Merry Christmas everyone. In case you were wondering, the title for this post has the correct punctuation of the song title. So "Gentlemen" is a vocative...interesting...
As I sat in Mass tonight, I got an unsettling feeling again. Even at home I don't seem like I am at home. Maybe constantly moving around between Georgetown, London, and here makes me seem anchored to nothing. Also it hasn't really felt like Christmas since I've been back. Sort of felt like it in London at Harrod's and on Oxford Street but this season it seemed even less. Maybe because there were no finals this time around to force me to look ahead to something better beyond the hard work of finals week!
I can remember the first time I lost the Xmas spirit. It was either junior or senior year of high school. I was in the cafeteria at the end of December before break and sat down at table with Drew after we had gotten food. We were silent for a bit and then I said, "You know Drew, it doesn't really feel like Christmas this time around." He agreed and we sighed and ate lunch.
Depressing, no?
But on the bright side, I am enjoying myself, I have gotten to see my family and I have a few other tricks up my sleeve hehe. Also my Mom as hiliarious with Xmas shopping. She thought she was so smart and inegnious by ordering something through Amazon, but she asked me why it never arrived. So I checked her account, prinouts, and emails and saw that once she got to the order re-confirmation page, she thought that the order had gone through, so she never clicked submit t finalize!! Oh parents and technology! I guess little things like that make me chuckle and it's pretty good being home in all honesty, especially around Xmas. So everyone: sip the eggnog, stand under the mistletoe, and leave Santa some cookies and milk--he'll thank you later.
Merry Christmas everyone!
--------
Christmas Song by Jethro Tull
Once in Royal David's City stood a lonely cattle shed,
where a mother held her baby.
You'd do well to remember the things He later said.
When you're stuffing yourselves at the Christmas parties,
you'll just laugh when I tell you to take a running jump.
You're missing the point I'm sure does not need making
that Christmas spirit is not what you drink.
So how can you laugh when your own mother's hungry,
and how can you smile when the reasons for smiling are wrong?
And if I just messed up your thoughtless pleasures,
remember, if you wish, this is just a Christmas song.
(Hey! Santa! Pass us that bottle, will you?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zm9RmfNZIA
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Yuletide Cheer *snicker*
I wonder where I should start first: familial acrimony or Xmas shopping woes?
I think I'll go with the family. So we decide to eat on the road at Panera's and of course the conversations settles into: who are you going to vote for in the Primary? Thus the Republican identity crisis as shown in the microcosm of my family.
Let me show you the camps:
Me- Anti-government, Western Republican Libertarian - Ron Paul
Mom- Rockefeller Republican, Northeastern Moderately Liberal yet strong on security - Rudy Giuliani
Dad - GOP Partyline/muddled Neo-Con Revival - Mitt Romney
No one is impressed with anyone and everyone disagrees with everyone. No common ground at all and it turns into a free for all between the three of us shooting down each other's candidates: Paul- wacko/no will vote for him; Romney- flip-flopper and about as exciting as watching paint dry; Giuliani- family baggage, questionably conservative, and New Yorkers hate him. My Dad is in a funny state of thinking he is one thing politically, but not really knowing what he is. Sure he is a bastion of conservatism and a Republican stalwart but he despises the Religious Right and all those whack-job Evangelical preachers that show up on our TVs or in mega-churches. He tries to toe the Conservative line but aha! what is the conservative line nowadays? And so my dad is a ship lost at sea without a compass...we'll see what propaganda he latches onto eventually.
I like Ron Paul (though his foreign policy agenda is pretty bad) because we need a return to the roots of limited government, respect for individual rights, and economic freedom. Ron Paul is the only candidate in both parties who says he will deliver on all three (what candidate has come out against the Patriot Act, and the growing federal government size and budget deficit?) The Republicans need to get some sense knocked into them and turn back to the party of Barry Goldwater. Maybe if Republicans get defeated in 2008, it will purge this "Compassionate Conservatism" (fucking bullshit) and Religious Rightism from the party and get their heads back on straight. Also, I'm voting for Ron Paul, even though he is going to lose, because I need to vote my principles. If I don't, what kind of message does that send to people like Ron Paul who try to stand up for what is right? Besides, the General Election in November is when I can wring my hands and try to compromise and choose the least evil (haha that is going to be fun!)
--------
So now onto my Xmas shopping nightmares. My desktop, my child, my beautiful child, refuses to start up. I checked all the connections and did everything I could possibly think of, but it did nothing. So I brought it to Best Buy for them to solve. While I was trying to fix it, I had no extra parts to sub out on it, so I needed to give it in, because their diagnostic is cheaper than me randomly guessing what to buy or to buy stuff to sub out. This is a major blow for a guy who made his own computer with his bare hands and no help. The techies were looking in wonder at my computer while it was open on the table. I wonder what was running through their heads: wow, this is a beautiful piece of art put together; or damn, this thing is fucking old! (I built it sophomore year of high school!)
After I left Best Buy, I pulled out of the parking space in the Jeep and I hear this crash and I think "Great, I hit a car!" I looked in the mirrors and could see no cars or people, so it finally dawned on me it must have been a shopping cart some dirtbag left behind my car and didn't see because it was getting dark out (shortest day of the year!) I walked out and sure enough, there was the shopping cart lying on its side. Another car was waiting right nearby for my space, I wonder why he didn't warn me of the shopping cart. I picked up the shopping cart, and rather than placing it upright and moving it away, because it was too much effort and I was also pissed, I took it into my hands and threw it 10 feet into a snow pile and gave it, self-gratifyingly, "the birdy"; As I turned to get back in the Jeep, I saw that the waiting car had backed up 25 feet away! Haha! Road rage! I guess I scared him off...
Next, I went to an electronics store on Rt 20 that has good deals/prices to buy a RAM upgrade for my laptop. All the specs were right and the staff assured me I had the right RAM but I get home and it doesn't fit. I come back today and again they give me the wrong RAM!!! Luckily, I had the presence of mind to ask again while waiting, but they don't have it in stock. I guess I will have to spend more money at Best Buy for this then (what I was trying to avoid in the first place)
I made another stop but my lips are sealed as to what it was: let's say I got there too late and it was closed. Now I need to go on Monday. Hopefully it'll be ready soon...
I think I'll go with the family. So we decide to eat on the road at Panera's and of course the conversations settles into: who are you going to vote for in the Primary? Thus the Republican identity crisis as shown in the microcosm of my family.
Let me show you the camps:
Me- Anti-government, Western Republican Libertarian - Ron Paul
Mom- Rockefeller Republican, Northeastern Moderately Liberal yet strong on security - Rudy Giuliani
Dad - GOP Partyline/muddled Neo-Con Revival - Mitt Romney
No one is impressed with anyone and everyone disagrees with everyone. No common ground at all and it turns into a free for all between the three of us shooting down each other's candidates: Paul- wacko/no will vote for him; Romney- flip-flopper and about as exciting as watching paint dry; Giuliani- family baggage, questionably conservative, and New Yorkers hate him. My Dad is in a funny state of thinking he is one thing politically, but not really knowing what he is. Sure he is a bastion of conservatism and a Republican stalwart but he despises the Religious Right and all those whack-job Evangelical preachers that show up on our TVs or in mega-churches. He tries to toe the Conservative line but aha! what is the conservative line nowadays? And so my dad is a ship lost at sea without a compass...we'll see what propaganda he latches onto eventually.
I like Ron Paul (though his foreign policy agenda is pretty bad) because we need a return to the roots of limited government, respect for individual rights, and economic freedom. Ron Paul is the only candidate in both parties who says he will deliver on all three (what candidate has come out against the Patriot Act, and the growing federal government size and budget deficit?) The Republicans need to get some sense knocked into them and turn back to the party of Barry Goldwater. Maybe if Republicans get defeated in 2008, it will purge this "Compassionate Conservatism" (fucking bullshit) and Religious Rightism from the party and get their heads back on straight. Also, I'm voting for Ron Paul, even though he is going to lose, because I need to vote my principles. If I don't, what kind of message does that send to people like Ron Paul who try to stand up for what is right? Besides, the General Election in November is when I can wring my hands and try to compromise and choose the least evil (haha that is going to be fun!)
--------
So now onto my Xmas shopping nightmares. My desktop, my child, my beautiful child, refuses to start up. I checked all the connections and did everything I could possibly think of, but it did nothing. So I brought it to Best Buy for them to solve. While I was trying to fix it, I had no extra parts to sub out on it, so I needed to give it in, because their diagnostic is cheaper than me randomly guessing what to buy or to buy stuff to sub out. This is a major blow for a guy who made his own computer with his bare hands and no help. The techies were looking in wonder at my computer while it was open on the table. I wonder what was running through their heads: wow, this is a beautiful piece of art put together; or damn, this thing is fucking old! (I built it sophomore year of high school!)
After I left Best Buy, I pulled out of the parking space in the Jeep and I hear this crash and I think "Great, I hit a car!" I looked in the mirrors and could see no cars or people, so it finally dawned on me it must have been a shopping cart some dirtbag left behind my car and didn't see because it was getting dark out (shortest day of the year!) I walked out and sure enough, there was the shopping cart lying on its side. Another car was waiting right nearby for my space, I wonder why he didn't warn me of the shopping cart. I picked up the shopping cart, and rather than placing it upright and moving it away, because it was too much effort and I was also pissed, I took it into my hands and threw it 10 feet into a snow pile and gave it, self-gratifyingly, "the birdy"; As I turned to get back in the Jeep, I saw that the waiting car had backed up 25 feet away! Haha! Road rage! I guess I scared him off...
Next, I went to an electronics store on Rt 20 that has good deals/prices to buy a RAM upgrade for my laptop. All the specs were right and the staff assured me I had the right RAM but I get home and it doesn't fit. I come back today and again they give me the wrong RAM!!! Luckily, I had the presence of mind to ask again while waiting, but they don't have it in stock. I guess I will have to spend more money at Best Buy for this then (what I was trying to avoid in the first place)
I made another stop but my lips are sealed as to what it was: let's say I got there too late and it was closed. Now I need to go on Monday. Hopefully it'll be ready soon...
Friday, December 21, 2007
Domestic Addendum
Despite my home/parent bashing from before, home does have its benefits. I leave dirty clothes out and magically they become clean and folded on my bed. Nice. Also, my parents don't give me trouble when I want to go places and do things. I also ate at a company lunch today: quite nice. Crème Brûlée for dessert too. Long story but that lunch was compliments of Walker Porous Pipe, Inc and Pegasus LLC. Ah, I guess I luck out because I am my parents only child; then again, they are my only parents...
"You don't miss your water, 'till your well runs dry"
On another note, tomorrow is the Winter Solstice and my desktop at home still won't start up despite me cleaning out the dust from it. I hope the motherboard didn't get fried... :'-(
"You don't miss your water, 'till your well runs dry"
On another note, tomorrow is the Winter Solstice and my desktop at home still won't start up despite me cleaning out the dust from it. I hope the motherboard didn't get fried... :'-(
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Home Is Where The Heart Is
Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends!
Sorry for the delay, I guess getting settled in and relaxing and being busy with leisure takes its toll on the blog. So now I need to fill you in on all the back story of the past 5 days. I wonder, should I give you the short or the long versions of my recent travel (near) disasters? I've probably told this story a lot so I'll give my abbreviated Heathrow story. JP and I catch the Piccadilly Line train from Covent Garden to Heathrow at 4:40. The train is packed and we barely get a sitting after some stnading. At some point past Hammersmith (Turnham Green?) the train stops, forces everyone out, and leaves. So then we need to wait 20 minutes for a replacement and it is so crowded, we barely get on, but we throw ourselves into the train because we have a flight to catch. It's now 5:45 and we are tightly cramped standing up whever we were able to clear out people by throwing our luggage into them as we leaped onto the train. We finally get to Heathrow and get on line for check-in. We got our boarding passes from a Kiosk and only had to give in our luggage. Little did we know... Our line took forever; our check-in attendant was slower than molasses and for every person she processed, the other lines got in 3 or 4. Finally we got to the counter at 7:14 and she promptly announced check-in was closed. So we ran over to emergency check-in, had to wait even more, finally got a competent person, and were on our way--at 7:32. Our flight leaves at 8:10. So we get to security and we essentially run by everyone because the gate is supposed to close any minute now. One person had the audacity to ask us in a haughty pretentious British accent if we knew we were jumping the queue...no fucking shit, lady!!! Then another asked if we were in a rush...no really?!?! Finally by the graces of God we made it to the gate, but our flight was delayed as 3 passengers were no-shows and their bags had to be removed. Then one of the crew had an in-flight medical emergency and I was praying that we wouldn't have to make an emergency landing somewhere. Eventually all things done and said we pulled into JFK around midnight.
Guess I wasn't so short in recounting that story...
More travel saga, in going to DC, my train was delayed for 20 minutes for no apparent reason, and coming back up the locomotive broke in Union Station, again delaying us. Wonderful! As the previous line probably made clear, I went down to DC for...I won't say the reason(s)...I wonder why hehe...(I'll be a tool and leave it at that)
Ah yes, I am back home, so how is that you may ask? It's nice relaxing. I've been getting a good amount of sleep, seeing friends, lounging about like a lazy sloth, listening to music, reading, being a numismatist (a what?), etc. On the downside my desktop refuses to turn on, so I need to figure out why it is doing that. Also, I have no patience for my parents and get easily irritable at them. I feel bad because they are my parents, I'm finally home, and they are doing nothing wrong (besides it's Xmas) Ahh so why am I getting all bent out of shape over them? Do I have no tolerance for their idiosyncrasies? I don't know. Do I miss the independence of not being parented, no matter how laid back and passive and nice my parents are? Maybe my mom is too intense. Who knows... Oddly haven't seen a lot of my dad around. Alas, it seems like our plans for skiing this Sunday have gone to pot as it might rain and the temperature might creep up near the 50s. I hope all the snow doesn't melt for Xmas.
Yes a tangent! I got out of the car at home and what did I find, but snow on the ground! It was a nice change as I highly doubt we will get snow in London. Also the air had this wintry crispness that is so typical of the Northeast and was missing in London. I hope winter doesn't suck over there.
One unpleasant surprise was that I came home and my desktop, my child that I built back in high school won't start up oddly. I haven;t tuched it for 3 months and the other electronics and surge protector still work. This calls for investigating...
Other LSE new: the Uni was ranked 19th in the world, but somehow dropped to 57th. Ouch. However for Social Sciences, it is still ranked 3rd behind Harvard and Berkeley, so maybe the drop was artificial as the LSE administration has been saying.
Also, Against All Odds, my radio show has been renewed for a permanent slot next term, an hour each Monday early afternoon (east coast time). We'll see what music and genres I will wield this time. I have some leftovers that didn't make the cut from my previous three shows: maybe I will make a special show out of the "lost cut" of songs.
Sorry for the long post--can't promise it won't happen again! (would say Merry Xmas though I think I will catch you again before then, I hope)
Sorry for the delay, I guess getting settled in and relaxing and being busy with leisure takes its toll on the blog. So now I need to fill you in on all the back story of the past 5 days. I wonder, should I give you the short or the long versions of my recent travel (near) disasters? I've probably told this story a lot so I'll give my abbreviated Heathrow story. JP and I catch the Piccadilly Line train from Covent Garden to Heathrow at 4:40. The train is packed and we barely get a sitting after some stnading. At some point past Hammersmith (Turnham Green?) the train stops, forces everyone out, and leaves. So then we need to wait 20 minutes for a replacement and it is so crowded, we barely get on, but we throw ourselves into the train because we have a flight to catch. It's now 5:45 and we are tightly cramped standing up whever we were able to clear out people by throwing our luggage into them as we leaped onto the train. We finally get to Heathrow and get on line for check-in. We got our boarding passes from a Kiosk and only had to give in our luggage. Little did we know... Our line took forever; our check-in attendant was slower than molasses and for every person she processed, the other lines got in 3 or 4. Finally we got to the counter at 7:14 and she promptly announced check-in was closed. So we ran over to emergency check-in, had to wait even more, finally got a competent person, and were on our way--at 7:32. Our flight leaves at 8:10. So we get to security and we essentially run by everyone because the gate is supposed to close any minute now. One person had the audacity to ask us in a haughty pretentious British accent if we knew we were jumping the queue...no fucking shit, lady!!! Then another asked if we were in a rush...no really?!?! Finally by the graces of God we made it to the gate, but our flight was delayed as 3 passengers were no-shows and their bags had to be removed. Then one of the crew had an in-flight medical emergency and I was praying that we wouldn't have to make an emergency landing somewhere. Eventually all things done and said we pulled into JFK around midnight.
Guess I wasn't so short in recounting that story...
More travel saga, in going to DC, my train was delayed for 20 minutes for no apparent reason, and coming back up the locomotive broke in Union Station, again delaying us. Wonderful! As the previous line probably made clear, I went down to DC for...I won't say the reason(s)...I wonder why hehe...(I'll be a tool and leave it at that)
Ah yes, I am back home, so how is that you may ask? It's nice relaxing. I've been getting a good amount of sleep, seeing friends, lounging about like a lazy sloth, listening to music, reading, being a numismatist (a what?), etc. On the downside my desktop refuses to turn on, so I need to figure out why it is doing that. Also, I have no patience for my parents and get easily irritable at them. I feel bad because they are my parents, I'm finally home, and they are doing nothing wrong (besides it's Xmas) Ahh so why am I getting all bent out of shape over them? Do I have no tolerance for their idiosyncrasies? I don't know. Do I miss the independence of not being parented, no matter how laid back and passive and nice my parents are? Maybe my mom is too intense. Who knows... Oddly haven't seen a lot of my dad around. Alas, it seems like our plans for skiing this Sunday have gone to pot as it might rain and the temperature might creep up near the 50s. I hope all the snow doesn't melt for Xmas.
Yes a tangent! I got out of the car at home and what did I find, but snow on the ground! It was a nice change as I highly doubt we will get snow in London. Also the air had this wintry crispness that is so typical of the Northeast and was missing in London. I hope winter doesn't suck over there.
One unpleasant surprise was that I came home and my desktop, my child that I built back in high school won't start up oddly. I haven;t tuched it for 3 months and the other electronics and surge protector still work. This calls for investigating...
Other LSE new: the Uni was ranked 19th in the world, but somehow dropped to 57th. Ouch. However for Social Sciences, it is still ranked 3rd behind Harvard and Berkeley, so maybe the drop was artificial as the LSE administration has been saying.
Also, Against All Odds, my radio show has been renewed for a permanent slot next term, an hour each Monday early afternoon (east coast time). We'll see what music and genres I will wield this time. I have some leftovers that didn't make the cut from my previous three shows: maybe I will make a special show out of the "lost cut" of songs.
Sorry for the long post--can't promise it won't happen again! (would say Merry Xmas though I think I will catch you again before then, I hope)
Friday, December 14, 2007
Lover's Leap
So here I go across the Pond back to my homeland of New Jersey. If the blog goes inactive, it is probably because I have had some mishap and died in a plane crash. So on that morbid note, have a Happy Holiday and a Happy New Year! If I'm not lazy, I will update over break and tell how re-acclimating to the States goes.
-J
-J
Monday, December 10, 2007
The Best Guitar Solo Ever!
I joke not. The general consensus is that David Gilmour's guitar solo in Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" is the best ever. [Well, technically it is only second best because he recorded the greatest solo for the song and everyone was awestruck and didn't speak or move for a long time. Then they asked the engineer to rewind the tape to hear it again, they found it wasn't recorded! So he had to try again and this is the solo you here in the song]
Let me turn to what I think is the superior solo. Nearly 7 minutes of aural pleasure. Steve Hackett was the lead guitarist in Genesis until he left in 1978 because he did not like how they were shifting in a commercial direction. On his third solo album "Spectral Mornings" from 1979, he closes out the track listing with the song "Spectral Mornings" I think it is his hallmark achievements and one of the greatest guitar songs ever. The guitar lines are a sublime bittersweet tragic-triumph. What player would I be in this band? Not Steve Hackett, but playing those the mellotron with those washing string lines in the background. So...
here is the song in all its full glory. It's only up for 7 days or 100 downloads, so get it while it lasts!
http://download.yousendit.com/12B3269F639B04B2
Once the yousendit link runs out, you can "watch" it here. You don't need to be watching the car racing to enjoy it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOnrpdCFHTU
Let me turn to what I think is the superior solo. Nearly 7 minutes of aural pleasure. Steve Hackett was the lead guitarist in Genesis until he left in 1978 because he did not like how they were shifting in a commercial direction. On his third solo album "Spectral Mornings" from 1979, he closes out the track listing with the song "Spectral Mornings" I think it is his hallmark achievements and one of the greatest guitar songs ever. The guitar lines are a sublime bittersweet tragic-triumph. What player would I be in this band? Not Steve Hackett, but playing those the mellotron with those washing string lines in the background. So...
here is the song in all its full glory. It's only up for 7 days or 100 downloads, so get it while it lasts!
http://download.yousendit.com/12B3269F639B04B2
Once the yousendit link runs out, you can "watch" it here. You don't need to be watching the car racing to enjoy it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOnrpdCFHTU
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Praha! and home in a week
So I survived Praha. What to tell...hmm...The main river is the Vltava and I was confused because I had never heard of it, but then I found out the German name is the Moldau, so it all made sense then. My "travel companion", Jess, and I stayed at Hostel Elf, which sounds shady but we got free breakfasts and still have our kidneys, so it was a good deal. We walked all around the city and it is amazing that consistently, everywhere the architecture was great. Really everything stunning. We hit all the big sites, the Old Town Square, Stare Mesto (Old Town), St Charles Bridge, Wenceslas Square, Praha Castle with St Vitus' Cathedral, the Jewish Quarter, and a good number of bar/restaurants.
We found a really old beer hall, U Flecku, dating from 1459 and serving the same dark lager recipe since its inception. It had a really good atmosphere and a lederhosen-wearing accordionist and tubist. The next night we went, we felt the lack of tuba impacted the atmosphere and I kept chanting, "NEEDS MORE TUBA!!!" The decor seemed really old style, like out of the 1500s. But on the first night we were there, we would have given anything to understand Czech. Next to us sat a man and woman and we couldn't tell if they were dating or married (they had no rings so marriage unlikely), and whatever was happening, their relationship was on the rocks. The woman would not look him in the face and even ripped her hand out of his hold. He must have been out of his mind because he kept playing the duo musicians to play at his table and would hum them tunes to sing and he was paying them, at the one time I saw, with a 1000 Coruna note (that's 30 quid!!!) The woman kept telling him not to and shaking her head, but he would not listen. He kept asking people for a lighter for a cigarette (by asking for 'fire' and making a lighter motion with his hand) but alas no one had it. So then after a time he gets up and the woman says 'no no' and shakes her head and covers her face. He goes over to the table behind us and then all of sudden gets belligerent and security and the waiters rush him and we think we are going to get fallen on top of by this guy and the huge bouncer and a brawl will break out! But luckily they finished their drinks and were escorted out. I really wonder why he tried to attack them if he was looking for a lighter...
The next night we tried our luck with the Green Devil: Absinthe. 70% alcohol and a mix of Anise flower, Wormwood, and Fennel. It is very aromatic and very good to drink (in sips only of course!) It had a fiery taste to it but not in an unpleasant way like vodka, gin, or bourbon. Very good, I hope to have more in the future. Also that night Jess and I discovered that between a Georgetown friend coming to London before we left and our eating habits in Praha, we had consumed 20 alcoholic drinks in the span of one week, yet were never drunk. On the way back, we got distracted and wound up severely lost and outside a police station. We asked the officer where to go to get to the hostel and showed him the map. We both had a collective sense of doom as he moved his finger quite a distance away from our destination. He said "Take taxi" We said "No, we'd like to walk which way to go?" and he said "No take a taxi get you there in good time" so then we asked "Which way to the Vltava?" and we walked it back. We ended up in Nove Mesto (New Town) because we took one right turn too many and went south instead of north.
Overall, the trip was a lot of fun and we both agreed to future travels in midweek jaunts. Perhaps Amsterdam calls next?
Also I fly home the 14th. Can you dig it? This last week is going to be busy...
We found a really old beer hall, U Flecku, dating from 1459 and serving the same dark lager recipe since its inception. It had a really good atmosphere and a lederhosen-wearing accordionist and tubist. The next night we went, we felt the lack of tuba impacted the atmosphere and I kept chanting, "NEEDS MORE TUBA!!!" The decor seemed really old style, like out of the 1500s. But on the first night we were there, we would have given anything to understand Czech. Next to us sat a man and woman and we couldn't tell if they were dating or married (they had no rings so marriage unlikely), and whatever was happening, their relationship was on the rocks. The woman would not look him in the face and even ripped her hand out of his hold. He must have been out of his mind because he kept playing the duo musicians to play at his table and would hum them tunes to sing and he was paying them, at the one time I saw, with a 1000 Coruna note (that's 30 quid!!!) The woman kept telling him not to and shaking her head, but he would not listen. He kept asking people for a lighter for a cigarette (by asking for 'fire' and making a lighter motion with his hand) but alas no one had it. So then after a time he gets up and the woman says 'no no' and shakes her head and covers her face. He goes over to the table behind us and then all of sudden gets belligerent and security and the waiters rush him and we think we are going to get fallen on top of by this guy and the huge bouncer and a brawl will break out! But luckily they finished their drinks and were escorted out. I really wonder why he tried to attack them if he was looking for a lighter...
The next night we tried our luck with the Green Devil: Absinthe. 70% alcohol and a mix of Anise flower, Wormwood, and Fennel. It is very aromatic and very good to drink (in sips only of course!) It had a fiery taste to it but not in an unpleasant way like vodka, gin, or bourbon. Very good, I hope to have more in the future. Also that night Jess and I discovered that between a Georgetown friend coming to London before we left and our eating habits in Praha, we had consumed 20 alcoholic drinks in the span of one week, yet were never drunk. On the way back, we got distracted and wound up severely lost and outside a police station. We asked the officer where to go to get to the hostel and showed him the map. We both had a collective sense of doom as he moved his finger quite a distance away from our destination. He said "Take taxi" We said "No, we'd like to walk which way to go?" and he said "No take a taxi get you there in good time" so then we asked "Which way to the Vltava?" and we walked it back. We ended up in Nove Mesto (New Town) because we took one right turn too many and went south instead of north.
Overall, the trip was a lot of fun and we both agreed to future travels in midweek jaunts. Perhaps Amsterdam calls next?
Also I fly home the 14th. Can you dig it? This last week is going to be busy...
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Edinburgh and 2 Months In
Yes I can't believe it, but I am two months in and practically 2 weeks away from coming home. Exciting times for everything. A whirlwind of events. I'll try to keep you updated but no guarantees. My emotions? Too complicated: excited and stressed. Busy and lethargic. Energized and sleepy. Maybe I should just do random word association for the rest of my blog posts and see if anyone can decipher them.
So Edinburgh was really awe inspiring and fun. As soon as I stepped out of Waverly Rail Station in the middle of the Old Town in the gully between both sides, immediately all the grey stonework and castle looking fascades and the dominating hill with Edinburgh Castle on it struck me all at once. It was really awe inspiring and I think I spent most of my time just enjoying the prettiness of it all. I would definitely go back there again, there is still so much to see. And even just walking around and taking in the atmosphere was great. I hit the Royal Mile which is the main historical street and has many sites on it such as Edinburgh Castle (which houses the Scottish Crown Jewels and Sceptre), many museums, St Giles's Cathedral, Scottish Parliament, and Holyrood Palace, the monarchs official residence in Scotland. There was also the Scotch Whiskey Heritage Centre which for 9 quid, I got a free shot of Scotch, a free Scotch connoisseur glass, and a tour/info session on the history and manufacturing of that "water of life" (what whiskey ironically means). I hope don't think I am an alcohol by this point now in my living experience in the UK.
I forgot to mention that Edinburgh (both the Old and New Towns) is a UNESCO world heritage site. The New Town was a planned city in the 1700s, to alleviate the crowding and lack of sanitation and tenements in the Old Town. All the perfectly laid out grey stone houses of Old Town is really quaint and very impressive to look at.
Besides seeing sites and museums, I hiked two hills: Calton Hill and the Salisbury Crags, culminating in Arthur's Seat the highest point in the city at 250 metres. Calton Hill I hit on the first full day right near dusk and I got some really beautiful shots of the Salisbury Crags and the Old Town. It was really great, and I lucked out being able to capture that on camera. On Calton Hill is a Nelson Monument (seems like they are everywhere; well, he with Wellington are Britain's only two military heroes!!!) and "Edinburgh's Disgrace". a monument that was not finished and is just left there as naked columns of an incomplete Parthenon.
Ah yes, the ultimate climb: the Salisbury Crags and Arthur's Seat. It was not too bad of a hike, though it was much steeper going to Arthur's Seat. I could be biased because I am in pretty good shape (or don't respond to pain and tire--I endure hardship like a good Slav!) The view was spectacular up there, though it was really windy and I almost got blown off Arthur's Seat a few times. Also the wind made it really really cold, I don't know how I managed to not freeze my rear off. So then I came down and puttered around a bit and that was the end of my mid-week jaunt to Edinburgh. Fun stuff, no? Next up: Praha...
So Edinburgh was really awe inspiring and fun. As soon as I stepped out of Waverly Rail Station in the middle of the Old Town in the gully between both sides, immediately all the grey stonework and castle looking fascades and the dominating hill with Edinburgh Castle on it struck me all at once. It was really awe inspiring and I think I spent most of my time just enjoying the prettiness of it all. I would definitely go back there again, there is still so much to see. And even just walking around and taking in the atmosphere was great. I hit the Royal Mile which is the main historical street and has many sites on it such as Edinburgh Castle (which houses the Scottish Crown Jewels and Sceptre), many museums, St Giles's Cathedral, Scottish Parliament, and Holyrood Palace, the monarchs official residence in Scotland. There was also the Scotch Whiskey Heritage Centre which for 9 quid, I got a free shot of Scotch, a free Scotch connoisseur glass, and a tour/info session on the history and manufacturing of that "water of life" (what whiskey ironically means). I hope don't think I am an alcohol by this point now in my living experience in the UK.
I forgot to mention that Edinburgh (both the Old and New Towns) is a UNESCO world heritage site. The New Town was a planned city in the 1700s, to alleviate the crowding and lack of sanitation and tenements in the Old Town. All the perfectly laid out grey stone houses of Old Town is really quaint and very impressive to look at.
Besides seeing sites and museums, I hiked two hills: Calton Hill and the Salisbury Crags, culminating in Arthur's Seat the highest point in the city at 250 metres. Calton Hill I hit on the first full day right near dusk and I got some really beautiful shots of the Salisbury Crags and the Old Town. It was really great, and I lucked out being able to capture that on camera. On Calton Hill is a Nelson Monument (seems like they are everywhere; well, he with Wellington are Britain's only two military heroes!!!) and "Edinburgh's Disgrace". a monument that was not finished and is just left there as naked columns of an incomplete Parthenon.
Ah yes, the ultimate climb: the Salisbury Crags and Arthur's Seat. It was not too bad of a hike, though it was much steeper going to Arthur's Seat. I could be biased because I am in pretty good shape (or don't respond to pain and tire--I endure hardship like a good Slav!) The view was spectacular up there, though it was really windy and I almost got blown off Arthur's Seat a few times. Also the wind made it really really cold, I don't know how I managed to not freeze my rear off. So then I came down and puttered around a bit and that was the end of my mid-week jaunt to Edinburgh. Fun stuff, no? Next up: Praha...
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Quickie
One word to describe Edinburgh: stunning!
Previous post updated. Better get back to enjoying the city before I have to head out! Ciao people. More info will come when I get time
Previous post updated. Better get back to enjoying the city before I have to head out! Ciao people. More info will come when I get time
Saturday, November 24, 2007
One Before Edinburgh
Can't believe it! Tomorrow is my first real trip while I have been over here! Then another next week then my final week and I am home. Hope I don't die from excitement here. Unfortunately I messed up my booking (forgot AM/PM isn't used here!) so I had to pay a refund fee which sucked big time but at least I got a later train. I leave midday Tuesday but I think I will have internet so I should at least be semi reachable if it is important (I'll let you use your judgment on whether something is important.) Any ideas where I should go when I get there? I can walk the city in a few hours I hear, so I should be able to cover most of everything.
So yes this past weekend, I went to Canterbury on Sunday. But the night before, I was hungry and made some bad food choices (canned tuna in oil, later microwave Indian) so I went to sleep earlier and I ended up getting all nauseated and thought I was going to vomit: the first time not from alcohol since High School! hah! So I am feeling horrible and leaning over my garbage can in my room and I am looking for stuff to do to keep my mind off it. Econometrics homework (as was suggested to me after the fact) I don't think was going to cut it at the time...
It was realy bizarre but I felt really alone right at that moment, the most alone I can think in recent memory. I really wanted someone there, right there, right at that moment. But I knew there was no one and it was only me and I felt God-awful. It was really a creepy, desolate feeling. I wanted someone there but I knew it couldn't be...
So I go on Gmail and I see that Daniel my old roommate was online, so we talk. Well it went for a while and I barely got 3 and a half hours of sleep and he is in Moscow, so God help him. But what did we talk about? I'll say this at the risk of being called gay by my friends who were slamming someone we know back on the Hilltop who does it: poetry. Yeah I admit, sometimes when I feel inspired I write it. I make no claims that it is good or that it will help foster world peace, but as I said, when I feel inspired and something comes to me, I write it down.
So we were talking about methodology and form, aims and how to treat the reader. It's not easy trying to write good poetry and the aims and goals and how to achieve them are difficult to figure sometimes. My problem is I have no patience for editing, which is bad. I have ideas and even if they come out bad, I feel if I edit it I would lose it. Also I think I really just write poetry for myself (to show to others too also: it's sort of complicated to explain...) and how it comes out is maybe mental healing for me or just trying to express what I feel and damn the winds if people don't like it, or I am too lazy to edit, or it comes out reading like garbage. But then again I do want presentable poetry...hmm...maybe I just need to stop being lazy and edit better :-P
However by the end of the conversation I was feeling much better and was able to go back to bed. So yes, after long talks about poetry, sleep deprivation was a major issue as I went to Canterbury. Everyone's favorite tour guide Simon gave us a show of the town and then I went to a really creepy Canterbury Tales museum. The creeptastic part was the mannequins because they were really bizarre and reminded me of Genesis's "Land of Confusion" music video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBdUz_IJ4VA Also the Priest who told his tale was pretty funny: really only because he was telling the story of Russell the Fox and "Chanticleer the Cock" Yes I think we were giggling like middle school boys the whole time. How could you not? That is the most ridiculous name ever!
The Cathedral was really pretty architecturally and also I saw the library where William Somerset Maugham's (famous British author, for the illiterati) ashes are spread about. Towards the end, I walked around the town market and looked at the vendors and shops. All in all it was good and the lack of sleep didn't really affect me luckily.
On unrelated note: British food sucks, but orange-banana juice from Sainsbury's is very creamy much more so than in the US: quite nice.
Another unrelated note: As if you didn't need a reason to hate the Kennedys, here is even more: they lobotomized their sister and got away with it. Is that fucked up or what? Damn them... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosemary_Kennedy
So yes this past weekend, I went to Canterbury on Sunday. But the night before, I was hungry and made some bad food choices (canned tuna in oil, later microwave Indian) so I went to sleep earlier and I ended up getting all nauseated and thought I was going to vomit: the first time not from alcohol since High School! hah! So I am feeling horrible and leaning over my garbage can in my room and I am looking for stuff to do to keep my mind off it. Econometrics homework (as was suggested to me after the fact) I don't think was going to cut it at the time...
It was realy bizarre but I felt really alone right at that moment, the most alone I can think in recent memory. I really wanted someone there, right there, right at that moment. But I knew there was no one and it was only me and I felt God-awful. It was really a creepy, desolate feeling. I wanted someone there but I knew it couldn't be...
So I go on Gmail and I see that Daniel my old roommate was online, so we talk. Well it went for a while and I barely got 3 and a half hours of sleep and he is in Moscow, so God help him. But what did we talk about? I'll say this at the risk of being called gay by my friends who were slamming someone we know back on the Hilltop who does it: poetry. Yeah I admit, sometimes when I feel inspired I write it. I make no claims that it is good or that it will help foster world peace, but as I said, when I feel inspired and something comes to me, I write it down.
So we were talking about methodology and form, aims and how to treat the reader. It's not easy trying to write good poetry and the aims and goals and how to achieve them are difficult to figure sometimes. My problem is I have no patience for editing, which is bad. I have ideas and even if they come out bad, I feel if I edit it I would lose it. Also I think I really just write poetry for myself (to show to others too also: it's sort of complicated to explain...) and how it comes out is maybe mental healing for me or just trying to express what I feel and damn the winds if people don't like it, or I am too lazy to edit, or it comes out reading like garbage. But then again I do want presentable poetry...hmm...maybe I just need to stop being lazy and edit better :-P
However by the end of the conversation I was feeling much better and was able to go back to bed. So yes, after long talks about poetry, sleep deprivation was a major issue as I went to Canterbury. Everyone's favorite tour guide Simon gave us a show of the town and then I went to a really creepy Canterbury Tales museum. The creeptastic part was the mannequins because they were really bizarre and reminded me of Genesis's "Land of Confusion" music video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBdUz_IJ4VA Also the Priest who told his tale was pretty funny: really only because he was telling the story of Russell the Fox and "Chanticleer the Cock" Yes I think we were giggling like middle school boys the whole time. How could you not? That is the most ridiculous name ever!
The Cathedral was really pretty architecturally and also I saw the library where William Somerset Maugham's (famous British author, for the illiterati) ashes are spread about. Towards the end, I walked around the town market and looked at the vendors and shops. All in all it was good and the lack of sleep didn't really affect me luckily.
On unrelated note: British food sucks, but orange-banana juice from Sainsbury's is very creamy much more so than in the US: quite nice.
Another unrelated note: As if you didn't need a reason to hate the Kennedys, here is even more: they lobotomized their sister and got away with it. Is that fucked up or what? Damn them... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosemary_Kennedy
Friday, November 23, 2007
Thanksgiving for not giving Thanks
Sorry if the title is sacrilegious or harsh (somehow I doubt it is either...) Thanksgiving was...interesting. I was going to say near disaster/underwhelming but I don't want to be too downtrodden and pessimistic while I am abroad in a country that does not understand the importance of Puritanical fanatics feasting with American Indians, unaware of the fact that they will shortly be genocided into oblivion by their dinner guests! So the Brits don't even get Thanksgiving. I didn't really ask anyone about it but it passed completely under the radar in common day going-ons in London. A shame.
Ah yes so how does this relate to the story I am trying to relate to you? Well the first sign was that there was no prevailing Thanksgiving spirit. The next problem was that I had work due for my classes the day after. And of course I said I would work ahead, but did I? No. So guess what I spent my Thanksgiving day doing? Well if you said work, I would give you an A for effort. The days before I had tried to work, but I was sidetracked. Now I should probably put a disclaimer on this: I did not think once I got to London anyone would give a shit in the least about me and that I would disappear off the face of the Earth from my friends not here. Bizarrely enough, I was surprised people actually still wanted to talk to me and keep up with things from the States and elsewhere. Can you believe that? I can't. I'm flattered, thank you all, I guess this is one of those Thanksgiving "I told you so"'s. I guess I underestimated how much I was interesting enough and non-boring for my friends to keep things up with. However, when you get a torrential flood of people Skyping you right before Thanksgiving (and during Thanksgiving) and you are trying to do work...doesn't turn out so well...
So yes, as I feverishly tried to get my work done, the evening and expected Thanksgiving dinner crept precipitously closer and closer. I checked the usual channels of what we were doing with my crew here. I thought we had agreed to go to "The Monument" for dinner: evidently not. A misunderstanding where some thought we were going to there and then those who were going to the Rosebury Hall dorm to have a turkey dinner there. So I acquiesced, gave in to peer pressure, and headed up to the Angel tube stop. I was a little late because of work and ran into Jess a little after 7PM. W e walked for a good 10 minutes in the wrong direction and then by the time we finally go there, they had run out of food. So I stopped turn to Jess and we both start laughing: obviously we know what is on our minds. We say goodbye to everyone after just arriving and we hop on the tube to the Monument stop.
We get to the pub and sure enough our eagerly awaited food is on the menu: however, this time it is not turkey but chicken in the sandwich! (later we figure out that the first time we were there it was indeed turkey and we weren't imagining things. They must have changed it because of the bird flu outbreak and the culling of flocks to stem it.) Maybe we were lucky we didn't drag everyone there, as we probably would have caused a riot of disgruntled Americans.
So in other news, the LSE campus has been bitching about a Miss LSE beauty pageant is "sexist" I don't even know where to start with that one except...yeah I just get pissed at this leftist trash sometimes. Why don't they try to integrate our bathrooms while you're at it? Also I received an email saying I cannot be the treasurer of different societies simultaneously. Ooops! I realized it must be the corruption of being the money book keeping authority in two different places, and the potential for corruption and political intrigue. Hahah too bad they caught me!
This weekend a whole slew of Hoyas comes to London. We'll see how that goes and I'll report back. Hopefully I will get time to explore more of London, though I feel like I have less time to do this (as I said before) and I still need to hit the O2 with King Tut, potentially expiring special exhibits at the Imperial War Museum, and hit Notting Hill. All the while I am going to Edinburgh and Praha and I will be going home to the States in 3 weeks!
Ah yes so how does this relate to the story I am trying to relate to you? Well the first sign was that there was no prevailing Thanksgiving spirit. The next problem was that I had work due for my classes the day after. And of course I said I would work ahead, but did I? No. So guess what I spent my Thanksgiving day doing? Well if you said work, I would give you an A for effort. The days before I had tried to work, but I was sidetracked. Now I should probably put a disclaimer on this: I did not think once I got to London anyone would give a shit in the least about me and that I would disappear off the face of the Earth from my friends not here. Bizarrely enough, I was surprised people actually still wanted to talk to me and keep up with things from the States and elsewhere. Can you believe that? I can't. I'm flattered, thank you all, I guess this is one of those Thanksgiving "I told you so"'s. I guess I underestimated how much I was interesting enough and non-boring for my friends to keep things up with. However, when you get a torrential flood of people Skyping you right before Thanksgiving (and during Thanksgiving) and you are trying to do work...doesn't turn out so well...
So yes, as I feverishly tried to get my work done, the evening and expected Thanksgiving dinner crept precipitously closer and closer. I checked the usual channels of what we were doing with my crew here. I thought we had agreed to go to "The Monument" for dinner: evidently not. A misunderstanding where some thought we were going to there and then those who were going to the Rosebury Hall dorm to have a turkey dinner there. So I acquiesced, gave in to peer pressure, and headed up to the Angel tube stop. I was a little late because of work and ran into Jess a little after 7PM. W e walked for a good 10 minutes in the wrong direction and then by the time we finally go there, they had run out of food. So I stopped turn to Jess and we both start laughing: obviously we know what is on our minds. We say goodbye to everyone after just arriving and we hop on the tube to the Monument stop.
We get to the pub and sure enough our eagerly awaited food is on the menu: however, this time it is not turkey but chicken in the sandwich! (later we figure out that the first time we were there it was indeed turkey and we weren't imagining things. They must have changed it because of the bird flu outbreak and the culling of flocks to stem it.) Maybe we were lucky we didn't drag everyone there, as we probably would have caused a riot of disgruntled Americans.
So in other news, the LSE campus has been bitching about a Miss LSE beauty pageant is "sexist" I don't even know where to start with that one except...yeah I just get pissed at this leftist trash sometimes. Why don't they try to integrate our bathrooms while you're at it? Also I received an email saying I cannot be the treasurer of different societies simultaneously. Ooops! I realized it must be the corruption of being the money book keeping authority in two different places, and the potential for corruption and political intrigue. Hahah too bad they caught me!
This weekend a whole slew of Hoyas comes to London. We'll see how that goes and I'll report back. Hopefully I will get time to explore more of London, though I feel like I have less time to do this (as I said before) and I still need to hit the O2 with King Tut, potentially expiring special exhibits at the Imperial War Museum, and hit Notting Hill. All the while I am going to Edinburgh and Praha and I will be going home to the States in 3 weeks!
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
MIA for 11 Days? What gives?
Sorry adoring fans for my extended absence. Don't really know why that happened exactly. Probably had to get caught up on work that I put off from my birthday, had a few mental health days of doing nothing, went to Oxford for a day trip, then tried to get caught up on work and now I have my last radio show. And there is more that has passed and will come too!
So yes, radio show last week went well: today, I have my last show. So tune in at www.pulse.dj at 1-2PM EST (6-7PM GMT) you won't regret it!
Last weekend I went to Oxford. Really quaint fun little college town. Very Harry Potter (duh!) check out my facebook photo album. So yes, work last week and radio and Oxford took up my time. Yeah, there hasn't really been much to report then, mostly work, didn't venture into the center of London or back to Noting Hill like I said I would. I hope I find time to do that before I leave again for the states.
My schedule to the end, is more hectic than I thought: but also more exciting! Next week I go to Edinburgh in the middle of the week for 3 days, then the next week to Prague for 3 days and then that final week is my last week before I go home. Has time gone by or what? To give credit where credit is due, a Drew said it will feel like you have always been there yet not spent any time there at all. So true. So how I will do all this (two trips, walking tour of more of London and go to Noting Hill) and do course work remains to be seen...
So the most important holiday not celebrated over here: Thanksgiving! Yes, we have needed to
improvise on this one. Because of avian flu buying a turkey is "troppo costoso" to use Italian. So it seems like going to The Monument to a pub named "The Monument" to eat their turkey, cranberry sauce, and stuffing sandwiches and drink pints. Oh Thanksgiving! So now I better get back to work and prep for the final show tonight. And do work. Because this weekend I will need to do work before I go to Edinburgh, and do laundry, but I am failing to see how I am going to pull this off...also I need to finish reading something I promised someone I would...
So yes, radio show last week went well: today, I have my last show. So tune in at www.pulse.dj at 1-2PM EST (6-7PM GMT) you won't regret it!
Last weekend I went to Oxford. Really quaint fun little college town. Very Harry Potter (duh!) check out my facebook photo album. So yes, work last week and radio and Oxford took up my time. Yeah, there hasn't really been much to report then, mostly work, didn't venture into the center of London or back to Noting Hill like I said I would. I hope I find time to do that before I leave again for the states.
My schedule to the end, is more hectic than I thought: but also more exciting! Next week I go to Edinburgh in the middle of the week for 3 days, then the next week to Prague for 3 days and then that final week is my last week before I go home. Has time gone by or what? To give credit where credit is due, a Drew said it will feel like you have always been there yet not spent any time there at all. So true. So how I will do all this (two trips, walking tour of more of London and go to Noting Hill) and do course work remains to be seen...
So the most important holiday not celebrated over here: Thanksgiving! Yes, we have needed to
improvise on this one. Because of avian flu buying a turkey is "troppo costoso" to use Italian. So it seems like going to The Monument to a pub named "The Monument" to eat their turkey, cranberry sauce, and stuffing sandwiches and drink pints. Oh Thanksgiving! So now I better get back to work and prep for the final show tonight. And do work. Because this weekend I will need to do work before I go to Edinburgh, and do laundry, but I am failing to see how I am going to pull this off...also I need to finish reading something I promised someone I would...
Saturday, November 10, 2007
They Say It's Your Birthday!
Yep! Two days ago I turned 21. I thought it would be a little anti-climatic considering it doesn't carry the same significance over here as in the States: was I wrong! I took everyone out to a nice Sushi/Japanese Fusion restaurant that had damn good Sushi though a little pricey, but eh you only live once!
So we went to the Crown and drank some. I whipped out two Cuban cigars I bought since it was my birthday and I realized the embargo didn't exist over here. Mmmmm a nice Cuban once in a blue moon does hit the spot. So one of my friends (who shall remain nameless) finds an advert for a hooker lying on the ground and decides he is going to call a prostitute for my birthday. I curse him out and say he is full of it. He didn't even know my dorm address so how could he call one for me?
So after The Crown we went to Shakespeare's Head, another local hangout and we were there in time for Midnight and my coming of age. Of course my friends wanted me to properly celebrate by drinking a Three Wise Men. Now what is a Three Wise Men you may ask? Here it goes: one shot, made from 1/3 shot of each of the following: Jim Bean, Jack Daniels, and Jose Cuervo. 2 parts whiskey, 1 part tequila. (NB- actually this is a Mexican Three Wise Men: the real Three Wise Men uses Johnnie Walker instead of Tequila.) Sounds fun, right? They were impressed I didn't flinch. While we are there, it seems a troop of deaf people were enjoying the time as well. So I decide to be tasteless and do my world renowned deaf impression. Ironically it was well received by those who had tact and not well received by those who were shameless. Interesting...
On the way out as the night was winding down we got a hot dog from the hot dog man. It really hit the spot. Then my friends tried to trap me in their kitchen and feed me more alcohol: I managed to run away back to my room. The next day, as I am waking up late, I get a call on my cell from a number I don't know and a guy with a sketchy Eastern European accent answers saying he has "something to give me"!!!!!!!! I thought I called the bluff wrong earlier about the hooker I thought. But no! It was only balloons from my parents, a joke on me for my birthday and an exercise in ridiculousness. They are still floating here in my room.
I really had a lot of fun and a relaxing, lazy, happy, content weekend. Really a nice feeling that I hadn't had in a while. Thanks again to everyone who made my birthday great!
Today, I am celebrating a friend's birthday who was in my group for my birthday. It's not even 6 and I am feeling the drinking. Will I have more booze than my birthday? I'll get back to you in a few!
So we went to the Crown and drank some. I whipped out two Cuban cigars I bought since it was my birthday and I realized the embargo didn't exist over here. Mmmmm a nice Cuban once in a blue moon does hit the spot. So one of my friends (who shall remain nameless) finds an advert for a hooker lying on the ground and decides he is going to call a prostitute for my birthday. I curse him out and say he is full of it. He didn't even know my dorm address so how could he call one for me?
So after The Crown we went to Shakespeare's Head, another local hangout and we were there in time for Midnight and my coming of age. Of course my friends wanted me to properly celebrate by drinking a Three Wise Men. Now what is a Three Wise Men you may ask? Here it goes: one shot, made from 1/3 shot of each of the following: Jim Bean, Jack Daniels, and Jose Cuervo. 2 parts whiskey, 1 part tequila. (NB- actually this is a Mexican Three Wise Men: the real Three Wise Men uses Johnnie Walker instead of Tequila.) Sounds fun, right? They were impressed I didn't flinch. While we are there, it seems a troop of deaf people were enjoying the time as well. So I decide to be tasteless and do my world renowned deaf impression. Ironically it was well received by those who had tact and not well received by those who were shameless. Interesting...
On the way out as the night was winding down we got a hot dog from the hot dog man. It really hit the spot. Then my friends tried to trap me in their kitchen and feed me more alcohol: I managed to run away back to my room. The next day, as I am waking up late, I get a call on my cell from a number I don't know and a guy with a sketchy Eastern European accent answers saying he has "something to give me"!!!!!!!! I thought I called the bluff wrong earlier about the hooker I thought. But no! It was only balloons from my parents, a joke on me for my birthday and an exercise in ridiculousness. They are still floating here in my room.
I really had a lot of fun and a relaxing, lazy, happy, content weekend. Really a nice feeling that I hadn't had in a while. Thanks again to everyone who made my birthday great!
Today, I am celebrating a friend's birthday who was in my group for my birthday. It's not even 6 and I am feeling the drinking. Will I have more booze than my birthday? I'll get back to you in a few!
First Radio Show--A Success!!!
Haha this is going to be tough. I guess the lead up to my 21st Birthday eclipsed something just as cool: My First radio show on Pulse! Radio!!!
Maybe I should give background: I did radio for Georgetown for 2 years and was a DJ and station Tech Director. Huzzah! So I've been doing shows for a while and when I got to LSE I decided that I wanted to do the radio here too. I applied for a limited slot, the specialist DJs who can play whatever they want. It would be really tough and I didn't think that me hawking the genre of my show would be good enough to get picked up. The genre? The Musicology of US Classic Rock (or at least this is what they morphed it into for "World Wednesdays")
I guess I gave away above what happened (or even in the opening lines) They picked me up for a slot. Hot!
So at the start of my show I was a bit nervous, because well, I didn't know if people would like it because since I was doing the whole story of US rock, I was starting out with some early stuff in 1965 and I thought people would snicker at the fact I was playing oldies. Also I only had a one hour slot instead of two hours like I did at Georgetown so I felt pressed for time. After I slight anxious start, it went off well and surprisingly it seemed like some of the powers that be liked it! Hell I found a hidden Buffalo Springfield fan in our Production Manager and he's trying to convince me to--NO! not giving away the next show!
I would recommend listening to it live because it is a lot of fun. But if you miss it, I can podcast it afterwards using yousendit.com. There are two more shows so listen in! Wednesday the 14th and 21st. It's on at 6-7PM GMT (1-2PM EST for you in the States!)
The podcast link to the first show on the 7th in case you missed it: http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=4C89DBA958E056F8
SPOILER ALERT: don't read ahead if you want to watch the show and be surprised. It is the show song playlist.
November 7th
1. The Beatles - Can't Buy Me Love
2. The Rolling Stones - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
3. The Kinks - You Really Got Me
4. The Who - My Generation
^^^Excerpted to show what the Americans were up against
5. The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man
6. Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone
7. Paul Revere & The Raiders - Steppin' Out
8. Barry McGuire - Eve Of Destruction
9. Bobby Fuller Four - I Fought The Law
10. Simon & Garfunkel - Scarborough Fair-Canticle
11. The Turtles - Outside Chance
12. The Lovin' Spoonful - Summer in the City
13. The Association - Looking Glass (Single Version)
14. The Byrds - Eight Miles High
15. The Electric Prunes - I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)
16. The Doors - Light My Fire
17. The Buckinghams - Don't You Care
18. Mason Williams - Classical Gas
Maybe I should give background: I did radio for Georgetown for 2 years and was a DJ and station Tech Director. Huzzah! So I've been doing shows for a while and when I got to LSE I decided that I wanted to do the radio here too. I applied for a limited slot, the specialist DJs who can play whatever they want. It would be really tough and I didn't think that me hawking the genre of my show would be good enough to get picked up. The genre? The Musicology of US Classic Rock (or at least this is what they morphed it into for "World Wednesdays")
I guess I gave away above what happened (or even in the opening lines) They picked me up for a slot. Hot!
So at the start of my show I was a bit nervous, because well, I didn't know if people would like it because since I was doing the whole story of US rock, I was starting out with some early stuff in 1965 and I thought people would snicker at the fact I was playing oldies. Also I only had a one hour slot instead of two hours like I did at Georgetown so I felt pressed for time. After I slight anxious start, it went off well and surprisingly it seemed like some of the powers that be liked it! Hell I found a hidden Buffalo Springfield fan in our Production Manager and he's trying to convince me to--NO! not giving away the next show!
I would recommend listening to it live because it is a lot of fun. But if you miss it, I can podcast it afterwards using yousendit.com. There are two more shows so listen in! Wednesday the 14th and 21st. It's on at 6-7PM GMT (1-2PM EST for you in the States!)
The podcast link to the first show on the 7th in case you missed it: http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=4C89DBA958E056F8
SPOILER ALERT: don't read ahead if you want to watch the show and be surprised. It is the show song playlist.
November 7th
1. The Beatles - Can't Buy Me Love
2. The Rolling Stones - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
3. The Kinks - You Really Got Me
4. The Who - My Generation
^^^Excerpted to show what the Americans were up against
5. The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man
6. Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone
7. Paul Revere & The Raiders - Steppin' Out
8. Barry McGuire - Eve Of Destruction
9. Bobby Fuller Four - I Fought The Law
10. Simon & Garfunkel - Scarborough Fair-Canticle
11. The Turtles - Outside Chance
12. The Lovin' Spoonful - Summer in the City
13. The Association - Looking Glass (Single Version)
14. The Byrds - Eight Miles High
15. The Electric Prunes - I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)
16. The Doors - Light My Fire
17. The Buckinghams - Don't You Care
18. Mason Williams - Classical Gas
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Living with People (ie Your Flatmates)
So far, I've really enjoyed living in my flat. A little quiet (rather that than noisy party animals) and everyone is pretty friendly. But you know as the year progresses there are little pet peeves that creep up on you. And this one has to do with our communal kitchen.
So I've been trying to force myself to cook and break the habit of Sainsbury's microwave dinners. (I will prevail, don't worry!) So one day, I am thumbing through my silverware drawer and I notice my spatula is missing. Ashamedly, I only noticed then because I was looking in the drawer and hadn't noticed it because I needed to use it. So I ended up finding it in another drawer, cleaned but obviously used: hmmm....
So I kept on the look out and yesterday I came in to cook a microwave dinner (I swear lamb in a skillet is coming up, I promise!) It was quite the party as half my flat was in there, and I go into the drawer to get a fork, and I notice my spatula and knife are both missing. So I look around and I see that my knife and fork are in a dirty dish pile and I know who has been cooking right then....
I decide to wait and see what happens. The dirty dishes disappear and I go back to my drawer and sure enough, my knife and spatula aren't there. So I look in the drawer of a certain someone and they are there.I obvious take them back.
Now the question is what to do. They must known I am on to them, since I took the stuff back. But I don't want to be a douchebag and bring it up, yet at the same time, aren't they douchebags for not asking me for permission first? What am I going to say "Hey I saw you used my shit without asking me first" "Sorry! Can we use it now?" "Now that you asked, sure!" Yeah, a Catch-22. Any ideas anyone? (As you can see I don't have to deal with this stuff normally)
So I've been trying to force myself to cook and break the habit of Sainsbury's microwave dinners. (I will prevail, don't worry!) So one day, I am thumbing through my silverware drawer and I notice my spatula is missing. Ashamedly, I only noticed then because I was looking in the drawer and hadn't noticed it because I needed to use it. So I ended up finding it in another drawer, cleaned but obviously used: hmmm....
So I kept on the look out and yesterday I came in to cook a microwave dinner (I swear lamb in a skillet is coming up, I promise!) It was quite the party as half my flat was in there, and I go into the drawer to get a fork, and I notice my spatula and knife are both missing. So I look around and I see that my knife and fork are in a dirty dish pile and I know who has been cooking right then....
I decide to wait and see what happens. The dirty dishes disappear and I go back to my drawer and sure enough, my knife and spatula aren't there. So I look in the drawer of a certain someone and they are there.I obvious take them back.
Now the question is what to do. They must known I am on to them, since I took the stuff back. But I don't want to be a douchebag and bring it up, yet at the same time, aren't they douchebags for not asking me for permission first? What am I going to say "Hey I saw you used my shit without asking me first" "Sorry! Can we use it now?" "Now that you asked, sure!" Yeah, a Catch-22. Any ideas anyone? (As you can see I don't have to deal with this stuff normally)
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Quaintness--And the 5th of November!!!
I had another post from November 1st, I'm not sure if this is the place for it, maybe I will post it in the future. You can badger me if it piques your interest...
So yes, I decided to do the day trip to Bath offered subsidized by LSE. I didn't realize it was a two and half-hour drive to Bath from London on the coach. (Britishism!!!) It's actually pretty close to Bristol (15 minutes away), so yeah this was a hike to get there. I had to wake up at 7:20 to get there for our departure. I think that is the earliest I have woken up at LSE and at college ever; also the earliest since Construction this summer (8AM start time for work is not fun...) Anyway! So I get to the International Student House first in the morning which is a ways away by Regent's Park. So I get there and everyone speaks German and everyone is from Westminster University. Guess I'm going it alone this time.
We get on the coach and leave the city on the highway and this is where it gets odd. For the whole trip, everything was blanketed in fog. I've seen thicker fog, but this fog continued on forever and ever and ever. Damn, are the stereotypes correct! So then within a little while of leaving the city limits and being in the English farmland (Jersey cows and sheep everywhere), everyone on the bus simultaneously passes out and goes to sleep. 2 hours later on the outskirts we wake up and our tour guide gives us his spiel.
We walked around town for a bit, seeing the sites and went to the Roman Baths. The water is 46.6 degrees Celsius and this is the only hot natural spring in Britain; also the water of Bath
supposedly has therapeutic powers. The Roman architecture and engineering was impressive as usual. Most of the town is made from this golden limestone called Bath Stone. It's very pretty and gives the impression of Imperial grandeur, Eastern European cities, and Italy. A zoning board keeps strict control over making sure everything is aesthetically pleasing and historically accurate looking.
Finally I got the Fall colours I was looking for. Especially before the fog burnt off in the midday sun, everything seemed perfectly autumnal. All surrounded by foliage and Bath Stone architecture, I walked around watching street performers play Vivaldi's Four Seasons on xylophones, a military ceremony (in preparation for Armistice Day perhaps?), and two men with
torches attempting to extinguish the flame with their groins. Yes you read right: their groins. then I walked around looking at shops and buildings and then asked myself "What does Bath actually do as an industry?" and then I realized it relies on tourism and rich city-goers who own second houses for 700,000 quid.
Quaint indeed.
So we boarded the bus and drove back to London. Obligatorily everyone again passed out in their seats and fell asleep. Little did we realize what would later wake us up as we neared London...
------------------
Ah yes the 5th of November! Guy Fawkes Day! "That V guy blows up that clock-tower-thingy!" (you know who you are! :-P) So little did I know that over here they actually celebrate that Catholic traitor's attempt to blow up the buildings of Parliament. And they celebrate with a shitload of fireworks. Now to warn you first, they are not as impressive visually as the United States' for the 4th of July, however what they lack in size and scale they make up for in random-ass chaos, pandemonium, and ubiquity. Also adding to the chaos was the fact, since November 5th is a weekday, they decided to have the fireworks over the weekend.
But it seems like every municipality and borough decided to have their own little fireworks show and have it whenever the hell they wanted. So you would be walking or driving around and randomly all around you, there would be fireworks. And the town budgets were so small and the shows seemed so short, you couldn't tell which were legit shows and which were drunk guys firing god-knows what off their back porches. Explosions everywhere for two nights straight. It even kept you on your toes: the explosions would stop long enough that you though the shows were over and you lost your guard and then BOOOM! explosion again. It felt like someone was shelling my dorm Saturday night and that mortar fire was raining down around me. I'm in London, not Baghdad right? Also how were these people managing to do so many randomly in the city? Who knows...
So that was my fun weekend (note: my put photos in back posts as they are amusing me)
So yes, I decided to do the day trip to Bath offered subsidized by LSE. I didn't realize it was a two and half-hour drive to Bath from London on the coach. (Britishism!!!) It's actually pretty close to Bristol (15 minutes away), so yeah this was a hike to get there. I had to wake up at 7:20 to get there for our departure. I think that is the earliest I have woken up at LSE and at college ever; also the earliest since Construction this summer (8AM start time for work is not fun...) Anyway! So I get to the International Student House first in the morning which is a ways away by Regent's Park. So I get there and everyone speaks German and everyone is from Westminster University. Guess I'm going it alone this time.
We get on the coach and leave the city on the highway and this is where it gets odd. For the whole trip, everything was blanketed in fog. I've seen thicker fog, but this fog continued on forever and ever and ever. Damn, are the stereotypes correct! So then within a little while of leaving the city limits and being in the English farmland (Jersey cows and sheep everywhere), everyone on the bus simultaneously passes out and goes to sleep. 2 hours later on the outskirts we wake up and our tour guide gives us his spiel.
We walked around town for a bit, seeing the sites and went to the Roman Baths. The water is 46.6 degrees Celsius and this is the only hot natural spring in Britain; also the water of Bath
supposedly has therapeutic powers. The Roman architecture and engineering was impressive as usual. Most of the town is made from this golden limestone called Bath Stone. It's very pretty and gives the impression of Imperial grandeur, Eastern European cities, and Italy. A zoning board keeps strict control over making sure everything is aesthetically pleasing and historically accurate looking.Finally I got the Fall colours I was looking for. Especially before the fog burnt off in the midday sun, everything seemed perfectly autumnal. All surrounded by foliage and Bath Stone architecture, I walked around watching street performers play Vivaldi's Four Seasons on xylophones, a military ceremony (in preparation for Armistice Day perhaps?), and two men with
torches attempting to extinguish the flame with their groins. Yes you read right: their groins. then I walked around looking at shops and buildings and then asked myself "What does Bath actually do as an industry?" and then I realized it relies on tourism and rich city-goers who own second houses for 700,000 quid.Quaint indeed.
So we boarded the bus and drove back to London. Obligatorily everyone again passed out in their seats and fell asleep. Little did we realize what would later wake us up as we neared London...
------------------
Ah yes the 5th of November! Guy Fawkes Day! "That V guy blows up that clock-tower-thingy!" (you know who you are! :-P) So little did I know that over here they actually celebrate that Catholic traitor's attempt to blow up the buildings of Parliament. And they celebrate with a shitload of fireworks. Now to warn you first, they are not as impressive visually as the United States' for the 4th of July, however what they lack in size and scale they make up for in random-ass chaos, pandemonium, and ubiquity. Also adding to the chaos was the fact, since November 5th is a weekday, they decided to have the fireworks over the weekend.
But it seems like every municipality and borough decided to have their own little fireworks show and have it whenever the hell they wanted. So you would be walking or driving around and randomly all around you, there would be fireworks. And the town budgets were so small and the shows seemed so short, you couldn't tell which were legit shows and which were drunk guys firing god-knows what off their back porches. Explosions everywhere for two nights straight. It even kept you on your toes: the explosions would stop long enough that you though the shows were over and you lost your guard and then BOOOM! explosion again. It felt like someone was shelling my dorm Saturday night and that mortar fire was raining down around me. I'm in London, not Baghdad right? Also how were these people managing to do so many randomly in the city? Who knows...
So that was my fun weekend (note: my put photos in back posts as they are amusing me)
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Now 1 Month In? All Hallows Even
Is it now a month in? Damn the 30/31 day month deal and the fact it is November. Damn.
Also, I finally walked to Battersea Station and Chelsea and walked around the Tower of London for Hallowe'en. As I knew and have been finding out, this holiday isn't so big over here. I took the bus back from the Tower of London and it was pretty cool and here's why. All the public bus routes are farmed out to the lowest bidder among competing private companies (and they say Britain is more socialist than the US!) so they run it however they want as long as the provide the service requested. So I am waiting for the bus and sure enough this ancient double decker bus rolls up and I felt like I was back in the 1940s or something. It was really cool: I wish I had snagged a picture. Also it was so old, I was looking where to swipe my Oyster card and this transit worker chuckled told me to sit down and touch it to his reader. That was pretty funny. In other news, I am going to see a performance of Holst's "The Planets" tomorrow at the Royal Albert Hall. Also I should get some sleep
Also, I finally walked to Battersea Station and Chelsea and walked around the Tower of London for Hallowe'en. As I knew and have been finding out, this holiday isn't so big over here. I took the bus back from the Tower of London and it was pretty cool and here's why. All the public bus routes are farmed out to the lowest bidder among competing private companies (and they say Britain is more socialist than the US!) so they run it however they want as long as the provide the service requested. So I am waiting for the bus and sure enough this ancient double decker bus rolls up and I felt like I was back in the 1940s or something. It was really cool: I wish I had snagged a picture. Also it was so old, I was looking where to swipe my Oyster card and this transit worker chuckled told me to sit down and touch it to his reader. That was pretty funny. In other news, I am going to see a performance of Holst's "The Planets" tomorrow at the Royal Albert Hall. Also I should get some sleep
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
1 Month In
1 Month since I arrived here. I can't believe it. It seemed like yesterday that I was the stupid American foreign exchange student who didn't know anything about London--oh wait.
hehe, no but in all honesty, it seems like no time has gone by yet like I have been here for some time and settled into the groove. I guess that is a good thing. This week, if after this I am good and get schoolwork done, I'll continue to see the last few remaining parts of central London that I didn't walk the first time. Also I think definitely tomorrow or the next day I will go see Battersea Power Station of Pink Floyd fame. For all you trivia people out there it also showed up in Children of Men and the new incarnation of Doctor Who. Also Bankside Power Station (now Tate Modern) was designed by the same architect. They are trying to preserve it but it's very dilapidated, so I want to get there before they knock it down.
Back to my rant about British food. Again what do they have against calling yogurt, "yogurt"? Instead you see the very helpfully descriptive substantive "Digestive". Yeah it really helps me digest...Also they don't seem to use artificial preservatives for anything: pasta sauce, salsa, you name it. A bit of a pain as everything is perishable or if it is canned you have to eat it pretty quickly. Does it taste better without all those "bad" artificial "chemicals"? If it does, I can't tell the difference in taste. So much for green food. On an upside, I got my nectar card in the post (Britishisms woohoo!) and with it, the joys of getting free stuff once I collect enough points. I recommend getting one. They're free at www.nectar.com and you can get some cool computer games or books or discounts. Really worth it. And I made 2 points for each pound I spent. Not bad at all.
So yes, revel in the month I have spent. So I'll leave you now as Latin American economic backwardness beckons...
hehe, no but in all honesty, it seems like no time has gone by yet like I have been here for some time and settled into the groove. I guess that is a good thing. This week, if after this I am good and get schoolwork done, I'll continue to see the last few remaining parts of central London that I didn't walk the first time. Also I think definitely tomorrow or the next day I will go see Battersea Power Station of Pink Floyd fame. For all you trivia people out there it also showed up in Children of Men and the new incarnation of Doctor Who. Also Bankside Power Station (now Tate Modern) was designed by the same architect. They are trying to preserve it but it's very dilapidated, so I want to get there before they knock it down.Back to my rant about British food. Again what do they have against calling yogurt, "yogurt"? Instead you see the very helpfully descriptive substantive "Digestive". Yeah it really helps me digest...Also they don't seem to use artificial preservatives for anything: pasta sauce, salsa, you name it. A bit of a pain as everything is perishable or if it is canned you have to eat it pretty quickly. Does it taste better without all those "bad" artificial "chemicals"? If it does, I can't tell the difference in taste. So much for green food. On an upside, I got my nectar card in the post (Britishisms woohoo!) and with it, the joys of getting free stuff once I collect enough points. I recommend getting one. They're free at www.nectar.com and you can get some cool computer games or books or discounts. Really worth it. And I made 2 points for each pound I spent. Not bad at all.
So yes, revel in the month I have spent. So I'll leave you now as Latin American economic backwardness beckons...
Sunday, October 28, 2007
King Harvest Has Surely Come
Daylight savings time all of sudden descended upon us. I didn't expect that it was happening so soon. They sort of switched it around back in the States so all the Trick-or-Treaters wouldn't be roaming through the dark. Didn't know what the deal was here either. So now we can come ever closer to 3:30PM sunsets! Fun!
Edit: Actually, according to my desk calendar which has all these weird terms and archaic words in English says that today is the End of Summer Time in the UK. In the US daylight savings time ends November 4th, so now I am only 4 hours ahead of the states. At least for the next week.
Walked Hyde Park yesterday and went to Paddington Station. Hyde Park was nice, we got to see the Prince Albert monument and Royal Albert Hall. (In case you didn't know Victoria really had the hots for this guy). The foliage was a bit disappointing: I was hoping it would be more colourful. Perhaps the best is yet to come or maybe the foliage is never good over here. Since Fall into biting-cold Winter is my favorite season, I miss how in the States it really hit you and took hold of you. In fact, I really missed it at Georgetown because in New Jersey, since it was farther north, you would actually have it happen sooner and colder. Yeah so Fall and foliage in New Jersey: I've been missing it for 3 years so far.
At Marble Arch, we met a Georgetown friend who had come down Oxford for a 2 day stint in London. Yesterday we ate at a Lebanese restaurant on Edgeware Road. Unfortunately it was a little underwhelming (maybe the real Middle Eastern hub is right off the road?) Tonight we go again to the glorious living textbook example of perfectly competitive markets--Brick Lane.
Addendum: that same night, we decided to meet some people at a bar, fatefully named G-A-Y. So of course it turns out to be a gay bar (no! really?) So we walk in, no cover fee. So as I walk in about 4 different guys eye me. OK, this is a new experience. Then I am walking along with my friends and I feel a tugging at the sleeve of my jacket and I look and some guy smiles and winks at me. God only knows what my face looked like at that moment. So we continue wading through the throng of people and stop. We start talking and then all of a sudden, I feel someone's hand going through the hair on the back of my head and their fingers combing through my hair. Sure enough, I turn around and a guy with a red cap on is eying me and I think even beckoning me over with his hand. A really bizarre experience but a pretty funny one at that. I think they stopped because the crowd of guys figured out I didn't swing that way; besides we left after a few minutes to look for a pub. In spite of what happened, I did like the ambiance of the place and maybe I will return there another time. A friend said in retrospect I should have hit those guys up for drinks: damn, I missed out on free drinks. Maybe I will bring some friends over there and not tell them what it is mwahaha. Anyway, for the record, I'm not gay (not that that should make a difference?)
Edit: Actually, according to my desk calendar which has all these weird terms and archaic words in English says that today is the End of Summer Time in the UK. In the US daylight savings time ends November 4th, so now I am only 4 hours ahead of the states. At least for the next week.
Walked Hyde Park yesterday and went to Paddington Station. Hyde Park was nice, we got to see the Prince Albert monument and Royal Albert Hall. (In case you didn't know Victoria really had the hots for this guy). The foliage was a bit disappointing: I was hoping it would be more colourful. Perhaps the best is yet to come or maybe the foliage is never good over here. Since Fall into biting-cold Winter is my favorite season, I miss how in the States it really hit you and took hold of you. In fact, I really missed it at Georgetown because in New Jersey, since it was farther north, you would actually have it happen sooner and colder. Yeah so Fall and foliage in New Jersey: I've been missing it for 3 years so far.
At Marble Arch, we met a Georgetown friend who had come down Oxford for a 2 day stint in London. Yesterday we ate at a Lebanese restaurant on Edgeware Road. Unfortunately it was a little underwhelming (maybe the real Middle Eastern hub is right off the road?) Tonight we go again to the glorious living textbook example of perfectly competitive markets--Brick Lane.
Addendum: that same night, we decided to meet some people at a bar, fatefully named G-A-Y. So of course it turns out to be a gay bar (no! really?) So we walk in, no cover fee. So as I walk in about 4 different guys eye me. OK, this is a new experience. Then I am walking along with my friends and I feel a tugging at the sleeve of my jacket and I look and some guy smiles and winks at me. God only knows what my face looked like at that moment. So we continue wading through the throng of people and stop. We start talking and then all of a sudden, I feel someone's hand going through the hair on the back of my head and their fingers combing through my hair. Sure enough, I turn around and a guy with a red cap on is eying me and I think even beckoning me over with his hand. A really bizarre experience but a pretty funny one at that. I think they stopped because the crowd of guys figured out I didn't swing that way; besides we left after a few minutes to look for a pub. In spite of what happened, I did like the ambiance of the place and maybe I will return there another time. A friend said in retrospect I should have hit those guys up for drinks: damn, I missed out on free drinks. Maybe I will bring some friends over there and not tell them what it is mwahaha. Anyway, for the record, I'm not gay (not that that should make a difference?)
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Travel and Class
I've been here for a bit, but haven't gotten outside of London yet. Not like I really need to because London really is a swinging city and there is plenty to do and see here that is worthwhile. It would be a crime if I didn't take advantage of my time here and see stuff. But I am so no worries.
I am one step closer to getting out of the city. Besides some day trips to Bath, Oxford, and Canterbury, I'm in the midst of planning to go to Praha in early December. Hopefully it will be all snowy and wintry and quaint looking. I hear the beer is cheap too.
I could mention what I have calculated is my total workload for the year: 4 problem sets each week, 2 papers total, 2 presentations total (5 minutes each, pretty much recite 2 assignments I would have done already for the class anyway) and then 4 finals. That's it. I guess finals are going to be brutal then
This was always sort of unsettling when I was learning about it at Georgetown, but is now moreso since I have been taking Econometrics and Development economics. Statistics can calculate what the expected value will be of something and how the random values will be distributed and what the probabilities are for the random values. But these statistical methods are applied ot human actions and demographics, and it seems we can predict by taking into account residuals and plotting accurate regressions, what is the primary motive or cause behind any statistical relationship. Scary thought. Really then, do we have free will? Are humans and their attributes really just mathematical formulae? Statistics seems to say we can map all of this out. Ah too bad I can't have debate with my friends from Regis on this like old times!
I am one step closer to getting out of the city. Besides some day trips to Bath, Oxford, and Canterbury, I'm in the midst of planning to go to Praha in early December. Hopefully it will be all snowy and wintry and quaint looking. I hear the beer is cheap too.
I could mention what I have calculated is my total workload for the year: 4 problem sets each week, 2 papers total, 2 presentations total (5 minutes each, pretty much recite 2 assignments I would have done already for the class anyway) and then 4 finals. That's it. I guess finals are going to be brutal then
This was always sort of unsettling when I was learning about it at Georgetown, but is now moreso since I have been taking Econometrics and Development economics. Statistics can calculate what the expected value will be of something and how the random values will be distributed and what the probabilities are for the random values. But these statistical methods are applied ot human actions and demographics, and it seems we can predict by taking into account residuals and plotting accurate regressions, what is the primary motive or cause behind any statistical relationship. Scary thought. Really then, do we have free will? Are humans and their attributes really just mathematical formulae? Statistics seems to say we can map all of this out. Ah too bad I can't have debate with my friends from Regis on this like old times!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
"I Would Walk 500 Miles..."
Does anyone else love that song by The Proclaimers? You know you love it hehe. here's a link to a late-80s guilty pleasure http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZojpl-p_5A
Yeah so I got up yesterday and decided to take a walk alone. Enjoy the scene and people-watching. Also there German soccer fans in town for a game against Chelsea: by mid-afternoon they were all drunk.
So yes the walk, an epic journey. Started at High Holborn; walked down Kingsway and Aldwych to The Strand; walked down to Trafalgar Square, saw Admiralty Gate, and looked down The Mall to Buckingham palace; continued down Whitehall passing a lot of memorials, government buildings, and Downing Street; finished walking Whitehall and ended at Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster (Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Victoria Tower) quickly saw the monument to Boadicea, a British Celt Queen who led an uprising against the Roman Occupation; Walked back up to The Mall and walked through St James's Park; stopped at Buckingham Palace just as they were changing the guard and continued up through Green Park; walked through Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square; passed through Soho, went up to Goodge Street, passed by the British Museum, and finished at my dorm a little over 5 hours later.
So yeah quite the walk. It was a lot of fun, just walking around myself taking in the surroundings and watching everything. Jess is really right, you get a much better feel for the city when you walk it and I have walked many of the important places. Who knows: I might know London better than DC when I come back to the states next year!
Oh, in case anyone wanted to see what I have seen, here are some Facebook albums. Knock yourself out.
http://georgetown.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2084891&l=21395&id=1409498
http://georgetown.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2087376&l=768b8&id=1409498
http://georgetown.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2087385&l=b6089&id=1409498
Yeah so I got up yesterday and decided to take a walk alone. Enjoy the scene and people-watching. Also there German soccer fans in town for a game against Chelsea: by mid-afternoon they were all drunk.
So yes the walk, an epic journey. Started at High Holborn; walked down Kingsway and Aldwych to The Strand; walked down to Trafalgar Square, saw Admiralty Gate, and looked down The Mall to Buckingham palace; continued down Whitehall passing a lot of memorials, government buildings, and Downing Street; finished walking Whitehall and ended at Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster (Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Victoria Tower) quickly saw the monument to Boadicea, a British Celt Queen who led an uprising against the Roman Occupation; Walked back up to The Mall and walked through St James's Park; stopped at Buckingham Palace just as they were changing the guard and continued up through Green Park; walked through Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square; passed through Soho, went up to Goodge Street, passed by the British Museum, and finished at my dorm a little over 5 hours later.
So yeah quite the walk. It was a lot of fun, just walking around myself taking in the surroundings and watching everything. Jess is really right, you get a much better feel for the city when you walk it and I have walked many of the important places. Who knows: I might know London better than DC when I come back to the states next year!
Oh, in case anyone wanted to see what I have seen, here are some Facebook albums. Knock yourself out.
http://georgetown.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2084891&l=21395&id=1409498
http://georgetown.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2087376&l=768b8&id=1409498
http://georgetown.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2087385&l=b6089&id=1409498
Returning in Disgrace
I was going to write a really downtrodden sort of post, but not too downtrodden because things are great here. But isn't it wonderful when something fun and exciting happens and then you can just brush over the past? hehe I'll recap slightly only because you can get more tangential information from my friends/their blogs...if you bribe them enough...
So we went to see England lose the Rugby World Cup Saturday nigtht. To make a long story shorter, the three of us, we thought getting a 3rd pitcher might help their odds (we were already drinking two for the show). Instead, the second half of the game is a blur and I decide to help one of my friends make her way back to her dorm. We somehow manage to navigate a tube line being shut down and manage to make the detour. We eventually make it to Sidney-Webb but I am in no condition to go anywhere and so I crash for a night. As I said many times, you were too kind to let me be a vagrant. So the next day I sauntered out of the dorm, squinting as I roamed the streets for the bus stop. I can tell now Fall is coming along as the Sun was in that weird state where it is low in the sky and the shadows are long and the light is weak, yet it doesn't look like it is rising or setting or midday. So I found the bus and returned in disgrace back to High Holborn.
In better news, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonnen managed by all odds to defeat McLaren's Lewis Hamilton (sorry Britain!) and Fernando Alonso to win the Driver's Championship. Wow what a race, one to remember for the ages indeed.
So thus ends a tragic story, reported 4 days too late. Oh yeah, I felt all tense and anxious last night for no reason. Now I guess you can say that's the end to the tragi-comedy (with details edited out because, who would expect me to do that?)
Next up, funnery in Londontown!
So we went to see England lose the Rugby World Cup Saturday nigtht. To make a long story shorter, the three of us, we thought getting a 3rd pitcher might help their odds (we were already drinking two for the show). Instead, the second half of the game is a blur and I decide to help one of my friends make her way back to her dorm. We somehow manage to navigate a tube line being shut down and manage to make the detour. We eventually make it to Sidney-Webb but I am in no condition to go anywhere and so I crash for a night. As I said many times, you were too kind to let me be a vagrant. So the next day I sauntered out of the dorm, squinting as I roamed the streets for the bus stop. I can tell now Fall is coming along as the Sun was in that weird state where it is low in the sky and the shadows are long and the light is weak, yet it doesn't look like it is rising or setting or midday. So I found the bus and returned in disgrace back to High Holborn.
In better news, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonnen managed by all odds to defeat McLaren's Lewis Hamilton (sorry Britain!) and Fernando Alonso to win the Driver's Championship. Wow what a race, one to remember for the ages indeed.
So thus ends a tragic story, reported 4 days too late. Oh yeah, I felt all tense and anxious last night for no reason. Now I guess you can say that's the end to the tragi-comedy (with details edited out because, who would expect me to do that?)
Next up, funnery in Londontown!
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
The Plague Returns and An Unsettling Feeling...
I thought my chance encounter with sickness was singular: no, it has returned. I feel fine, it's just this little tickling cough that as you go to sleep and are just about to pass into unconsciousness gives you the tiniest cough ever, but destroys all the progress you made and makes you have to start all over again. Try that for three nights in a row until past 3AM. Ouch
I've been in all my classes and lectures and things are a little daunting. I didn't realize how much econometrics plays into 3 of my 4 courses. And in the course it doesn't I need to waste half my time, not working on my assignments, but tracking down relevant, obscure, out-of-print books from the library in order to write my little summary. Thanks professor! However, even though Development Economics requires econometrics, which I didn't realize, I really like the TA for my class. Same for Latin American Economics. Ronny (Prof Razin) leads the classes for PECO and he seems good. Dougherty is the only enigma left. Had to miss 9AM lecture because I was too tired and under the weather. At least he posts recordings of his lectures online. Can you believe it?
On an unrelated note, the quality of Subway here is significantly worse than in the States. They have a deal, where if you get the 6 inch sub of the day, it is only 2 quid. Sounds like a deal, right? Except it tastes pretty pale in comparison to the American subway, specifically the one at Georgetown. And supermarket selection is significantly worse than back home too. What do they have against easily identifying yogurt as "yogurt"? I guess there was something to be said about bad British food heh
I've been in all my classes and lectures and things are a little daunting. I didn't realize how much econometrics plays into 3 of my 4 courses. And in the course it doesn't I need to waste half my time, not working on my assignments, but tracking down relevant, obscure, out-of-print books from the library in order to write my little summary. Thanks professor! However, even though Development Economics requires econometrics, which I didn't realize, I really like the TA for my class. Same for Latin American Economics. Ronny (Prof Razin) leads the classes for PECO and he seems good. Dougherty is the only enigma left. Had to miss 9AM lecture because I was too tired and under the weather. At least he posts recordings of his lectures online. Can you believe it?
On an unrelated note, the quality of Subway here is significantly worse than in the States. They have a deal, where if you get the 6 inch sub of the day, it is only 2 quid. Sounds like a deal, right? Except it tastes pretty pale in comparison to the American subway, specifically the one at Georgetown. And supermarket selection is significantly worse than back home too. What do they have against easily identifying yogurt as "yogurt"? I guess there was something to be said about bad British food heh
Friday, October 12, 2007
Longest Time Outside the Country!
Since yesterday, I have been out of the US for the longest continuous stretch. Things are going well, I don't think I've lost too much of my sanity yet.
Also sorry to all you Hoyas, but I still have yet to start doing school work. Sorry guys! Hope my parents don't read this and wonder where their money is going to...
Good news for when the D6 crew heads out in the Spring to see Reed in Paris. The St Pancras International Rail Station opens in November, shaving 20 minutes off the trip to Paris and only two Tube stops from High Holborn. The more I look at London, the more I see that New York City is getting behind the Eight Ball here. NYC has 6 different financial regulatory bodies; London only 1. NYC missed out on getting the Olympics in 2012 (to London!) and I think has given up for a while since the West Side railyard Stadium has been put on the back burner; London is now revved up and just got the OK for a--get this--£15 billion transit train system upgrade called Crossrail. The best NYC can muster up is finishing the 2nd Ave subway that has been under development since the 1920s and is necessary so the Lex Ave Line isn't running dangerously above safety capacity limits. Great.
Ah so me and London. Went to Soho, it was eerie how much it reminded me of the NYC Soho and East Village. Pretty hopping, but alas it has been Yuppied with its prices. Seems like wherever I go around LSE I cannot escape the price gouging racket better known as the Theatre District and the West End. I need to figure out fun things to do that don't involve needlessly wasting money. I guess hop on the tube or a bus (even cheaper and you get to see the city!) and go to Hyde Park's Speaker's Corner and watch the crazies talk. Or maybe go to Battersea Power Station and feel like I am Pink Floyd.
Suggestions welcome for the economical tour of London, while remaining fun
Also sorry to all you Hoyas, but I still have yet to start doing school work. Sorry guys! Hope my parents don't read this and wonder where their money is going to...
Good news for when the D6 crew heads out in the Spring to see Reed in Paris. The St Pancras International Rail Station opens in November, shaving 20 minutes off the trip to Paris and only two Tube stops from High Holborn. The more I look at London, the more I see that New York City is getting behind the Eight Ball here. NYC has 6 different financial regulatory bodies; London only 1. NYC missed out on getting the Olympics in 2012 (to London!) and I think has given up for a while since the West Side railyard Stadium has been put on the back burner; London is now revved up and just got the OK for a--get this--£15 billion transit train system upgrade called Crossrail. The best NYC can muster up is finishing the 2nd Ave subway that has been under development since the 1920s and is necessary so the Lex Ave Line isn't running dangerously above safety capacity limits. Great.
Ah so me and London. Went to Soho, it was eerie how much it reminded me of the NYC Soho and East Village. Pretty hopping, but alas it has been Yuppied with its prices. Seems like wherever I go around LSE I cannot escape the price gouging racket better known as the Theatre District and the West End. I need to figure out fun things to do that don't involve needlessly wasting money. I guess hop on the tube or a bus (even cheaper and you get to see the city!) and go to Hyde Park's Speaker's Corner and watch the crazies talk. Or maybe go to Battersea Power Station and feel like I am Pink Floyd.
Suggestions welcome for the economical tour of London, while remaining fun
Monday, October 8, 2007
Biting Off More Than You Can Chew
So the First Week of Lectures is over. I started with Political Economy on Monday, Introduction to Econometrics at 9AM on Tuesday and Thursday (oh yeah!) Development Economics Tuesday as well. Nothing on Wednesday (nice!) and Latin America & the International Economy on Friday. The professors seem good for the most part and looking more and more at the campus, I wish sometimes Georgetown would man-up and step up to the plate and get with the program. Some of the facilities are really good here and put Gtown to shame. On the other hand some of the bureaucratic efficiency just is a pain. I guess you can't have it both ways.
Oh yes so biting off more than you can chew...I got sick, woke up shivering violently in the middle of the night, I have a few hypotheses as to why...besides those secret hypotheses, I think I'm pushing to hard and running a mile a minute all the time. I have barely been here at all and I have been tying to do everything, every moment and take advantage of London and speed learn the city. Maybe I knew DC and NYC, so I want to get up to speed here. Maybe I should slow it down before I tear myself to pieces. Maybe other things are getting me worn down too: who knows.
In other news, LSE's mascot is the beaver (with all the sexual innuendo jokes that go along with it). Also I tried to hawk to Pulse! Radio (LSE's radio station) the idea of my classic rock/rare tracks/ musicology show. I also threw in I was tech director and a DJ for a while back on the Hilltop and that I would help out with tech stuff. hehe doesn't hurt to brown nose a bit. We'll see if I get a slot.
Oh yes so biting off more than you can chew...I got sick, woke up shivering violently in the middle of the night, I have a few hypotheses as to why...besides those secret hypotheses, I think I'm pushing to hard and running a mile a minute all the time. I have barely been here at all and I have been tying to do everything, every moment and take advantage of London and speed learn the city. Maybe I knew DC and NYC, so I want to get up to speed here. Maybe I should slow it down before I tear myself to pieces. Maybe other things are getting me worn down too: who knows.
In other news, LSE's mascot is the beaver (with all the sexual innuendo jokes that go along with it). Also I tried to hawk to Pulse! Radio (LSE's radio station) the idea of my classic rock/rare tracks/ musicology show. I also threw in I was tech director and a DJ for a while back on the Hilltop and that I would help out with tech stuff. hehe doesn't hurt to brown nose a bit. We'll see if I get a slot.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Rumble on the Hilltop
Oh yeah in other news, seems like the shit has hit the fan at Georgetown! The Hilltop was unlucky enough to get hit with 3 things in a row: first the new alcohol policies rolled in. Since no one was getting their alkie fix and understandable getting antsy, then people get pissy that our campus newspaper did not cover the Jena 6 enough and complaining that there was more outrage over the new alcohol policies. The final nail in the proverbial coffin so to speak was to find out that now there is a whole entire hate crime scandal that hit the national media. A homosexual gets beat up for being homosexual at our front gates and it does not break any news for three weeks. Ouch.
Seems like everyone is wound up tighter than kite and is ready just to be bitchy to everyone else and lash out. Also to add to the bitchiness factor, some whiny radical leftists are now claiming the campus hates minorities/gays because we want to focus more on the new alcohol policy protests and people primarily behind that are affluent white males. What the fuck people?
Is shit really that bad on campus? Please somebody tell me I am just reading Hoya editors and staff writers who are PMSing and tying to get their _____ out on the table and that this "controversy" is a media fabrication.
If things are that bad, I am sort of torn about how to react. I wish I was there to agitate riots, throw tear gas back a riot police, and reverse the alcohol policy. But at the same tie I am glad I am away from that shit and don't have to deal with all the bitching and whining on campus.But then I can't try to effect change and help get things righted on campus. Ah the moral quandaries!
Seems like everyone is wound up tighter than kite and is ready just to be bitchy to everyone else and lash out. Also to add to the bitchiness factor, some whiny radical leftists are now claiming the campus hates minorities/gays because we want to focus more on the new alcohol policy protests and people primarily behind that are affluent white males. What the fuck people?
Is shit really that bad on campus? Please somebody tell me I am just reading Hoya editors and staff writers who are PMSing and tying to get their _____ out on the table and that this "controversy" is a media fabrication.
If things are that bad, I am sort of torn about how to react. I wish I was there to agitate riots, throw tear gas back a riot police, and reverse the alcohol policy. But at the same tie I am glad I am away from that shit and don't have to deal with all the bitching and whining on campus.But then I can't try to effect change and help get things righted on campus. Ah the moral quandaries!
More Britishness
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention more British things. You must have a BBC TV licence in order to watch your TV or else bad things happen. Like they track you down with a radar van and arrest you. Actually it is more like they check their records and come knock on your door.
Also the prices of goods are...expensive. Something that costs $10 in the States costs--you guessed it--£10 here. So everything is twice as expensive. While getting my crockery and other cooking supplies together, I have been trying to spend less than £6 a meal, which has almost been working. Also a pint of ale costs £2.60--ouch! I have been trying to be frugal and costs are spiraling out of control. Anyone want to help contribute emergency relief funds?
Also they charge you 20p to use "public" restrooms. Public my ass. It's stuff like this that makes me think the states are so great. Also one of my Georgetown friends who is spending the year at the City University here got a really bad ear infection, so bad she was almost falling down and very nauseated. She went to the NHS and her application for a number had not been processed so they refused to give her care. I don't know what she ended up doing. Hooray for socialized healthcare!!!
I am drawing up a list of stuff to see in London. Besides some of the obvious ones, I want to hit the Tate Modern, Imperial War Museum, and the British Museum soon. And of course St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Parliament/Big Ben, and the Tower of London. Also Patrick Stewart is starring in a limited run of Macbeth. Unfortunately, I think it is sold our or really expensive. Funnily enough I have heard he has said his years in Star Trek did nothing to help his acting improve!!
Also the prices of goods are...expensive. Something that costs $10 in the States costs--you guessed it--£10 here. So everything is twice as expensive. While getting my crockery and other cooking supplies together, I have been trying to spend less than £6 a meal, which has almost been working. Also a pint of ale costs £2.60--ouch! I have been trying to be frugal and costs are spiraling out of control. Anyone want to help contribute emergency relief funds?
Also they charge you 20p to use "public" restrooms. Public my ass. It's stuff like this that makes me think the states are so great. Also one of my Georgetown friends who is spending the year at the City University here got a really bad ear infection, so bad she was almost falling down and very nauseated. She went to the NHS and her application for a number had not been processed so they refused to give her care. I don't know what she ended up doing. Hooray for socialized healthcare!!!
I am drawing up a list of stuff to see in London. Besides some of the obvious ones, I want to hit the Tate Modern, Imperial War Museum, and the British Museum soon. And of course St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Parliament/Big Ben, and the Tower of London. Also Patrick Stewart is starring in a limited run of Macbeth. Unfortunately, I think it is sold our or really expensive. Funnily enough I have heard he has said his years in Star Trek did nothing to help his acting improve!!
Friday, October 5, 2007
Britishness
Just a little FYI tidbit: In the UK there is one security camera for every 12 people, the highest rate in the world. Everyday 190 different cameras watch you and most of your day spent on CCTV.
I bet George Orwell is rolling over in his grave.
I went to Society Fair, which is like SAC Fair and joined up for the Hayek and Italian Societies, and Pulse Radio, which is LSE's radio station. I might be able to do tech work and DJ again which would be fun. It was really sad to see that at LSE all the extracurriculars are run independent of LSE (the Student Union here is actually a separate legal entity) and they collect dues and fund themselves. It's really too bad Georgetown keeps such a tightfisted and stifling control over its clubs. I think I will find out more info and write an editorial to The Hoya, little good that may do.
The last group I joined was, The Isle of Wight Society. A interesting lad by the name of Ben, a native of that nice Isle, really convinced me to sign up, despite my reluctance to join a group of such dubious nature and purpose. Especially if one of your biggest members is a Canadian from outside Toronto. After signing up, I realized this was a man club with a bunch of fun hooligans (sorry Isle of Wight people if you are reading this!) but a good excuse to meet British people and other nationals like Czechs, get around London, learn the roads, and go to pubs to get sloshed on red bull and bourbon, or just pints. Either way, it's going to be fun.
I bet George Orwell is rolling over in his grave.
I went to Society Fair, which is like SAC Fair and joined up for the Hayek and Italian Societies, and Pulse Radio, which is LSE's radio station. I might be able to do tech work and DJ again which would be fun. It was really sad to see that at LSE all the extracurriculars are run independent of LSE (the Student Union here is actually a separate legal entity) and they collect dues and fund themselves. It's really too bad Georgetown keeps such a tightfisted and stifling control over its clubs. I think I will find out more info and write an editorial to The Hoya, little good that may do.
The last group I joined was, The Isle of Wight Society. A interesting lad by the name of Ben, a native of that nice Isle, really convinced me to sign up, despite my reluctance to join a group of such dubious nature and purpose. Especially if one of your biggest members is a Canadian from outside Toronto. After signing up, I realized this was a man club with a bunch of fun hooligans (sorry Isle of Wight people if you are reading this!) but a good excuse to meet British people and other nationals like Czechs, get around London, learn the roads, and go to pubs to get sloshed on red bull and bourbon, or just pints. Either way, it's going to be fun.
Monday, October 1, 2007
"Don't look back in anger I hear you say"
After a good night's sleep, things are getting better all the time. Met some more Brits, met even more ex-pat Americans. I feel like the Lost Generation living in Paris in the 1920s! People seem really nice and friendly around here. Just hope I didn't superficially and fleetingly meet them.
Note: when you have 18 people drinking in a single and the Brits get buzzed, they start singing along to Oasis!
Note: when you have 18 people drinking in a single and the Brits get buzzed, they start singing along to Oasis!
New York State of Mind
I feel much better today with everything. Also the last post was also a long time coming and was slightly backdated in what it was talking about. Regardless, here I am putting around London. Before I head off and do some more errands, I'll tell a story.
I was walking down the street and I guy spoke out to me who looked a little scruffy and so I didn't really pay him much attention even though I sort of looked in his direction. I immediately thought, a pan handler or some crazy guy or some other city nuisance and didn't acknowledge him. Turns out he was just asked for directions for a street as I breezed by and he cursed under his breath. Oops! I guess I am in New Yorker mode too much in the city and with nuisances that cross my way. Homeless people, crazy people, ghetto looking people, I give the cold shoulder. That's how we roll in New York City.
I've noticed that with people soliciting I do this too and this has thrown a lot of people off. Sorry if I offended anyone, I'll try to be better in the future because the people who "accosted" were actualy very pleasant and were saying reasonable things, not trying to rob me, or hawk a product at me, or beg. I guess NYC has made me hard in that way: Brit/American cultural contrast for you. Then again, what if the one time I stop and act polite is the time I get robbed or knifed?
I was walking down the street and I guy spoke out to me who looked a little scruffy and so I didn't really pay him much attention even though I sort of looked in his direction. I immediately thought, a pan handler or some crazy guy or some other city nuisance and didn't acknowledge him. Turns out he was just asked for directions for a street as I breezed by and he cursed under his breath. Oops! I guess I am in New Yorker mode too much in the city and with nuisances that cross my way. Homeless people, crazy people, ghetto looking people, I give the cold shoulder. That's how we roll in New York City.
I've noticed that with people soliciting I do this too and this has thrown a lot of people off. Sorry if I offended anyone, I'll try to be better in the future because the people who "accosted" were actualy very pleasant and were saying reasonable things, not trying to rob me, or hawk a product at me, or beg. I guess NYC has made me hard in that way: Brit/American cultural contrast for you. Then again, what if the one time I stop and act polite is the time I get robbed or knifed?
Sunday, September 30, 2007
The Ruminations
Ah yes, so what was some of what I was thinking about that I alluded to very briefly? (this is the selected, not the collected, thoughts!) I realize as I write this that I should probably go to sleep, but sometimes you have to run with your thoughts and the Chi and feel and be in the moment or else you lose the magic. If you don't like this, fuck off.
My roommate once told me that once someone has self-pity, you almost find comfort and enjoy continually putting and keeping yourself in that place. It is a dangerous path to go down and you have to be aware of it, because even the most astute people can fall prey to it.
But what is difference between artificial self-pity and seriously feeling unhappy about yourself? Unhappy might be too strong a word, but what else can be used to describe the following. You have two choices of opportunity and both have the potential to be great but they cannot be followed completely and simultaneously. One can be followed but then prevents the other from being followed or the other can be followed yet it causes quite a problem of development, continuity, and continuation in the one.
It's agonizing because you want both things, yet you cannot. And you wish for things to be the best, and God only knows what will be. Are we like leaves thrown into the wind, there to grit our teeth at unfortunate circumstance that come our way and throw up our hands in defeat? Are we in vain struggling to hold back a torrent of events and causes and effects that are beyond our control and comprehension? Will everything turn out for the better? If you are strong, optimistic, positive, and successful, do you need to fear utter annihilation? What will come of our actions, will they just fade away "like tears in the rain"? Are people really so small that we wring our hands and bite our knuckles and worry ourselves to death because we are too short to see over the next hill the new and improved things that are to come our way and make us laugh in retrospect at how we worried ourselves so silly? Or do you wish you had never wanted to see over the hill in the first place?
I probably threw out a bunch of rhetorical questions and stale stereotypical philosophy? But what else are you do when events in your life tear you apart in opposite directions and all you want is a look, subtle sign of body language, and a little smile that says everything and more than words could have ever done.
Maybe I have cracked. Or maybe I'm just saying what we always thought.
kam
My roommate once told me that once someone has self-pity, you almost find comfort and enjoy continually putting and keeping yourself in that place. It is a dangerous path to go down and you have to be aware of it, because even the most astute people can fall prey to it.
But what is difference between artificial self-pity and seriously feeling unhappy about yourself? Unhappy might be too strong a word, but what else can be used to describe the following. You have two choices of opportunity and both have the potential to be great but they cannot be followed completely and simultaneously. One can be followed but then prevents the other from being followed or the other can be followed yet it causes quite a problem of development, continuity, and continuation in the one.
It's agonizing because you want both things, yet you cannot. And you wish for things to be the best, and God only knows what will be. Are we like leaves thrown into the wind, there to grit our teeth at unfortunate circumstance that come our way and throw up our hands in defeat? Are we in vain struggling to hold back a torrent of events and causes and effects that are beyond our control and comprehension? Will everything turn out for the better? If you are strong, optimistic, positive, and successful, do you need to fear utter annihilation? What will come of our actions, will they just fade away "like tears in the rain"? Are people really so small that we wring our hands and bite our knuckles and worry ourselves to death because we are too short to see over the next hill the new and improved things that are to come our way and make us laugh in retrospect at how we worried ourselves so silly? Or do you wish you had never wanted to see over the hill in the first place?
I probably threw out a bunch of rhetorical questions and stale stereotypical philosophy? But what else are you do when events in your life tear you apart in opposite directions and all you want is a look, subtle sign of body language, and a little smile that says everything and more than words could have ever done.
Maybe I have cracked. Or maybe I'm just saying what we always thought.
kam
FUBAR
Well the insanity continues but I have just stepped out of a nice well-deserved hot shower and I think I have come to a point where I can be somewhat coherent, entertaining, and not clinically insane.
I will direct you to Jess's most recent blog post http://gitnerblog.blogspot.com/2007/09/multi-tasking.html and my comments. I guess I could repeat them here, but eh, I think the point has been made. I'll make a slightly more coherent retelling.
Didn't get much sleep on the plane, had a real hellish trip from Heathrow to Holborn by tube because my other checked bag would not fit ont he one with wheels, so I had to carry it, strap over my shoulder. And it weighed 70 pounds. Ouch.
So then I get to my dorm, meet my really nice flat mates and then proceed to make an even better impression by frying my 120-volt surge protector and killing some of my flatmates' power for a while.
But all through this, it really seems much more complicated and overwhelming to move in. I have only found one "general store" (Argos) where you look the item up in a giant catalog, and then give the item number to order and it is brought up to you. Neat, except it costs an arm and a leg and I am looking to cut back on costs and maybe get some ultra-cheapo hangers (anyone, any ideas? Please?) And then only one Food Store which seems decent but I want to see the best. The food store is not so important, but I want to go to a store where I can buy all the non-food supplies I need and not get ripped off. And I need to get them now, have no experience, and if I get ripped off now, that lasts for the year.
As it is, I am being a frugal as possible and I am haemorrhaging money like no tomorrow on God knows what, because my room is as bear as a pauper's. Also after frying my surge protector and having to get a replacement, as I unpacked my clothes, I realized LSE was kind enough to give me the smallest furniture possible, even a desk with the least amount of drawers possible, so now it seems like, unless I have a bright idea, and even with that bright idea, I will have to be living out of piece of luggage or two for the rest of the year.
All this while, thank God I was bumming around with JP getting food or finding our way or meeting people, but I don't think I slept at all on the flight over. I entered near sleep a few times but can't remember going into sleep at all.
Just to give you an idea of how tired I was, Kristen surprise Skyped me, which was nice but at the end, I was talking to her and my eyes began to close and I would babble utter nonsense. It happened twice to the best of my efforts not to. So I said good bye and took my mom's skype and explained my situation. Of course my parents said I looked really tired and asked if I was alright.
They tell you at orientation for study abroad that you may panic and feel homesick at first. You laugh it off like it could never happen to you: you're all revved up to go, you know others more worried than you, you're all prepared, etc Then you get there and all Hell and pandaemonium breaks loose and you wish things could be simpler like at Georgetown.
Like eating. Here, there is no meal plan: fend for yourself. But 3 of the people in my flat are Britons and one got here earlier in September from Hong Kong, so they all staked claims with food and cabinet space for their cooking utensils. Which leads me as the odd one who came in with nothing. So now I need to worry about getting all this stuff. It seems a waste to buy and throw at the end of the year, but since everyone bought stuff already, I would feel like a mooching douchebag if I asked to borrow cooking gear. Guess I will need to sort that one out.
For not a few times today, I wished this could be as easy as moving in to Georgetown. At least, thank God, I have this week to buy what I need and get myself settled, I hope.
PS- Jess if you read this, tell me how you made your banner and the links on the side. I am proabbly missing something very obvious here...
I will direct you to Jess's most recent blog post http://gitnerblog.blogspot.com/2007/09/multi-tasking.html and my comments. I guess I could repeat them here, but eh, I think the point has been made. I'll make a slightly more coherent retelling.
Didn't get much sleep on the plane, had a real hellish trip from Heathrow to Holborn by tube because my other checked bag would not fit ont he one with wheels, so I had to carry it, strap over my shoulder. And it weighed 70 pounds. Ouch.
So then I get to my dorm, meet my really nice flat mates and then proceed to make an even better impression by frying my 120-volt surge protector and killing some of my flatmates' power for a while.
But all through this, it really seems much more complicated and overwhelming to move in. I have only found one "general store" (Argos) where you look the item up in a giant catalog, and then give the item number to order and it is brought up to you. Neat, except it costs an arm and a leg and I am looking to cut back on costs and maybe get some ultra-cheapo hangers (anyone, any ideas? Please?) And then only one Food Store which seems decent but I want to see the best. The food store is not so important, but I want to go to a store where I can buy all the non-food supplies I need and not get ripped off. And I need to get them now, have no experience, and if I get ripped off now, that lasts for the year.
As it is, I am being a frugal as possible and I am haemorrhaging money like no tomorrow on God knows what, because my room is as bear as a pauper's. Also after frying my surge protector and having to get a replacement, as I unpacked my clothes, I realized LSE was kind enough to give me the smallest furniture possible, even a desk with the least amount of drawers possible, so now it seems like, unless I have a bright idea, and even with that bright idea, I will have to be living out of piece of luggage or two for the rest of the year.
All this while, thank God I was bumming around with JP getting food or finding our way or meeting people, but I don't think I slept at all on the flight over. I entered near sleep a few times but can't remember going into sleep at all.
Just to give you an idea of how tired I was, Kristen surprise Skyped me, which was nice but at the end, I was talking to her and my eyes began to close and I would babble utter nonsense. It happened twice to the best of my efforts not to. So I said good bye and took my mom's skype and explained my situation. Of course my parents said I looked really tired and asked if I was alright.
They tell you at orientation for study abroad that you may panic and feel homesick at first. You laugh it off like it could never happen to you: you're all revved up to go, you know others more worried than you, you're all prepared, etc Then you get there and all Hell and pandaemonium breaks loose and you wish things could be simpler like at Georgetown.
Like eating. Here, there is no meal plan: fend for yourself. But 3 of the people in my flat are Britons and one got here earlier in September from Hong Kong, so they all staked claims with food and cabinet space for their cooking utensils. Which leads me as the odd one who came in with nothing. So now I need to worry about getting all this stuff. It seems a waste to buy and throw at the end of the year, but since everyone bought stuff already, I would feel like a mooching douchebag if I asked to borrow cooking gear. Guess I will need to sort that one out.
For not a few times today, I wished this could be as easy as moving in to Georgetown. At least, thank God, I have this week to buy what I need and get myself settled, I hope.
PS- Jess if you read this, tell me how you made your banner and the links on the side. I am proabbly missing something very obvious here...
Bitter then Tired Post
After frying my floor's circuit breaker due to sleep deprivation and then having dark slightly sad ruminations on the plane, and now dealing with the Chaos that is unpacking into a room that does not have enough drawer and closet space, buying cooking utensils, food, and a cell phone plan and then meeting new people and learning a new city, I would say I am pretty beat and out of my mind. I will post later if I am more sane/lucid.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Leap of Faith
Here I go on my 7:40PM flight out of JFK. I get into Heathrow on the 30th at 7:40 in the morning. Good luck, fare thee well, see you on the other side if my flight doesn't crash first...or get hijacked. Ciao!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Hopping Across The Pond
2 days until launch time from JFK. Yep, the has come. Last weekend I was down at Georgetown for an extended weekend with a special someone. It was really great: I'll miss her. But as I say to everyone, including myself, I will be back in two and half months! Wipe away those tears everyone, including me! I feel I will miss the Hilltop, the atmosphere, the people, the visual reminders, all of it.
But London is going to be tons of fun. I just got an email about a "Fresher" cruise for 4 hours on the Thames with food and two alcoholic beverages--for free, compliments of LSE trying to get us to socialize. Nice. Also there is some tour company that is offering us LSE newcomers 50% on great fun touristy things like riding the Eye or taking the Jack the Ripper tour at night. Awesome. I only hope my bank account of summer job money and parental subsidies can take the punishment.
Status: wrapping up my life Stateside, transferring email over, reminiscing, being hopelessly nostalgic and romantic, entertaining myself on 1963 Doctor Who, listening to music and reading, and waiting for a Mr JP Medved to get his butt into Jersey so we can fly away to Heathrow on a red-eye. (NOT packing because I already finished: thanks Mom for badgering me, even if I was rude and ungrateful like a college age kid)
PS- is anyone remotely entertained? At the least, this blog is personal therapy
But London is going to be tons of fun. I just got an email about a "Fresher" cruise for 4 hours on the Thames with food and two alcoholic beverages--for free, compliments of LSE trying to get us to socialize. Nice. Also there is some tour company that is offering us LSE newcomers 50% on great fun touristy things like riding the Eye or taking the Jack the Ripper tour at night. Awesome. I only hope my bank account of summer job money and parental subsidies can take the punishment.
Status: wrapping up my life Stateside, transferring email over, reminiscing, being hopelessly nostalgic and romantic, entertaining myself on 1963 Doctor Who, listening to music and reading, and waiting for a Mr JP Medved to get his butt into Jersey so we can fly away to Heathrow on a red-eye. (NOT packing because I already finished: thanks Mom for badgering me, even if I was rude and ungrateful like a college age kid)
PS- is anyone remotely entertained? At the least, this blog is personal therapy
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
"Cultural Imersion"
I think the only thing I remember about those stupid online tutorials and essays we had to do for OIP was all the stuff pertaining to culture shock and the culture differences at the sites we were studying at. Today, I helped remedy the potential culture shock that will hit me as I step off the plane Heathrow: I watched the first episodes of the 1st season Doctor Who--from 1963! Wikipedia calls is culturally significant and a "national institution" Maybe this will help me reveal how Britons and their culture operate!
A picture of the first good Doctor, William Hartnell
Here is a music video to the Original Theme. Knock yourself out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckzA9MejOOE
A picture of the first good Doctor, William Hartnell
Here is a music video to the Original Theme. Knock yourself out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckzA9MejOOE
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Life's a Bitch, and then you die!
Since some of the readers were wondering what a Modest Hyperbole is, it is quite simply just a funny oxymoron I came up with in my head. Maybe it parallels my life, who knows.
As I mentioned to a friend I messaged on Facebook, my stay here seems really long and timeless. It doesn't feel like a long time, yet it's hard to imagine my friends at college have already been back for half a month, seems like it was yesterday they were here. At the same time, however, August into September has seemed, I guess the only way to put it is "timeless" and epic because I've done and seen so much, covered so many days, and even now covered the change between the seasons.
Thursday, I am going back to The Hilltop to tie up some loose strings. That could be both good and bad depending on what happens. I'll let you know when it does.
Luckily my mom bitched me out to pack last week, and sure enough it worked! Now I have very little to do and surprisingly, I will fit into 2 checked pieces, 1 carry-on, and a backpack for my laptop. I expect at the end of the year to accumulate so much crap and not to pack as well as i did going over, that I will need another checked bag when I return at the end of LSE. We'll see. Right now, I am reading, watching movies, surfing the net, going back to Swift Potomac's Lovely daughter and then off off and away.
PS- if anyone has suggestions what to do about voltage converters/plug adapters and UK cell phone providers, do let me know.
As I mentioned to a friend I messaged on Facebook, my stay here seems really long and timeless. It doesn't feel like a long time, yet it's hard to imagine my friends at college have already been back for half a month, seems like it was yesterday they were here. At the same time, however, August into September has seemed, I guess the only way to put it is "timeless" and epic because I've done and seen so much, covered so many days, and even now covered the change between the seasons.
Thursday, I am going back to The Hilltop to tie up some loose strings. That could be both good and bad depending on what happens. I'll let you know when it does.
Luckily my mom bitched me out to pack last week, and sure enough it worked! Now I have very little to do and surprisingly, I will fit into 2 checked pieces, 1 carry-on, and a backpack for my laptop. I expect at the end of the year to accumulate so much crap and not to pack as well as i did going over, that I will need another checked bag when I return at the end of LSE. We'll see. Right now, I am reading, watching movies, surfing the net, going back to Swift Potomac's Lovely daughter and then off off and away.
PS- if anyone has suggestions what to do about voltage converters/plug adapters and UK cell phone providers, do let me know.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Stopping the Sloth--Maybe
Today, I was outside a little after 5PM. It was a little more brisk than it has been for a while and the Sun was sooner than I remembered it hiding behind the trees in front of the house. That means only one thing: Fall is upon us. Autumnal colour and then grey will soon be here. I'm going to miss the foliage and the dramatic change that Fall brings when I am LSE. I was talking with a friend of mine who goes to NYU about missing the Fall and he said I will have it in Britain. I told him he was right, but seeing it happen in your old stomping grounds is something very different. He assented and said he felt the same thing (of missing Fall unfold) when he was in The City and not back home in Jersey.
So what does this have to do with anything? Yes, I realized Summer is over and I better get moving on my blog or everything will think I post nothing. And then they won't read it when I do write when I am across the Pond. Or I might get even more inertia and not write when I get there. So I'll write and entertain you and maybe if I am lucky I will entertain myself. Or maybe the luck is in entertaining you. Either way, hopefully this blog will be of some interest.
Last night, a shipment from some sketchy online retailer arrived and what did it have, but 2 ultra-cheapo webcams for me and my parental units. Considering they were under $20 they are really good and even the luddites that my parents are were able to Skype without any problem! I was afraid I would have to write out directions or something pain-in-the-arse like that. So yes, I have Skype. You know my name, look me up and I'll add you. If you facebook message or Gmail me in advance, I can work out something so we can talk and the 6 hour time difference can be mitigated. So do Skype: everybody's doing it (As my mom noted, "Skype" sounds like some horrible disease)
I would write everything down right now, but then I would have nothing to write for the future and nothing to entice you back. Oh yeah here is a cliffhanger: why "Modest Hyperbole"?
So what does this have to do with anything? Yes, I realized Summer is over and I better get moving on my blog or everything will think I post nothing. And then they won't read it when I do write when I am across the Pond. Or I might get even more inertia and not write when I get there. So I'll write and entertain you and maybe if I am lucky I will entertain myself. Or maybe the luck is in entertaining you. Either way, hopefully this blog will be of some interest.
Last night, a shipment from some sketchy online retailer arrived and what did it have, but 2 ultra-cheapo webcams for me and my parental units. Considering they were under $20 they are really good and even the luddites that my parents are were able to Skype without any problem! I was afraid I would have to write out directions or something pain-in-the-arse like that. So yes, I have Skype. You know my name, look me up and I'll add you. If you facebook message or Gmail me in advance, I can work out something so we can talk and the 6 hour time difference can be mitigated. So do Skype: everybody's doing it (As my mom noted, "Skype" sounds like some horrible disease)
I would write everything down right now, but then I would have nothing to write for the future and nothing to entice you back. Oh yeah here is a cliffhanger: why "Modest Hyperbole"?
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