Welcome to the sessions. This is a space where I will periodically journal and post updates on stuff that happens.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
~Day 3: London, Part 2~
Woke up with my ankles still stiff, and I had to wrap up the blistered toes so they wouldn't get worse. I was really really feeling it; we'd overdone the walking and exploring the day before. I didn't really feel like more walking around the city, or lugging my daypack around anymore, but I was in London and I wasn't going to leave my camera behind. Thankfully, it wasn't as much walking as the day before.
In short: lunch, the British Museum, pasties and a show.
LEFT: The street market on Whitechapel. Whitechapel is relatively far east in London, and we found the further east we got, the sketchier things got. Unfortunately, people just aren't quite as well off on this end. RIGHT: McDonald's (obviously). Look at the prices...I'm telling you, everything is expensive out here.
Stopping into Jack Horner's near the British Museum for some steak kidney pie.
The British Museum.
LEFT: The Egypt exhibit. RIGHT: The Queen Victoria Reading Room...I think it was Queen Victoria? I know, it's shameful how much I remember. It was an amazing place though; if I lived in London, I'd spend quite a bit of time there.
LEFT: Marcus Aurelius. N, this one's for you, for getting me hooked on Gladiator again. CENTER: These are for K-dog. Greece & Rome...South stairs & lift...MONEY!!! RIGHT: HSBC had their own exhibit set up in the British Museum...about MONEY!!!
LEFT:MONEY!!! RIGHT: ummm...MONEY!!! (really)
The Syrian exhibit. It wasn't very popular; where the Egypt and Greece exhibits had crowds of people milling about, there were never more than 5 or 6 people in here at any given time. I found myself pretty blown away though; I spent well over 30 minutes just following the stone mural and marveling at the depth of the work. The mural depicted the "royal lion hunt", in which the guards would capture lions, bring them into the arena and loose them one at a time so the king could 'hunt' them. Guards with spears would form a ring to prevent lions from escaping, and the king's chariot had guards to hold lions who got too close at bay. What really struck me was the artist's depiction of the lions' suffering, despite the fact this work was probably commissioned to glorify the king's heroism.
LEFT: The Greek exhibit. RIGHT: Aphrodite bathing.
I don't remember what this is exactly, but in all fairness, the museum wasn't quite sure what these were either. They speculated that two of the figures were Zeus and Hera; Dionysius may have been here as well, but it's hard to tell without certain limbs and heads. =P
After the museum, we went back to our staple for cheap meals: more Steak and Guinness pasties. Not the healthiest thing, I know, but London is expensive.
Earlier that day we'd visited the TKTS booth, which is the "official" ticket booth for same-day sell-offs. In London the theatres will take tickets that they couldn't sell off the day of the show and give them to these discount ticket booths to try to unload them. If you're willing to play with chance, you can get some pretty good deals, although you may not be sure what shows will be available, and what seats you'll end up with.
We managed to grab tix for Stomp, which I'd missed when it was in TO. They turned out to be pretty good seats too; 1st balcony, 2nd row, right on the right side. We were all of 25-30 feet from the actors.
I just cannot say enough good things about this show. The music awesome, so let's just say that up front and get that out of the way. I'm a rhythm guy, and I loved the layering, complexity and richness. But it's not just the music; it's this unique fusion of music, storytelling and theatre. It communicates so much without a single word being spoken at all. I loved how the rhythmic 'language' was built so that even all the little musical puns, the rhythmic jokes, weren't exclusively for the musically trained, but they were accessible to the entire audience. Kids and parents were cracking up the entire night and by the middle of the night, rhythm became such a familiar language to the audience you felt like you could walk out and communicate for the rest of your life with nothing else.
I also loved how everything was done with just every day items. I think every kid should have a chance to watch this, to show them just how much you can do if you with what you've got, even if it's just your body, if you just exercise some creativity. On the other hand, it could just produce an army of kids who can't stop whacking away at everything they can get their hands on. If Jon's seen this before, that would explain a lot...and if he hasn't, we're all in a lot of trouble if he ever does.
MONAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYY. It's funny how in England, if you say "pasties", the automatic association is food. But in N.America, when you say "pasties"...well.
Hey! =) Just thought it was an amusing coincidence that when G and I went to the Shanghai Museum 2 weeks ago, the special exhibit happened to be "Art and Empire" with pieces on loan from the British Museum, and I distinctly remember being fascinated by the royal lion hunt mural too! =D
