shot. They were all like yeah!, including the British guys friend. After I got to the bar, I realized it kind-of seemed like I was offering to buy them all shots, so I got in this really awkward situation where I had to go back for money and seemed to have offended the friend. But oh well, I will probably never see those guys again.
Anyways, I came back here and am probably just going to watch some Simpsons and go to bed. It was a pretty good day. Apparently tomorrow there is a big student union meeting at the bar on campus which ought to be fun. We'll see how that goes. Bye!
(Also, got Scott 4 by Scott Walker, Olé by John Coltrane, and Ogdens Nut Gone Flake by Small Faces. All very good. Except for that ridiculous Seventh Seal song by Scott Walker).
Thursday, 13 January 2011
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
Last night and today
I bought groceries yesterday. I got a lot of pasta, some apples, bananas, cereal, whole grain bread, strawberry jam, eggs, peppers, carrots, and some cleaning supplies, toiletries, and toilet paper. Later I was sitting in my room with nothing particularly to do when some girls from my hall knocked on my door and invited me to his party happening in the kitchen of the flat next to mine, which I ended up going to. It was a little awkward, because after the amusement that stems from me being from the United States I didn't really have anyone to talk to, and it was really loud and I already have trouble working through people's accents so I really couldn't say much. But after I while I began talking with these two guys who were pretty nice. I was also given a membership pass to the Tate Modern by another kid.
Today I went to the Tate Modern and was amused by my ability to navigate around London alone on the tube. It's really easy. Except I ran into a problem coming back because the train I was on (the Metropolitan line) bypassed my stop because it is a very small stop. The stop is basically right outside my door and functions mainly for the University from what I can gather. Some people from the town use it, but there is a bigger stop in town that I think is more convenient for most people. So basically my stop is the Jersey Ave of the Metropolitan Line. Anyways, the tube I was on bypassed my stop for Harrow on the Hill, so I figured I could easily just take the other train south and get off in one stop. However, I hopped on the wrong train and ended up going even farther north into Zone 5, which my ticket didn't cover. So I had to persuade the station operator to let me get back onto a train going the opposite direction for free, which ended up happening. I also got to listen to this delightful elderly British couple.
So the Tate Modern was pretty cool. They had a good collection of Abstract Expressionist paintings, a really really cool painting by Francis Bacon that I loved, a Monet, and a bunch of the other stuff. I illegally snapped some pictures, but forgot to bring my camera cord to London, so I will only be able to upload all of my pictures from the trip when I get back to the States. After that, being in Bankside, I walked over to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre which ended up being situated in a really cool area. In April they are going to be performing Hamlet, and as I reckon that is the place to see Shakespeare I'm going to attempt to go. They tickets go on sale on like February 12th or something, and to stand only costs like 5 pounds so I'm going to work on getting those. That'd be a lot of fun, and I think it would be fun to watch Shakespeare standing in the front of the Globe Theatre. Then I got some sushi and came back here and took a nap. When I woke up I made myself some pasta, ate an apple, and drank a glass of milk. I then did a little reading and watched some videos of Jon Stewart on YouTube. The worst part about London is that I can't watch the Daily Show, and ComedyCentral doesn't allow you to watch the episodes they upload to the website when you're in the UK. Also, Netflix doesn't do InstantWatch here, and I only brought one season of the Simpsons (and not even all four discs of it), so I have nothing to watch. So I've been watching Wizard People, Dear Reader a lot.
Tomorrow I have to go into central London to meet with my adviser. I'm glad I have to get up at a certain time because I will be able to get into London before like, 3 o'clock like I did today. And the sun sets around four or something here so I was kind-of pressed to get back as the sun went down. Although I did make it to the Globe at the perfect time, because the sun was down and it was lit by the streetlights and I think I got some nice pictures of it. There was this really nice building that a bridge connected the Tate to over the river which I didn't know. Turns out it was St. Paul's Cathedral, something I would like to see, but didn't head over to. It was too dark anyways.
So I might do this scavenger hunt thing tomorrow in London with this group I was assigned to yesterday. I kinda hope that works out, I don't really have anyone to hang out with as I haven't really spoken to too many people yet. There's also this like boat ride down the Thames Thursday night for the international students where I would be able to like hang out with some people so it's whatever.
But I guess I will read now or watch some Simpsons. Cool.
Today I went to the Tate Modern and was amused by my ability to navigate around London alone on the tube. It's really easy. Except I ran into a problem coming back because the train I was on (the Metropolitan line) bypassed my stop because it is a very small stop. The stop is basically right outside my door and functions mainly for the University from what I can gather. Some people from the town use it, but there is a bigger stop in town that I think is more convenient for most people. So basically my stop is the Jersey Ave of the Metropolitan Line. Anyways, the tube I was on bypassed my stop for Harrow on the Hill, so I figured I could easily just take the other train south and get off in one stop. However, I hopped on the wrong train and ended up going even farther north into Zone 5, which my ticket didn't cover. So I had to persuade the station operator to let me get back onto a train going the opposite direction for free, which ended up happening. I also got to listen to this delightful elderly British couple.
So the Tate Modern was pretty cool. They had a good collection of Abstract Expressionist paintings, a really really cool painting by Francis Bacon that I loved, a Monet, and a bunch of the other stuff. I illegally snapped some pictures, but forgot to bring my camera cord to London, so I will only be able to upload all of my pictures from the trip when I get back to the States. After that, being in Bankside, I walked over to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre which ended up being situated in a really cool area. In April they are going to be performing Hamlet, and as I reckon that is the place to see Shakespeare I'm going to attempt to go. They tickets go on sale on like February 12th or something, and to stand only costs like 5 pounds so I'm going to work on getting those. That'd be a lot of fun, and I think it would be fun to watch Shakespeare standing in the front of the Globe Theatre. Then I got some sushi and came back here and took a nap. When I woke up I made myself some pasta, ate an apple, and drank a glass of milk. I then did a little reading and watched some videos of Jon Stewart on YouTube. The worst part about London is that I can't watch the Daily Show, and ComedyCentral doesn't allow you to watch the episodes they upload to the website when you're in the UK. Also, Netflix doesn't do InstantWatch here, and I only brought one season of the Simpsons (and not even all four discs of it), so I have nothing to watch. So I've been watching Wizard People, Dear Reader a lot.
Tomorrow I have to go into central London to meet with my adviser. I'm glad I have to get up at a certain time because I will be able to get into London before like, 3 o'clock like I did today. And the sun sets around four or something here so I was kind-of pressed to get back as the sun went down. Although I did make it to the Globe at the perfect time, because the sun was down and it was lit by the streetlights and I think I got some nice pictures of it. There was this really nice building that a bridge connected the Tate to over the river which I didn't know. Turns out it was St. Paul's Cathedral, something I would like to see, but didn't head over to. It was too dark anyways.
So I might do this scavenger hunt thing tomorrow in London with this group I was assigned to yesterday. I kinda hope that works out, I don't really have anyone to hang out with as I haven't really spoken to too many people yet. There's also this like boat ride down the Thames Thursday night for the international students where I would be able to like hang out with some people so it's whatever.
But I guess I will read now or watch some Simpsons. Cool.
Sunday, 9 January 2011
Tonight
Well, so I met all these people last night and had a good time with them, but as for tonight I have no idea how to contact any of them or how to meet up with any of them. And I don't think there are any like official things planned for tonight so I have no idea what the fuck I'm going to do. Sucks.
Last Night
Last night I went out with that thing the RA had organized. I showed up at the reception place to meet up with people, and didn't see those people I had kind-of met before. But I started talking to this one person, her name was Brooke, and ended up going to the pub with her and these two other girls, Meagan and Jennifer (I'm 99% sure I got those names right). All three were very nice and I spent the whole night not remembering what their names were because I am really bad with names. So we drank beer and whatnot and had a good time. Then we went with this other RA to this club/bar/pub(?) across the street at what point the other two girls dropped out and so I hung out there. There were two levels to the club, the first floor playing like, club hits and shit, the upper one playing like 60s garage rock. So I went up to the second level and they were playing good music, such as Dirty Water by the Standells. So I talked to the DJ for a little while, I don't think he particularly wanted to talk to me though, I think he wanted to do his job.
This was just a strange story that I feel merited retelling: At one point I was standing at the second floor thing like sorta bobbing my head and like holding a beer or whatever and singing along to a song and this older woman (mid-to-late 50s) was pretending to film the room on her iPhone, but was clearly filming me. So I like, spotted her doing this, and she just like walked up to me and started filming me up close. So I didn't know what to do so I sort-of just like looked at back her puzzled, and she told me she wanted her husband to get glasses like mine so she was filming mine to get an image of a pair or something. It was really fucking weird.
So after a while I was just getting tired as fuck, but did not have the slightest idea how to get back to the campus so I had to wait for everyone else, and the RA wasn't jet lagged or anything so he wanted to stay out and everyone wanted to stay with him. But so after a while we all walked back, we all meaning Brooke, the RA, two other girls, and myself. We ended up at some girls room and I was wondering why the fuck I went because I was extremely tired, and you know, had no real interest in going over to this girls room. So I had to excuse myself and leave, which was pretty awkward to do, but it had to be done. Whatever. It was a great night though.
Also, I have had two cheeseburgers so far and have had no problems with them at all. I actually really enjoyed the cheeseburger I had at the pub. Except it was awkward because my eating habits are all fucked up because of the time difference, so I ate like about half of the burger, and one of the bartenders came along to clean up the table and asked if I was done with the burger and asked me if I thought it was no good. But it actually was. Also, I bought a round of shots at one point and spilled my own. It really sucked.
But so now I got that one Brooke girls number and we were supposed to meet up for brunch. The problem is, I've been up for like about an hour and a half, and have no idea what the protocol is for calling people for breakfast in a different time zone before they have adjusted. For instance, maybe she planned on sleeping for like a few more hours or something because of jet lag. Oh well. Something must be done.
This was just a strange story that I feel merited retelling: At one point I was standing at the second floor thing like sorta bobbing my head and like holding a beer or whatever and singing along to a song and this older woman (mid-to-late 50s) was pretending to film the room on her iPhone, but was clearly filming me. So I like, spotted her doing this, and she just like walked up to me and started filming me up close. So I didn't know what to do so I sort-of just like looked at back her puzzled, and she told me she wanted her husband to get glasses like mine so she was filming mine to get an image of a pair or something. It was really fucking weird.
So after a while I was just getting tired as fuck, but did not have the slightest idea how to get back to the campus so I had to wait for everyone else, and the RA wasn't jet lagged or anything so he wanted to stay out and everyone wanted to stay with him. But so after a while we all walked back, we all meaning Brooke, the RA, two other girls, and myself. We ended up at some girls room and I was wondering why the fuck I went because I was extremely tired, and you know, had no real interest in going over to this girls room. So I had to excuse myself and leave, which was pretty awkward to do, but it had to be done. Whatever. It was a great night though.
Also, I have had two cheeseburgers so far and have had no problems with them at all. I actually really enjoyed the cheeseburger I had at the pub. Except it was awkward because my eating habits are all fucked up because of the time difference, so I ate like about half of the burger, and one of the bartenders came along to clean up the table and asked if I was done with the burger and asked me if I thought it was no good. But it actually was. Also, I bought a round of shots at one point and spilled my own. It really sucked.
But so now I got that one Brooke girls number and we were supposed to meet up for brunch. The problem is, I've been up for like about an hour and a half, and have no idea what the protocol is for calling people for breakfast in a different time zone before they have adjusted. For instance, maybe she planned on sleeping for like a few more hours or something because of jet lag. Oh well. Something must be done.
Saturday, 8 January 2011
Friends!~?!?
Well, so I just spent the past few hours sleeping. I woke up covered in drool, which went all of my coat because I hadn't gotten my sheets and what not yet. Anyways, when I went downstairs there was this pretty big group of international students (USA) standing around who I sort-of started talking to and they invited me out. Turns out they were going to that thing that the RA organized. Guess I'll go to that and see how it goes.
First Day
I just got into my room at school! It is a little smaller than my previous dorm room. However, this one has a personal bathroom. With a shower and everything. It's really great. And I have a nice view out onto a grassy knoll. There doesn't seem to be anything in particular for me to do right now, I asked an RA and he said he was trying to get as many people as possible to go to a pub up the road at seven. That will hopefully be fun (but perhaps very lame). I was going to take a shower but then I realized I didn't bring any toiletries. And also, I don't have a dresser, but I do have a closet. Maybe something can be done about that. The plan ride over was awful, I almost had approximately three panic attacks. Towards the middle as we were flying over the Atlantic ocean I started to calm down a bit, but the end was brutal. I'm not really afraid that planes will break any more. I don't think that really ever happens.
I've got to unpack and shit, but since I don't know where I'm going to put all of my stuff I guess I will have to hold off on that for the time being. I want to take a nap, but I don't have any pillow or linens or anything (I have to pick those up later), so I'm going to sleep on this bare mattress thing with my bag as my pillow.
The RA was really nice and friendly, and things seemed off to a good start. Then I went to try to find my linens and couldn't figure out how to get back to my room so I asked some girl for help and she was sort-of like "...what's the problem? What do you want me to do about it?" and so I was sorta like "okay nevermind then" but then she realized I was new. And hadn't slept in like, approximately two days. I couldn't sleep at all on the plane. Then I met some older girls who live on my hall in the kitchen, and it was kind-of awkward and I didn't really know what to talk about them with. Failure. Anyways, I'm so tired I'm going to take a nap. Here is a picture of me in my room to excite everyone.
I've got to unpack and shit, but since I don't know where I'm going to put all of my stuff I guess I will have to hold off on that for the time being. I want to take a nap, but I don't have any pillow or linens or anything (I have to pick those up later), so I'm going to sleep on this bare mattress thing with my bag as my pillow.
The RA was really nice and friendly, and things seemed off to a good start. Then I went to try to find my linens and couldn't figure out how to get back to my room so I asked some girl for help and she was sort-of like "...what's the problem? What do you want me to do about it?" and so I was sorta like "okay nevermind then" but then she realized I was new. And hadn't slept in like, approximately two days. I couldn't sleep at all on the plane. Then I met some older girls who live on my hall in the kitchen, and it was kind-of awkward and I didn't really know what to talk about them with. Failure. Anyways, I'm so tired I'm going to take a nap. Here is a picture of me in my room to excite everyone.
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