Good day everyone :)
I thought many of you might like to know that due to it being 'United Kingdom Day' at my Uni's 'One World Week,' the campus pub is serving Harry Potter's famous choice of refreshment - Butter Beer. I couldn't help but spend the noon hour typing and enjoying something that I built up to be very tasty. FAIL. I'm not entirely sure how butter beer is made, but when you receive it there are noticeable globs of oil floating at the top which are immediate turn offs. The next step is actually tasting it and, to my dismay, it doesn't get a whole lot better. Despite the flavor being rather enjoyable, the sweetness is overwhelming. Not to mention it coats your lips with a chap stick like film after every sip. With the amount of this stuff Harry, Ron and Hermione drank at Hogsmeade, I think J.K. Rowling probably should have devoted at least a small segment of the 5th or 6th book to Harry's horrible tooth ache caused by excessive amounts of sugar. I'm sure she could have spun it into some dark sign about a coming clash with Voldemort. I digress.
Anyways, the majority of this entry about another weekend in glorious London comes a few days late because of the realization that I actually have to go to school well I am here but none the less it’s about 6am back home as I type this so I don't presume anybody would have been up to read it if I wrote it any earlier.
Upon my arrival in London after catching another 6:50am bus on 3 hours of sleep, my plans were to meet Noah in the borough known as Camden Town at 10. When he showed, fashionably late at about 10:30 of course, we took off to explore the eclectic Camden Road and the many markets and shops that line its sidewalks. For 3 or 4 blocks the street is lined on both sides with individual shops selling everything under the sun. I could have easily bought a completely new wardrobe, got groceries and decorated a house. A bit further down the street lied the 'Stable Market' which is a 4 story stable from the 1800s converted into a market and filled with giant metal statues of horses. The whole idea is incredibly cool - each stable that formerly held a horse is now a small shop. The alleys wind back and forth and, much like the rest of Camden, sell things that make you want to constantly get out your wallet. Our exploration of Camden continued with a stroll down the Camden River looking for specific works of graffiti from the internationally known and incredibly talented social commentator Bansky (look him up if you’re not familiar!).
Post Camden, we took off on an epic adventure to find the historic Abbey Road and attempt to take the famous picture. We were essentially lost the entire way there but eventually stumbled across Abbey Road Studios after initially walking right past them. On the walk we spent almost an hour talking about how we were going to take the coolest picture possible on the cross walk only to discover and become a bit disheartened when we found out that it was a particularly busy 3-way intersection and we had to pretty much risk our lives to get any sort of photo hence my failed attempt in my Fbook album. Truth be told, I expected the spot to be a bit more tourist focused but it was still a great experience and we had fun playing frogger to get a picture taken while being flicked off by locals in their cars. To finish off my day with Noah, we took the tube to the National Portrait Gallery and looked at historically relevant and aesthetically comical portraits of Kings, Queens, academics and statesmen from throughout British and European history. Upon our departure from the Portrait Gallery, Noah and I parted ways and I took off to meet up with Mike, Cole and the gang for the evening out.
Due to a 15 pound cover, our original plans fell through yet we saw that as no reason why we shouldn't get drunk at least for ceremonial purposes. I don't know if it is available in America but cider is an incredibly efficient way to intoxicate yourself - it contains 5.5% alcohol instead of light beer's 3.8%. It shares some similarities with white wine in flavor and takes some getting used to. Overall it isn't much more filling than light beer so it works well to get real drunk relatively quickly and for cheap . We ended up deciding to go to a pub for some karaoke. Even though it would seem that Americans would not fit into the British karaoke scene (if such a scene exists?) we were rather surprised with the affinity for 80s and 90s American pop hits which made us feel right at home. Nothing like Journey duets to bridge cultural gaps.
While I am in no way complaining about the weather in comparison to what everyone is currently experiencing in Wisconsin, it should be noted that, in general, the sun doesn't come out in the morning over here. As a result, there is no real light to wake you up naturally when you go to sleep at 4:30 and thus you sleep until forever. The first time I opened my eyes on Saturday morning was 1pm. Ridiculous. To avoid being a complete piece of shit until we decided to start drinking again, I mustered up the energy to walk over to the British Museum and National Library. Both were pretty overwhelming in terms of the historical content they contained. At the library it was particularly to see original Shakespeare manuscripts, the Magna Carta and the first copies of Beatles songs written on the back of anything that happened to be handy to them at the time. The library in general was a bit easier to take in because it wasn't nearly as vast as the British Museum. In 2 and a half hours I barely managed to see all the exhibits in the place which ranged from Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt to the Renaissance and Medieval Europe to just name a few. It honestly made me tired only trying to take in a tiny fraction of the information available. Mummies and the Rosetta Stone were some notable sights but my slightly hung over brain was just not in any shape to do any profound learning.
Finally it was time to piece together our failed plans from Friday night and go to 'Fabric' - the club heralded by many an internet source to be the #2 to #4 club in the world! Making sure I got drunk enough to cope with 5 hours of techno/house music, we entered the doors at about midnight to a rush of laser lights, smoke and enough bass to make you uncomfortable. Their dance floors even have subwoofers to ensure that the vibrations make it through your entire body! Also the laser light shows coordinated to the beats and highlighted with large amounts of smoke were equally incredible. The experience of a real major European club is one that everyone should try to experience once. It was so unlike anything I've ever been to before: three stories of complete and udder chaos and euphoria among club goers. Pretty sure I got separated from my group for at least 45 minutes because I simply just couldn't find them after I went to the bathroom - an error only partially due to my drunkenness and mostly due to the darkness and giant expanse of space. I think it is safe to say I got offered illicit drugs at least 5 times which gave me a little insight that I was not on the level of most of those in attendance. At about 4, drenched in sweat and completely overwhelmed we all decided to head home. It is the first time in my life I have left somewhere at 4am and felt like I was leaving early (the club is actually open until 8am and there was a line to get in when we left)! I have made a very important realization about music as a result of my 'Fabric Experience' - lyrics in music are absolutely essential after a certain point. One can only 'fight the beat' Jersey Shore style for so long before you need something to sing or bob your head to.
In brief, Sunday involved a trip to the famous Brick Lane Market and a sort of Graffiti tour of East London. Everyone should definitely check out my Fbook pictures because some of the artists are absolutely incredible! We also had to pay a 5 pound cover to watch the football games in the only bar in London that was playing them. Entry fees are absolutely stupid and I hate them. Admittedly we got most of our entertainment during the Jets game by watching the crowd of Algerian natives who were watching Algeria take on the Ivory Coast in the African Cup of Nations for soccer. Never have I seen people go so incredibly nuts over a sporting event. Every goal consisted of thundering uproar, everyone taking their shirts off and jumping up on the bars/pool tables and dancing and finally a series of coordinated cheers. I truly wish I was that passionate about anything! I ended up having to stay up until 4am to watch Favre throw his final pic, depressing. I really don’t think that the end of that game could have gone any slower. There were at least 5 booth reviews and then OT to top it off.
I hope that everyone is doing well on the home front and people are starting to get into the swing of things with classes. I know I've gotten a bit of a reality check this week that I actually have to put some mild effort into school while I'm here which is a semi-depressing thought. Who knew that when you take the first two weeks off that you will have some work to do on week 3? Leave comments and stay in touch like always!
Cheers ‘til next time,
Patrick
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
"Oy, it's the Queen Lads!" - My Weekend in London
In the blockbuster hit Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z off of his Blueprint 3 album, Alicia Keys draws deep within herself to belt out a description of New York with a gospel power similar to that of Aretha Franklin. The strength of her voice leaves no question to the listener as to the validity of the lyrics - "the streets will make you feel brand new, big lights will inspire you, now you're in New York". Simply replacing New York with London would, no doubt, throw off the lyrical flow of the refrain itself but after only one weekend exploring the cobblestone streets of the great English city, I insist that the rest of Keys' description is unfaltering. In less than 72 hours I fell in love with a city. The speed of my acquired affair can only be bested by the haste in which I fell in love with Emma Watson after the Yule Ball scene in the fifth movie installment of the Harry Potter series, and my complete infatuation with Megan Fox after she graced the cover of GQ last year. In other words, I am usually not so quick to jump to such rash conclusions. From the moment I arrived, my jaw hung open as I aimlessly explored a city 1000 years superior to any potential American rivals. The worlds of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Shakespeare, and Dickens came alive in my head and juxtaposed themselves with an eloquent sense of modernity. I suppose that the great functionalist architects of New York and Chicago's past would criticize the intricacies of English buildings as unnecessary costs yet, it is exactly what they criticize that makes the city grand. There is a general absence of clean lines like our ideas of a skyscraper. Exquisite details replace 70 story glass columns. The new pays special attention to integrating itself with the old so that one's eye flows unimpaired across the skyline, never wondering why a building occupies its specific place. Unlike any place I have ever been, every structure, green space or pub overflows with historical and cultural significance. Great deals of things were constructed before America ever thought about declaring independence in 1776. Confirming Keys' lyrics, the streets really do inspire you, make you feel brand new.
Poetics aside, let me divulge a bit into what I actually did when I was there because, like always, I think some of you will delight in my shortcomings and interactions. Upon arrival I set out from Victoria station with my map in hand and traditional hiking backpack. I think it's safe to say that I pretty much epitomized a tourist. I started on my journey wandering past Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abby, Big Ben, and the Houses of Parliament, each building just a bit more spectacular than the next. Originally I hesitated at taking pictures because I felt slightly embarrassed of my non-local status but I quickly realized that there were many more people doing exactly the same thing. After I noticed that tour groups around me were in at least 4 different languages I felt much more comfortable. A slight rain started to fall marking the end of my picture taking palooza so I set off east towards Trafalgar Square. The proverbial 'Seat of Imperialism' was the first of many places which made me appreciate the English use of public spaces to bring people together and beautify the city. After making sure to snap photos of the giant monolith and remarkably cool oversized ceramic lions I headed through the square to the England's National Gallery. I'm not exactly an art history buff but the gallery captivated me for well over an hour - Monet, Da Vinci, Raphael, Rembrandt, Manet, Pissarro, Seurat, Van Gogh. Primary evidence of the evolution of artistic technique and societal progress hung in the multi-roomed building providing better instruction than one could ever hope to receive from a book.
Without a phone call from my friends Mike and Cole to meet them in Piccadilly Circus, there is a good chance I may have wasted the rest of the day looking at paintings. I strapped on my backpack and wandered to London's much cleaner and debatably cooler version of Times Square. It was good to see some familiar Americans and gain a few partners in crime to wander the streets when I met up with Cole and Mike. After deciding a random direction to start our exploration, we were quickly confronted by a few people giving out fliers for attractions. The first, an Indian man attempting to lure us to Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum. Needless to say, we were less than interested. The second, a cute girl dressed like an Eskimo in a neon yellow traffic coat. We nodded politely, took her flier and then moved on to her great discontent. She insisted that we come back and talk to her which we did - for 45 minutes! Turns out she was a model (truthfully, she made us Facebook her and 'wow' is about all I can say) who spent the last year in Hollywood and just returned to London. She told us that she was picking up her friends shift handing out fliers and could not stand the cold, hence why she looked like an Eskimo. She also gave us a bit of advice on some shows to see, places to go among other things. In what seemed like an instant, we wasted a good part of the day but then exchanged names and numbers and went our separate ways. The first number I got in London came from a swimsuit and lingere model named Lauren! Unfortunately I can't help but assume that it can only be downhill from here.
Fueled by the giddiness of our good fortunes we continued to explore the city and take pictures of anything and everything that seemed notable. Crossing the street by what we later figured out was the entry gate to the two mile long road that leads to Buckingham Palace we nearly got hit by a pair of motorcycles with blaring police sirens. I'm not entirely sure how we missed them to be honest, they weren't exactly discrete. Following the cycles came 3 BMW cop cards, an unmarked Range Rover, and then 3 more BMWs. Noting our complete confusion about the ensuing commotion a man leaned out the window of his Mercedes and yelled to us (obviously tourists) "Oy, it’s the Queen lads!" We all looked at each other in amazement. In London for less than a day and we practically shook hands with the Queen! Or better yet, her motorcade almost killed us: would have been an admirable way to go. The day's proceedings ended with a look at Wellington Arch and Buckingham Palace (see Facebook for picture references).
Friday night in London is something to behold. When picking out my clothes for the weekend, I thought that I chose something that was stylish yet comfortable enough to hang out in for a few days. Holy shit was I wrong. Never have I felt like a bigger scrub amongst groups of people. Everyone's clothes, both men and women, are fitted, high fashion and just put together better. My simple tan coat also cast me as an outcast for its lack of buttons, straps and fine details. People watching as I walked around was somewhat like taking an entire class in modern fashion. For our evening we headed to a pub for a few pints before deciding to head to Fabric which is supposed to be one of London's premier nightclubs. It was slightly like the scene at the Louvre from Eurotrip when we arrived and realized that the que started at the door, went down the street, and then wrapped around the block for some distance. Slightly discouraged we walked back there to try to figure out where to stand while also debating whether or not to stay. While Mike and Cole got in line, I went to talk to someone at a nearby cafe to see if there was any other less busy option close by. Fifteen minutes later I returned to Mike and Cole at the front of the line accompanied by two random girls who apparently had guest passes attached to their VIP tickets. Just my luck. The girls told me to just jump the small movable barricade and get in line with them. Naturally, I waited until the bouncers turned around and jumped! Immensely poor decision. The gate swung out a bit when I put pressure on it to jump and I ungracefully stumbled over it making a racket and ending up on my hands and knees on the other side. Before I could get up a bouncer grabbed me by the arm and coat and threw me back on the other side with a considerable amount of force. He then proceeded to grab me by the collar and told me that he would break my legs if I tried again (no joke). I probably would've pissed myself if I didn't go when we left the pub. I hope everyone takes my stupidity as a lesson of what not to do at a globally acclaimed club. Just wait in line, or if you do decide to jump...don't be incredibly uncoordinated in the process. Another lesson learned from that night: never eat from a place called 'Perfect Chicken.' The chicken is far from perfect; no matter how drunk you think you are your stomach will not thank you.
Ten hours and a few laughs about how dumb I am later, it was time for day 2 of my London adventure. We all got some lunch at a Thai Pub (apparently they exist?) and then headed off to do some more exploring. Our first stop was St. Paul's Cathedral. I think the massive dome was the most spectacular structure I have ever seen in person. It’s sort of like the Capital building in Madison in some respects, except about 100x more intricate and 20x the size. After saying that, I guess it really isn't like the Capital at all minus the dome and a few columns. Our journey took us across the heralded Millennium Bridge (the one that gets destroyed in the beginning of the 6th Harry Potter film) to the South Bank of the River Thames. After passing the replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theater we winded through a series of allies that brought us all a fantastical feeling that we were traveling through Medieval London. For me personally, the scenery infused me with a childlike sense of adventure. For a moment it was as if Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter actually revolved around real events. However, the nerdy fantasies quickly wore away and we headed over to the Tower Bridge (commonly thought to be the London Bridge). Due to some engineering work on the tube (London Underground) we zipped off to King's Cross Station in search of the infamous platform 9 and 3/4! Finding it was altogether disappointing since they moved it due to construction. They short of shoved it in a corner by a security gate and it really isn't anywhere near the other platforms or the train tracks. Nonetheless we took some creative pictures, one of which has made its way to my Facebook profile picture, and started our walk home to get ready for the evening.
I met up with Noah that night because I hadn't yet seen him during the weekend and we took a stroll from Oxford Circus to the South Bank by the London Eye and then over back towards Big Ben. Most of the things I saw on Friday were like completely different entities when lit up in the darkness and I remember being rather angry I forgot my camera. Still being American at heart, we decided to go to the Sports Cafe at Piccadilly Circus to watch the Cardinals vs. Saints game because it was probably the only bar to give it any sort of coverage. Noah and I shared a pitcher before he took off leaving me with an hour or so to spare before Mike and Cole met up with me. In boredom, I struck up a conversation with a middle aged man standing next to me at the bar. Truth be told, I had a lot of curiosity towards why any English folk follow American football. Turns out he fervently followed the Redskins and had been going to games in D.C. for over 20 years. We shot the shit about the hiring of Mike Shannahan, Brett Favre and other contemporary football issues before moving to a slightly more varied list of topics. He explained Cricket to me, I asked about the significance of the Queen in British politics and public sentiment on Gordon Brown. He asked me how I felt about Obama, universal health care. Over the course of an hour or so he bought me about 6 pints before we parted ways, never exchanging names. Twice in two days I shared hour long conversations with complete strangers and enjoyed the hell out of it. I just feel like it’s hard to have those kind of interactions in America and they really are priceless memories. The remainder of the evening flew by in a drunken stupor and we all matriculated the 2 miles home at about 4am.
Having to come back to campus on Sunday was a bit of a buzz kill yet there is solace in the idea that it only cost me 6 quid round trip to get there and there is an extra bed in Mike and Cole's place. I will absolutely be back ASAP. There is still so much to do and see. Who knows, maybe I will actually get into a club without having my life threatened!
Happy first day of school everyone and, like always, keep in touch and leave some comments :). I'll write again when I have some cool things to report!
Poetics aside, let me divulge a bit into what I actually did when I was there because, like always, I think some of you will delight in my shortcomings and interactions. Upon arrival I set out from Victoria station with my map in hand and traditional hiking backpack. I think it's safe to say that I pretty much epitomized a tourist. I started on my journey wandering past Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abby, Big Ben, and the Houses of Parliament, each building just a bit more spectacular than the next. Originally I hesitated at taking pictures because I felt slightly embarrassed of my non-local status but I quickly realized that there were many more people doing exactly the same thing. After I noticed that tour groups around me were in at least 4 different languages I felt much more comfortable. A slight rain started to fall marking the end of my picture taking palooza so I set off east towards Trafalgar Square. The proverbial 'Seat of Imperialism' was the first of many places which made me appreciate the English use of public spaces to bring people together and beautify the city. After making sure to snap photos of the giant monolith and remarkably cool oversized ceramic lions I headed through the square to the England's National Gallery. I'm not exactly an art history buff but the gallery captivated me for well over an hour - Monet, Da Vinci, Raphael, Rembrandt, Manet, Pissarro, Seurat, Van Gogh. Primary evidence of the evolution of artistic technique and societal progress hung in the multi-roomed building providing better instruction than one could ever hope to receive from a book.
Without a phone call from my friends Mike and Cole to meet them in Piccadilly Circus, there is a good chance I may have wasted the rest of the day looking at paintings. I strapped on my backpack and wandered to London's much cleaner and debatably cooler version of Times Square. It was good to see some familiar Americans and gain a few partners in crime to wander the streets when I met up with Cole and Mike. After deciding a random direction to start our exploration, we were quickly confronted by a few people giving out fliers for attractions. The first, an Indian man attempting to lure us to Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum. Needless to say, we were less than interested. The second, a cute girl dressed like an Eskimo in a neon yellow traffic coat. We nodded politely, took her flier and then moved on to her great discontent. She insisted that we come back and talk to her which we did - for 45 minutes! Turns out she was a model (truthfully, she made us Facebook her and 'wow' is about all I can say) who spent the last year in Hollywood and just returned to London. She told us that she was picking up her friends shift handing out fliers and could not stand the cold, hence why she looked like an Eskimo. She also gave us a bit of advice on some shows to see, places to go among other things. In what seemed like an instant, we wasted a good part of the day but then exchanged names and numbers and went our separate ways. The first number I got in London came from a swimsuit and lingere model named Lauren! Unfortunately I can't help but assume that it can only be downhill from here.
Fueled by the giddiness of our good fortunes we continued to explore the city and take pictures of anything and everything that seemed notable. Crossing the street by what we later figured out was the entry gate to the two mile long road that leads to Buckingham Palace we nearly got hit by a pair of motorcycles with blaring police sirens. I'm not entirely sure how we missed them to be honest, they weren't exactly discrete. Following the cycles came 3 BMW cop cards, an unmarked Range Rover, and then 3 more BMWs. Noting our complete confusion about the ensuing commotion a man leaned out the window of his Mercedes and yelled to us (obviously tourists) "Oy, it’s the Queen lads!" We all looked at each other in amazement. In London for less than a day and we practically shook hands with the Queen! Or better yet, her motorcade almost killed us: would have been an admirable way to go. The day's proceedings ended with a look at Wellington Arch and Buckingham Palace (see Facebook for picture references).
Friday night in London is something to behold. When picking out my clothes for the weekend, I thought that I chose something that was stylish yet comfortable enough to hang out in for a few days. Holy shit was I wrong. Never have I felt like a bigger scrub amongst groups of people. Everyone's clothes, both men and women, are fitted, high fashion and just put together better. My simple tan coat also cast me as an outcast for its lack of buttons, straps and fine details. People watching as I walked around was somewhat like taking an entire class in modern fashion. For our evening we headed to a pub for a few pints before deciding to head to Fabric which is supposed to be one of London's premier nightclubs. It was slightly like the scene at the Louvre from Eurotrip when we arrived and realized that the que started at the door, went down the street, and then wrapped around the block for some distance. Slightly discouraged we walked back there to try to figure out where to stand while also debating whether or not to stay. While Mike and Cole got in line, I went to talk to someone at a nearby cafe to see if there was any other less busy option close by. Fifteen minutes later I returned to Mike and Cole at the front of the line accompanied by two random girls who apparently had guest passes attached to their VIP tickets. Just my luck. The girls told me to just jump the small movable barricade and get in line with them. Naturally, I waited until the bouncers turned around and jumped! Immensely poor decision. The gate swung out a bit when I put pressure on it to jump and I ungracefully stumbled over it making a racket and ending up on my hands and knees on the other side. Before I could get up a bouncer grabbed me by the arm and coat and threw me back on the other side with a considerable amount of force. He then proceeded to grab me by the collar and told me that he would break my legs if I tried again (no joke). I probably would've pissed myself if I didn't go when we left the pub. I hope everyone takes my stupidity as a lesson of what not to do at a globally acclaimed club. Just wait in line, or if you do decide to jump...don't be incredibly uncoordinated in the process. Another lesson learned from that night: never eat from a place called 'Perfect Chicken.' The chicken is far from perfect; no matter how drunk you think you are your stomach will not thank you.
Ten hours and a few laughs about how dumb I am later, it was time for day 2 of my London adventure. We all got some lunch at a Thai Pub (apparently they exist?) and then headed off to do some more exploring. Our first stop was St. Paul's Cathedral. I think the massive dome was the most spectacular structure I have ever seen in person. It’s sort of like the Capital building in Madison in some respects, except about 100x more intricate and 20x the size. After saying that, I guess it really isn't like the Capital at all minus the dome and a few columns. Our journey took us across the heralded Millennium Bridge (the one that gets destroyed in the beginning of the 6th Harry Potter film) to the South Bank of the River Thames. After passing the replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theater we winded through a series of allies that brought us all a fantastical feeling that we were traveling through Medieval London. For me personally, the scenery infused me with a childlike sense of adventure. For a moment it was as if Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter actually revolved around real events. However, the nerdy fantasies quickly wore away and we headed over to the Tower Bridge (commonly thought to be the London Bridge). Due to some engineering work on the tube (London Underground) we zipped off to King's Cross Station in search of the infamous platform 9 and 3/4! Finding it was altogether disappointing since they moved it due to construction. They short of shoved it in a corner by a security gate and it really isn't anywhere near the other platforms or the train tracks. Nonetheless we took some creative pictures, one of which has made its way to my Facebook profile picture, and started our walk home to get ready for the evening.
I met up with Noah that night because I hadn't yet seen him during the weekend and we took a stroll from Oxford Circus to the South Bank by the London Eye and then over back towards Big Ben. Most of the things I saw on Friday were like completely different entities when lit up in the darkness and I remember being rather angry I forgot my camera. Still being American at heart, we decided to go to the Sports Cafe at Piccadilly Circus to watch the Cardinals vs. Saints game because it was probably the only bar to give it any sort of coverage. Noah and I shared a pitcher before he took off leaving me with an hour or so to spare before Mike and Cole met up with me. In boredom, I struck up a conversation with a middle aged man standing next to me at the bar. Truth be told, I had a lot of curiosity towards why any English folk follow American football. Turns out he fervently followed the Redskins and had been going to games in D.C. for over 20 years. We shot the shit about the hiring of Mike Shannahan, Brett Favre and other contemporary football issues before moving to a slightly more varied list of topics. He explained Cricket to me, I asked about the significance of the Queen in British politics and public sentiment on Gordon Brown. He asked me how I felt about Obama, universal health care. Over the course of an hour or so he bought me about 6 pints before we parted ways, never exchanging names. Twice in two days I shared hour long conversations with complete strangers and enjoyed the hell out of it. I just feel like it’s hard to have those kind of interactions in America and they really are priceless memories. The remainder of the evening flew by in a drunken stupor and we all matriculated the 2 miles home at about 4am.
Having to come back to campus on Sunday was a bit of a buzz kill yet there is solace in the idea that it only cost me 6 quid round trip to get there and there is an extra bed in Mike and Cole's place. I will absolutely be back ASAP. There is still so much to do and see. Who knows, maybe I will actually get into a club without having my life threatened!
Happy first day of school everyone and, like always, keep in touch and leave some comments :). I'll write again when I have some cool things to report!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
European Nightlife: A Minor Introduction
The clubbing experience is definitely something I could get used to. Like a lot of things over here, it seems to make a lot more sense than the way we do things in America. To better explain, lets review how we go out in Madison. Everyone gathers at an apartment or house until about midnight to get sufficiently wasted and then goes out to the bars until they close. It does make sense financially but once the 'club option' is introduced it really is illogical. On a side note, not having a dollar bill is incredibly cumbersome. It is necessary to carry coins pretty much all the time and I constantly finding myself just wanting to leave the change on the bar only to realize I would be leaving 3 or 4 quid (5 or 6 dollars). Lets now move to the British style of out. Everyone gathers for a bit and has a few beers and then goes out to the pubs which tend to be much more rowdy than our bars for unknown reasons - just culture I suppose. The pubs close at about midnight in most cases, plenty long for everyone to get nice and pissed up, and then there is a mass migration to the club. We had to wait in line for about an hour last night which was not ideal but once inside it was totally worth it. As much as I can't listen to techno by itself, when it is remixed with other tunes and the bass is turned up it undoubtedly has the ability to cause widespread euphoric hysteria. Nothing like an electronic mash up of 'Last Resort' by Papa Roach to get the party started.
The club we went to is pretty much exclusively for Warwick students and Tuesday nights are their big night, mostly because I think they offer 1 quid vodka/Redbull. I know that when social venues have specials on drinks there is normally some sort of a catch but I have never seen a 'deal' as bullshit as what I experienced last night. For that pound you get about 90% Redbull 10% Vodka in a half-full oversized Dixie cup. Most of the times when I went to the bar I would buy 3, take one like a shot and then pour the other two together in hopes to take it out to the dance floor. Unfortunately by the time I fought through the crowds the drink was always gone. I don’t think I ever successfully got something all the way from the bar to where all of the people I was with were. Consistent with a lot of my drunken evenings, especially those filled with very poor interpretive dancing, the middle of the night sort of blurred together. At about 2, we went from the upstairs room to the downstairs room that was playing a lot more hip hop. Me and the 4 or 5 people I was with rocked out pretty hard (probably looked absolutely ridiculous in the process) on a raised platform to a variety of popular American hip-hop hits. The closing three tracks were Tik Tok, Lose Yourself, and Gangsta's Paradise, a perfect mix of my contemporary and nostalgic favorites. Pretty much completely drenched in sweat, 6 of us hopped into a cab and came back to Uni for the ceremonial post-club cup of tea around the kitchen table. I felt like a complete tool because, unknown to me, I bought tea leaves instead of tea bags at the store and realized I have absolutely no idea how to make tea properly. Got laughed at for that one pretty heavily.
Going to bed at 5 naturally makes getting up for a 10 o'clock class a bit difficult but I managed to roll out of bed and trudge to what was supposed to be my first class here only to find out that the 2 inches of snow we got overnight had completely shut down the country. My professor couldn't make it and 10 minutes after class was intended to start the 4 other students in lecture and myself decided there was no point in staying. I also had an appointment with my advisor scheduled for the afternoon that she was not present for due to her inability to get to campus. There was a great deal of solace in watching all the lovely Brits play in the snow and throw snowballs at each other. I guess I forget how charming snow can be when all I can associate it with are the negative 30 degree wind chills we so often get in Wisconsin. I came back from running my errands to find my flat mates building a snowman and having a dorm wide snowball fight in which I quickly asserted my dominance! It was particularly amusing to watch them all circle up and decide how to arrange the facial accessories with an assortment of vegetables. I laughed real hard when one kid asked if the snowman needed hair! For the rest of the afternoon I took a solo mission to Coventry to do some exploring and find myself a cell phone. To be perfectly honest Coventry isn't much of a place for having a population of 350,000 people. I image a lot of that is due to the fact that, during WWII after the U.S. had stolen the Enigma machine and decoded German code, FDR decided it was necessary to let Coventry be bombed so the Nazis would not know we had stolen their signals. And when I say bombed I don't mean a casual thrashing. The city was essentially leveled to the ground. So much, in fact, that for some time a slang term arose; to be 'Coventried' is essentially to get completely demolished. Despite the lack of things to do I took some neat pictures (see Facebook in the next few days) and got fish, chips and ale at a local pub. Probably the most authentic thing I could think of doing and I'm not going to lie, it was incredibly enjoyable. Pub atmosphere in general is just very foreign and remarkable to take part in. Everyone is so relaxed, so happy and the accents don’t get old. It’s comical how many communication gaps there are between people who speak the 'same' language. I think it was Winston Churchill who juxtaposed America and Britain as "two great countries separated by one common language" or something like that but I digress. One cell phone and a few pints later I headed home to what would become a nice low key poker night with some mates on the floor. Not sure what Thursday will bring but headed to London to visit Noah on Friday and I'm incredibly excited! Round trip bus ticket for 6 quid. Incredible. A trip of similar distance in the States costs about $50 at a student rate.
Stay tuned for the chronicles of my first London visit and some pictures eventually. I hope everyone is well and is looking forward to starting next semester in Madison :p
The club we went to is pretty much exclusively for Warwick students and Tuesday nights are their big night, mostly because I think they offer 1 quid vodka/Redbull. I know that when social venues have specials on drinks there is normally some sort of a catch but I have never seen a 'deal' as bullshit as what I experienced last night. For that pound you get about 90% Redbull 10% Vodka in a half-full oversized Dixie cup. Most of the times when I went to the bar I would buy 3, take one like a shot and then pour the other two together in hopes to take it out to the dance floor. Unfortunately by the time I fought through the crowds the drink was always gone. I don’t think I ever successfully got something all the way from the bar to where all of the people I was with were. Consistent with a lot of my drunken evenings, especially those filled with very poor interpretive dancing, the middle of the night sort of blurred together. At about 2, we went from the upstairs room to the downstairs room that was playing a lot more hip hop. Me and the 4 or 5 people I was with rocked out pretty hard (probably looked absolutely ridiculous in the process) on a raised platform to a variety of popular American hip-hop hits. The closing three tracks were Tik Tok, Lose Yourself, and Gangsta's Paradise, a perfect mix of my contemporary and nostalgic favorites. Pretty much completely drenched in sweat, 6 of us hopped into a cab and came back to Uni for the ceremonial post-club cup of tea around the kitchen table. I felt like a complete tool because, unknown to me, I bought tea leaves instead of tea bags at the store and realized I have absolutely no idea how to make tea properly. Got laughed at for that one pretty heavily.
Going to bed at 5 naturally makes getting up for a 10 o'clock class a bit difficult but I managed to roll out of bed and trudge to what was supposed to be my first class here only to find out that the 2 inches of snow we got overnight had completely shut down the country. My professor couldn't make it and 10 minutes after class was intended to start the 4 other students in lecture and myself decided there was no point in staying. I also had an appointment with my advisor scheduled for the afternoon that she was not present for due to her inability to get to campus. There was a great deal of solace in watching all the lovely Brits play in the snow and throw snowballs at each other. I guess I forget how charming snow can be when all I can associate it with are the negative 30 degree wind chills we so often get in Wisconsin. I came back from running my errands to find my flat mates building a snowman and having a dorm wide snowball fight in which I quickly asserted my dominance! It was particularly amusing to watch them all circle up and decide how to arrange the facial accessories with an assortment of vegetables. I laughed real hard when one kid asked if the snowman needed hair! For the rest of the afternoon I took a solo mission to Coventry to do some exploring and find myself a cell phone. To be perfectly honest Coventry isn't much of a place for having a population of 350,000 people. I image a lot of that is due to the fact that, during WWII after the U.S. had stolen the Enigma machine and decoded German code, FDR decided it was necessary to let Coventry be bombed so the Nazis would not know we had stolen their signals. And when I say bombed I don't mean a casual thrashing. The city was essentially leveled to the ground. So much, in fact, that for some time a slang term arose; to be 'Coventried' is essentially to get completely demolished. Despite the lack of things to do I took some neat pictures (see Facebook in the next few days) and got fish, chips and ale at a local pub. Probably the most authentic thing I could think of doing and I'm not going to lie, it was incredibly enjoyable. Pub atmosphere in general is just very foreign and remarkable to take part in. Everyone is so relaxed, so happy and the accents don’t get old. It’s comical how many communication gaps there are between people who speak the 'same' language. I think it was Winston Churchill who juxtaposed America and Britain as "two great countries separated by one common language" or something like that but I digress. One cell phone and a few pints later I headed home to what would become a nice low key poker night with some mates on the floor. Not sure what Thursday will bring but headed to London to visit Noah on Friday and I'm incredibly excited! Round trip bus ticket for 6 quid. Incredible. A trip of similar distance in the States costs about $50 at a student rate.
Stay tuned for the chronicles of my first London visit and some pictures eventually. I hope everyone is well and is looking forward to starting next semester in Madison :p
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Clubs and Pubs, Round One
Well orientation pretty much sucked. You take for granted how easy everything is at Madison once you know how to do it i.e. registration, email accounts, and scheduling. I most definitely felt like a freshman sitting in a lecture hall while someone is explaining things to me but I’m paying almost no attention and trying to figure it out myself because I'm impatient. On a positive note, after 8 or so hours of running in circles I think I have everything figured out. I've decided that I'm only going to take 4 classes (12 credits) instead of the 5 they want me too since I'm going to be at Madison 4.5 years regardless and I might as well slack off this semester since I'm sure I'm going to be preoccupied with anything and everything that isn't school. As of now I have class from 1 to 2 Monday, 2 to 4 Tuesday, 1 to 2 Wednesday, and 1 to 2 Thursday. Fridays off, Thursdays early and Mondays late - couldn't really ask for much better. Be Jealous. I'm not sure if that's all going to work out perfectly but still its ONLY 5 class hours a week, it doesn't really matter when they are. If it was up to me I'd do it all on Wednesday and fuck around for the other 6 days.
Aside from my semi-baggy jeans, I have also come to realize that I am just about the only male on campus that does not wear a classy black button-up wool coat with a quarter-zip sweater and scarf. Apparently tans and browns skipped British fashion. Plads and stripes seem to be 'cool' though so I'm alright in that department. The white Nike's transcend all cultural differences as well. I'm making improvements on running into people; only 2 or 3 today! It is incredibly strange for me to walk around a campus that doesn't have any significant traffic or major roads. I never really thought I enjoyed the commotion of the city but without it things seem somewhat boring - it always brightens up my day to see cars almost hit people and beep at them as if any pedestrians honestly give a shit.
Went to the pub on campus last night with a few amigos from my floor which was a good time. One of the guys is a barman (colloquial term) in London and as a result I gained a lot of insight on British beers and alcohols - none of which I had any prior knowledge of. I can now tell you the difference between lager and ale! No one really understands the concept of light beer here. I just don’t think there is the same oxymoronic desire to get absolutely blasted while at the same time not really tasting anything you drink and trying to be 'healthy' about it. In reality, it is pretty dumb when you break it down. Regardless Bud Light forever! People also think that I can't drink very much because I'm only 20 and thus cannot legally drink in America. It’s semi-difficult to explain American underage drinking culture and the bar scene because it is so stupid and foreign to them - rightfully so I suppose. The only indirect proof I have of my drinking ability until I can prove myself is Madison's long lost #1 party school ranking. Tonight is club night or something of the sort at the union so I'm going to go see what that is all about. People said it’s kind of lame for a club but I've never really been to one so I guess I should start somewhere and work my way up right? In preparation I made my FIRST LEGAL ALCOHOL PURCHASE! Definitely saving the receipt. Buying alcohol over here is sort of like a game of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. You walk into the booze isle and realize you haven't heard of any of the bear so you just sort of close your eyes and point. I decided on some Carlsberg lager and Olde English medium dry cider. Not entirely sure what cider is but it seemed authentic. Everybody should also be happy to know that Fleischman’s is present over here so if I'm ever real home sick I can just pound a liter by myself and take myself back to freshman year in the infamous 723b.
The club at the student union was actually quite impressive and I had a splendid time. It is everything you associate with a European club minus the strippers in cages. Two floors of body shaking bass, interesting techno remixes of 90s American pop hits, a lot of awful haircuts and bad white dancing/fist pumping when Kelly Clarkson or the All American Rejects come on. It was pound night (dollar night) so select beers, ciders and shots were only a quid which was nice even with the exchange rate. Needless to say I got rather hammered off of Fosters and shots of Sambuca - strange licorice tasting liquor from France I believe. The alcohol definitely helped bridge some of the social awkwardness of going with people for the first time. Apart from the club there are some Euro lounge areas where everybody chills on leather furniture and have sophisticated conversations in myriad languages. The aesthetic appearances of people around here are rather bipolar. It seems that there are a slew of ugly folks then about a quarter are gorgeous and there isn't really a lot of middle ground but maybe that's just because I had my 'beer goggles' on. I ended up sleeping until 1 today since I had nothing to do but I actually have to go to an hour of class tomorrow! Might go out to a club in Lemington tonight which I am looking forward to. It’s a nearby village where a lot of upper classmen live and is supposed to be very quaint and just an overall cool place.
I think that's all I have to report for today, I need to go get some groceries and a cell phone...hope everyone is well and please stay in touch! Also, how sick are any guys that read this of hearing about Mark Mcgwire's hall of fame status? I'm barely in contact with ESPN over here and I still cant stand it!
Aside from my semi-baggy jeans, I have also come to realize that I am just about the only male on campus that does not wear a classy black button-up wool coat with a quarter-zip sweater and scarf. Apparently tans and browns skipped British fashion. Plads and stripes seem to be 'cool' though so I'm alright in that department. The white Nike's transcend all cultural differences as well. I'm making improvements on running into people; only 2 or 3 today! It is incredibly strange for me to walk around a campus that doesn't have any significant traffic or major roads. I never really thought I enjoyed the commotion of the city but without it things seem somewhat boring - it always brightens up my day to see cars almost hit people and beep at them as if any pedestrians honestly give a shit.
Went to the pub on campus last night with a few amigos from my floor which was a good time. One of the guys is a barman (colloquial term) in London and as a result I gained a lot of insight on British beers and alcohols - none of which I had any prior knowledge of. I can now tell you the difference between lager and ale! No one really understands the concept of light beer here. I just don’t think there is the same oxymoronic desire to get absolutely blasted while at the same time not really tasting anything you drink and trying to be 'healthy' about it. In reality, it is pretty dumb when you break it down. Regardless Bud Light forever! People also think that I can't drink very much because I'm only 20 and thus cannot legally drink in America. It’s semi-difficult to explain American underage drinking culture and the bar scene because it is so stupid and foreign to them - rightfully so I suppose. The only indirect proof I have of my drinking ability until I can prove myself is Madison's long lost #1 party school ranking. Tonight is club night or something of the sort at the union so I'm going to go see what that is all about. People said it’s kind of lame for a club but I've never really been to one so I guess I should start somewhere and work my way up right? In preparation I made my FIRST LEGAL ALCOHOL PURCHASE! Definitely saving the receipt. Buying alcohol over here is sort of like a game of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. You walk into the booze isle and realize you haven't heard of any of the bear so you just sort of close your eyes and point. I decided on some Carlsberg lager and Olde English medium dry cider. Not entirely sure what cider is but it seemed authentic. Everybody should also be happy to know that Fleischman’s is present over here so if I'm ever real home sick I can just pound a liter by myself and take myself back to freshman year in the infamous 723b.
The club at the student union was actually quite impressive and I had a splendid time. It is everything you associate with a European club minus the strippers in cages. Two floors of body shaking bass, interesting techno remixes of 90s American pop hits, a lot of awful haircuts and bad white dancing/fist pumping when Kelly Clarkson or the All American Rejects come on. It was pound night (dollar night) so select beers, ciders and shots were only a quid which was nice even with the exchange rate. Needless to say I got rather hammered off of Fosters and shots of Sambuca - strange licorice tasting liquor from France I believe. The alcohol definitely helped bridge some of the social awkwardness of going with people for the first time. Apart from the club there are some Euro lounge areas where everybody chills on leather furniture and have sophisticated conversations in myriad languages. The aesthetic appearances of people around here are rather bipolar. It seems that there are a slew of ugly folks then about a quarter are gorgeous and there isn't really a lot of middle ground but maybe that's just because I had my 'beer goggles' on. I ended up sleeping until 1 today since I had nothing to do but I actually have to go to an hour of class tomorrow! Might go out to a club in Lemington tonight which I am looking forward to. It’s a nearby village where a lot of upper classmen live and is supposed to be very quaint and just an overall cool place.
I think that's all I have to report for today, I need to go get some groceries and a cell phone...hope everyone is well and please stay in touch! Also, how sick are any guys that read this of hearing about Mark Mcgwire's hall of fame status? I'm barely in contact with ESPN over here and I still cant stand it!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Guess what? I'm actually here!
Well, after finally watching Inglorious Bastards and getting to see the second half of District 9 we are only over the tip of Greenland where, according to my TV screen, it is currently negative 75 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm about ready to be in Amsterdam but unfortunately there is still a solid 3 hours left of my journey. That, coupled with the fact that the first track on the plane's "hot hits" music channel was most definitely Party in the U.S.A., has driven me to chronicle my day so far because, despite its general lack of excitement, there have been a few notable events.
For starters, I got to Green Bay at about 9:45 for my flight that was supposedly supposed to leave at 12:30pm only to find out that they had decided to reschedule it since last night to 10:55 which I really should have expected given the passport dilemma; I mean really, why wouldn't the airline reschedule my flight on short notice to cause an inconvenience? On the plus side, checking my bags was only $100 instead of the $140 we planned for. Bastards. Things actually ended up working out pretty well though because I essentially had nothing to do in Green Bay and I made it to my connecting flight to Minneapolis with plenty of time to spare. I must give credit to my mother who didn't completely break down when I went through security to my gate as I expected her to, no offense intended mom! No surprises that I was the only person in a line of about 25 to get 'randomly searched' by the 85 year old security guard who couldn't have done anything even if I was a problem.
This "hot hits" channel is utterly ridiculous - Miley, Britney, Owl City, Leona Lewis and Nickleback. What more could I ever ask for? I can only hope that Ke$ha will come on soon!
Following a delightful little conversation with a mildly attractive 30 year old business woman on her way to Denver for a baby shower (on a side note, does anyone know how flight attendant’s schedules work?), we landed in Minneapolis to start my 3 hour hiatus before the flight on which I currently reside. The airport was pretty lame all things considered, and I really didn't do much besides get a preposterously expensive $9 foot long sub at Subway and read in the terminal. Again I was selected to be 'randomly searched' by airport security along with the men whose names carried a Middle Eastern connotation. I didn't think that my jeans and American Eagle Rugby shirt were that suspicious but apparently I give off criminal vibes. It must be the faux hawk or maybe Grooty's rasta shoes?
After all of the build up and packing and Visa anxiety of the last few weeks, I never really got nervous about leaving at all. All morning I waited for the moment to come when it would really hit me that I was actually going to England for six months and wasn't going to see any of my best friends physically for a while but it never came. My first guess was when I said goodbye to my parents yet that moment came and went with laughter and optimism. Then I thought maybe when I got on the plane to Minneapolis. Nope. The next logical place for me to realize what I am actually doing would have been sitting in the airport waiting to board my international flight but that time came and went as well filled with text messages and phone calls. Even upon boarding the flight I didn't feel the least bit different. Reality finally hit when I had to turn off my cell phone before take-off. That was the point where I officially lost contact with the life I have been living for the past 20 years and began my little European adventure. Any text messages or voicemails sent to me after about 3:45 today will not be read or listened to for 5 or 6 months. Cell phones hold a vast amount of symbolism that we never really grapple with because they have become such integral parts of our daily lives. Not to be overly dramatic, but, in a lot of ways, turning off your phone is like turning off you. The slate is wiped clean and you are no longer confined by anything once the delightful little tune indicates the phone's deactivation. In the next 2 days I will get a new phone and start something entirely unfamiliar and exciting. A different sound when I turn it on and a different world to stay connected to. I never would have guessed that something as simple as turning off my phone would lead to so much introspection. It was like a realization that there is so much I haven't seen or done and so much world to be explored outside of the bubble I have created that encompasses Appleton and Madison. There is no doubt that after a time, I am going to have a strong desire to turn my phone back on and step back into my bubble but not now. It's time for me to activate a new phone and do a little bit of exploring - mentally and physically.
My luck with the seat assignment on this flight has been about 50/50. I'm on an aisle which is good because my legs are much too long for the space allotted for them and the woman in front of me decided to recline her chair all the way back about 5 minutes into the flight. On top of that she insists on rocking her baby hourly which makes concentrating on the tiny screen in the back of my chair rather impossible. Another plus is that the girl next to me is real cool and helps pass time. Never asked her name but she is a senior at Minnesota and is headed to Germany to visit a friend. On the negative side, I have a crying baby on all sides and they seem to be obnoxious in intervals. Hell, I don't blame them. If I was little and my parents put me on a ten hour flight I would probably be angry and annoying.
Amsterdam Airport was rather unexciting. I spent almost an hour running around various terminals looking for a "red phone" with which I could use my calling card to call home with. After finally finding one and somehow making the calling card work, it said my home number could not be dialed so I had to use a credit card anyways. For the rest of the time I played "spot the European" with myself - a really easy game to be honest, you don't even need to look at the wardrobe most of the time. I spent the flight to Birmingham talking to an English guy who had just spent three weeks in Spokane visiting his fiancé whom he met on the internet. Interesting fellow to say the least but he was friendly and helped pass the time.
Naturally after all of the trouble I went through to get a Visa and get to the UK I assumed that having to go through customs when I arrived at Birmingham would take forever and be completely ridiculous. NOT. I showed the customs agent my passport, he asked what university I was going to and stamped it; took a grand total of about 25 seconds. My good fortunes continued at baggage claim where I met two Germans, Michael and Nicole, who also study at Warwick and were headed to Coventry. Without me even asking they insisted that I ride the bus with them and that they could answer my questions and make sure I got to campus alright. They were delightful company on the bus and gave me a whole lot of suggestions about getting acclimated since they were once first semester international students as well. Not to mention Michael was hilarious; the way he said 'cool' and the frequency with which he used it made me laugh every time. It was spectacular to have someone help me carry my shit too. Apparently school in Germany is 500 Euros a semester (about $750) a semester for everyone and people still protest in the streets because they can't stand how expensive it is. And we wonder why other countries are suddenly smarter than us? I basically gawked out the window for the duration of the bus ride from Birmingham to Coventry (on a double decker bus!) just to see what England is all about. Not going to lie though, driving on the left side of the rode freaks me out. Every time I saw a car coming at us I thought we were going to get hit. After getting to Coventry bus station I parted ways with them but got Michael's email and he is going to take me to his favorite pub this weekend and show me what Coventry is all about. From what I saw on the bus it looks like a really cool quintessential English town and I hope to spend quite a bit of time there.
22 sleepless hours later, I finally made it to campus at about 11am English time (5am Wisco time)! Thankfully the place where I got my room key was not too far away from my building because carrying my shit around wasn't really fun even though I packed as little as possible. Now that I'm unpacked I again feel like I have no possessions other than clothes and my computer. The building I'm in is pretty cool, it’s sort of like a dorm except it’s fully coed and there are shared kitchens where people spent a lot of their time chatting and drinking tea. My room isn't big or anything but much more adequate than 723b was. I can only hope to half have the experience I had in that room though! The weather pretty much sucks at the moment. I was expecting like 45 degrees but apparently this is the worst winter any of my floor mates have ever seen in their lifetimes. I guess the fact that the ground is covered with snow across the country is completely uncanny. It was clear almost immediately that I probably have the baggiest jeans on campus. The people I met were all very nice but they have all been together since the beginning of the school year so it will take some time to 'fit in' so to speak. Telling everyone I'm from Wisconsin is utterly comical. To them being north of Chicago might as well be Canada! Admittedly, I was a bithomesick for the evening and found a lot of solace in the fact that I could listen to the Badger game and watch football online. I made myself stay up as long as possible so I could sleep until morning and hopefully get over the wicked jet lag but only made it til about 9 - 30 total hours awake without any sort of nap. I then proceeded to sleep until 1 today which may actually be the longest I've ever slept in my life.
My day today involved a little exploration of campus to try to get my bearings and a trip to Tesco, the UK equivalent of Wal-Mart, for a few essentials. I ran into at least 10 people walking around because here, when you’re walking towards someone, they move to the left and naturally I move to my right always leading to collision. I felt like a fool every time. I almost get hit by cars a lot too since I look to the left first when I cross a street but I need to be looking right first since the traffic in the closest lane is coming from that direction. Yes everyone, I am an American, tried and true! Everyone else starts school tomorrow but since I have no classes I will be going to orientation where I hope to figure out what I'm supposed to be doing well I'm here. For now I'm going to be kind of a hermit for the rest of the evening and watch the playoffs! Not sure when I'll write again but definitely more frequently than my last attempt at blogging. Post comments, I would love to hear for people :)
For starters, I got to Green Bay at about 9:45 for my flight that was supposedly supposed to leave at 12:30pm only to find out that they had decided to reschedule it since last night to 10:55 which I really should have expected given the passport dilemma; I mean really, why wouldn't the airline reschedule my flight on short notice to cause an inconvenience? On the plus side, checking my bags was only $100 instead of the $140 we planned for. Bastards. Things actually ended up working out pretty well though because I essentially had nothing to do in Green Bay and I made it to my connecting flight to Minneapolis with plenty of time to spare. I must give credit to my mother who didn't completely break down when I went through security to my gate as I expected her to, no offense intended mom! No surprises that I was the only person in a line of about 25 to get 'randomly searched' by the 85 year old security guard who couldn't have done anything even if I was a problem.
This "hot hits" channel is utterly ridiculous - Miley, Britney, Owl City, Leona Lewis and Nickleback. What more could I ever ask for? I can only hope that Ke$ha will come on soon!
Following a delightful little conversation with a mildly attractive 30 year old business woman on her way to Denver for a baby shower (on a side note, does anyone know how flight attendant’s schedules work?), we landed in Minneapolis to start my 3 hour hiatus before the flight on which I currently reside. The airport was pretty lame all things considered, and I really didn't do much besides get a preposterously expensive $9 foot long sub at Subway and read in the terminal. Again I was selected to be 'randomly searched' by airport security along with the men whose names carried a Middle Eastern connotation. I didn't think that my jeans and American Eagle Rugby shirt were that suspicious but apparently I give off criminal vibes. It must be the faux hawk or maybe Grooty's rasta shoes?
After all of the build up and packing and Visa anxiety of the last few weeks, I never really got nervous about leaving at all. All morning I waited for the moment to come when it would really hit me that I was actually going to England for six months and wasn't going to see any of my best friends physically for a while but it never came. My first guess was when I said goodbye to my parents yet that moment came and went with laughter and optimism. Then I thought maybe when I got on the plane to Minneapolis. Nope. The next logical place for me to realize what I am actually doing would have been sitting in the airport waiting to board my international flight but that time came and went as well filled with text messages and phone calls. Even upon boarding the flight I didn't feel the least bit different. Reality finally hit when I had to turn off my cell phone before take-off. That was the point where I officially lost contact with the life I have been living for the past 20 years and began my little European adventure. Any text messages or voicemails sent to me after about 3:45 today will not be read or listened to for 5 or 6 months. Cell phones hold a vast amount of symbolism that we never really grapple with because they have become such integral parts of our daily lives. Not to be overly dramatic, but, in a lot of ways, turning off your phone is like turning off you. The slate is wiped clean and you are no longer confined by anything once the delightful little tune indicates the phone's deactivation. In the next 2 days I will get a new phone and start something entirely unfamiliar and exciting. A different sound when I turn it on and a different world to stay connected to. I never would have guessed that something as simple as turning off my phone would lead to so much introspection. It was like a realization that there is so much I haven't seen or done and so much world to be explored outside of the bubble I have created that encompasses Appleton and Madison. There is no doubt that after a time, I am going to have a strong desire to turn my phone back on and step back into my bubble but not now. It's time for me to activate a new phone and do a little bit of exploring - mentally and physically.
My luck with the seat assignment on this flight has been about 50/50. I'm on an aisle which is good because my legs are much too long for the space allotted for them and the woman in front of me decided to recline her chair all the way back about 5 minutes into the flight. On top of that she insists on rocking her baby hourly which makes concentrating on the tiny screen in the back of my chair rather impossible. Another plus is that the girl next to me is real cool and helps pass time. Never asked her name but she is a senior at Minnesota and is headed to Germany to visit a friend. On the negative side, I have a crying baby on all sides and they seem to be obnoxious in intervals. Hell, I don't blame them. If I was little and my parents put me on a ten hour flight I would probably be angry and annoying.
Amsterdam Airport was rather unexciting. I spent almost an hour running around various terminals looking for a "red phone" with which I could use my calling card to call home with. After finally finding one and somehow making the calling card work, it said my home number could not be dialed so I had to use a credit card anyways. For the rest of the time I played "spot the European" with myself - a really easy game to be honest, you don't even need to look at the wardrobe most of the time. I spent the flight to Birmingham talking to an English guy who had just spent three weeks in Spokane visiting his fiancé whom he met on the internet. Interesting fellow to say the least but he was friendly and helped pass the time.
Naturally after all of the trouble I went through to get a Visa and get to the UK I assumed that having to go through customs when I arrived at Birmingham would take forever and be completely ridiculous. NOT. I showed the customs agent my passport, he asked what university I was going to and stamped it; took a grand total of about 25 seconds. My good fortunes continued at baggage claim where I met two Germans, Michael and Nicole, who also study at Warwick and were headed to Coventry. Without me even asking they insisted that I ride the bus with them and that they could answer my questions and make sure I got to campus alright. They were delightful company on the bus and gave me a whole lot of suggestions about getting acclimated since they were once first semester international students as well. Not to mention Michael was hilarious; the way he said 'cool' and the frequency with which he used it made me laugh every time. It was spectacular to have someone help me carry my shit too. Apparently school in Germany is 500 Euros a semester (about $750) a semester for everyone and people still protest in the streets because they can't stand how expensive it is. And we wonder why other countries are suddenly smarter than us? I basically gawked out the window for the duration of the bus ride from Birmingham to Coventry (on a double decker bus!) just to see what England is all about. Not going to lie though, driving on the left side of the rode freaks me out. Every time I saw a car coming at us I thought we were going to get hit. After getting to Coventry bus station I parted ways with them but got Michael's email and he is going to take me to his favorite pub this weekend and show me what Coventry is all about. From what I saw on the bus it looks like a really cool quintessential English town and I hope to spend quite a bit of time there.
22 sleepless hours later, I finally made it to campus at about 11am English time (5am Wisco time)! Thankfully the place where I got my room key was not too far away from my building because carrying my shit around wasn't really fun even though I packed as little as possible. Now that I'm unpacked I again feel like I have no possessions other than clothes and my computer. The building I'm in is pretty cool, it’s sort of like a dorm except it’s fully coed and there are shared kitchens where people spent a lot of their time chatting and drinking tea. My room isn't big or anything but much more adequate than 723b was. I can only hope to half have the experience I had in that room though! The weather pretty much sucks at the moment. I was expecting like 45 degrees but apparently this is the worst winter any of my floor mates have ever seen in their lifetimes. I guess the fact that the ground is covered with snow across the country is completely uncanny. It was clear almost immediately that I probably have the baggiest jeans on campus. The people I met were all very nice but they have all been together since the beginning of the school year so it will take some time to 'fit in' so to speak. Telling everyone I'm from Wisconsin is utterly comical. To them being north of Chicago might as well be Canada! Admittedly, I was a bithomesick for the evening and found a lot of solace in the fact that I could listen to the Badger game and watch football online. I made myself stay up as long as possible so I could sleep until morning and hopefully get over the wicked jet lag but only made it til about 9 - 30 total hours awake without any sort of nap. I then proceeded to sleep until 1 today which may actually be the longest I've ever slept in my life.
My day today involved a little exploration of campus to try to get my bearings and a trip to Tesco, the UK equivalent of Wal-Mart, for a few essentials. I ran into at least 10 people walking around because here, when you’re walking towards someone, they move to the left and naturally I move to my right always leading to collision. I felt like a fool every time. I almost get hit by cars a lot too since I look to the left first when I cross a street but I need to be looking right first since the traffic in the closest lane is coming from that direction. Yes everyone, I am an American, tried and true! Everyone else starts school tomorrow but since I have no classes I will be going to orientation where I hope to figure out what I'm supposed to be doing well I'm here. For now I'm going to be kind of a hermit for the rest of the evening and watch the playoffs! Not sure when I'll write again but definitely more frequently than my last attempt at blogging. Post comments, I would love to hear for people :)
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Students Making Music: Young and talented artists in the 608
Whether you knew it or not, there is a great deal of music being made behind the scenes among regular students here in Madison. They all have very different motives and inspirations behind the tracks they make but underlying it all they just enjoy doing what they do. I want to take a closer look at Ethan Cook of American Fiction, JT Roach, the guys who made the infamous "Coastie Song," Matt "Frozilla" Bozile, and graduate student Rafael Casal to hopefully introduce anyone who reads this to some stuff they haven't heard before. You may not like all of it, but regardless I think all of these guys deserve some respect for what they do and we might as well support the '608'
But first, a little background on how the role of the small artist has changed in the American music scene in the last 15 or 20 years in case you're interested....
The enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 effectively crushed the independent radio station and consolidated all of the airwaves into the control of a handful of companies. Without hometown DJs to play their music, many up and coming artists lost their outlets for expression. They found it hard to build support from local communities in hope to vault themselves onto the regional or national scene. Secondly, the negative effects of the "Napster Generation" on the record industry are widely known. However, I would argue that developments made in the 1990s and 2000s may have had a reverse effect on the careers of small independent artists. Rapid improvements in technology and the usefulness of the internet have done a great deal in giving talented artists a platform to showcase their music. Youtube, blogs, facebook, myspace, twitter etc... all work together to spread the word about new music. Sound quality and production skills on some of these 'venues' may not be the greatest but regardless, people are recording their own songs and making their own videos easier than ever before.
Do you disagree? Leave a comment!That being said, lets take at these guys....
1. JT Roach: I don't know a lot about this guy to be perfectly honest, and when someone sent me a link to one of his songs I was shocked to find out that he was a kid from my philosophy class who gave a debate on surrogate motherhood (...its a required class). Most of his tracks are acoustic covers of popular hip-hop songs which make us really call into question what it takes for something to be considered "hip-hop." He makes some use of autotune technology but by no means depends on it like the infamous T-Pain. I doubt he is looking to get any of his stuff published but none the less I think his talent deserves some recognition. I think you will be surprised at how enjoyable his cover of Drake's "The Best I Ever Had" is.
2. American Fiction: I am especially proud to give some recognition to the folk inspired soloist Ethan Cook who is the mastermind behind the band American Fiction. Hailing out of Appleton, WI Ethan began his career playing in coffee shops around the Fox Valley area and gaining a band of followers who could not deny the immense amount of talent he has. Taking a page from the books of Bob Dylan and Tom Petty, Ethan uses his own lyrics to dig deep into the meaning of life while showcasing his abilities on the guitar and harmonica. Recently signed to Branch Records (http://www.branchrecords.com/), an independent and progressive record label out of Florida, American Fiction just released his second album and is moving up in the music world. If you like the song below, check out his myspace for more... http://www.myspace.com/americanfictionband
3. Quincy Harrison and Cliff Grefe "The Coastie Song": At the opposite end of the spectrum from the existential performances by American Fiction comes the hugely popular and very eccentric "Coastie Song." If you haven't heard it by now you are either living under a rock or have just not been on Facebook in quite some time. The song has been listened to by almost 20,000 people and is slowly branching away from Wisconsin to otherparts of the country, "google it" if you don't believe me. You may think the song is stupid and required no talent to produce but if that were the case, then why didn't anybody else make it? It is pretty damn hard to make 20,000 people listen or read anything! Harrison and Grefe have made a rather comedic hip-hop track and something that a lot of people can relate to. They are also perfect examples of how to utilize new production technologies coupled with social networks to promote something on a broad scale. They may not have a career in hip-hop but a claim to fame and a loyal band of groupies may be more fun anyways.
4. Matt "Frozilla" Bozile: Commonly known as 'Fro to his friends because of his classic white kid afro, Matt began rapping in high school just for fun and since then has produced a complete album along with a few newer singles. In my opinion his style is a unique synthesis of Gucci Mane style beats with lyrics reminiscent of Lil' Wayne and a hint of some T-Pain for dramatic effect. By playing his own music at parties, 'Fro continually gets people to start dancing, having a good time, and, most importantly, to ask what is playing. Such a situation is how I found out about him and came to enjoy his music. His production and sampling skills make nearly all of his tracks sound like something off of the radio and give them mass appeal to a hip-hop or pop audience. Currently he is trying to co-produce a track with Dorrough (Ice Cream Paint Job) or Gucci Mane but is lacking a sufficient amount of "money bags" demanded by Gucci. His myspace provides more info (http://www.myspace.com/frozillababy).
I don't have a video to play but check out these links to two of his newest tracks "So Fine and Mine" (http://limelinx.com/files/785c41087ccf9f4100cd5f697dc811b5) and "Money Stand Tall" ft. a sample from Gucci (http://limelinx.com/files/f217394115161dc09af2fd1d61b2ce90)
5. Rafael Casal and The Getback: Last but ABSOLUTELY NOT least is one of my personal favorites Rafael Casal. I learned about Casal through a series of lectures on hip-hop scholarship where I saw him perform a spoken word piece that absolutely blew me away. Upon some further investigation I found out that he is the Creative Director of the "First Wave" program here at Madison which is the first hip-hop theater program in the nation. Among his other accolades he is a two time Poetry Slam National Champion, was on Russell Simmon's Def Poetry series on HBO and has shared the stage with Common, Talib Kweli, Kanye West, Mos-Def, De La Soul and George Clinton just to name a few. He is also very involved in academia contributing to works on topics such as social justice. Hailing from the San Francisco Bay area, his first album "As Good As Your Word" was produced by prominent hip-hop names including Too Short and E-40. His new album "Monster" is set to release at the end of this month. Check out his first music video for his single "Bay Area Slang" and a poem which will give you some insight into his lyrical brilliance.
I hope you all enjoyed some of this stuff and encourage you to look into these guys in a bit more depth.
Make sure to leave some comments and I'm still looking for people who want to post!
-Patrick
Monday, October 19, 2009
PLUp Fiction
So what exactly is Pulp Fiction? True, it is a 1994 film directed by Quentin Tarantino in which Los Angeles mobsters depicted by Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta wreck bloody havoc in the streets. However, the term pulp fiction did not originate in the cinema or in the 1990s. It stems out of a form of creative writing that was largely popular among the American public in the early to mid 20th century. Labeled as 'pulp magazines' because of the low grade paper used to make the pages between the covers, pulp magazines overwhelmed news stands in the 30s and 40s. Although the pages of the story were of sub par quality, the covers were what really drew readers attention with their vibrant, colorful, and dramatic depictions of heroic situations.
The magazines themselves spanned a variety of genres including adventure, westerns and detective stories. Each individual issue offered a slightly new take on the quintessential struggle of good versus evil, most often involving a mythic hero defeating a mysterious villain to save a damsel in distress. Most importantly, the magazines offered cheap entertainment (10 cents an issue) to working class young adults and teenagers in a culture where the majority of the population didn't have television. Pulps allowed their readership to experience people, places and adventures that they did not have access to in their daily lives. They helped create a shared identity among those who read regularly, brining people together who would not normally have conversed.
Needless to say, American culture and society have come a long way from the mass distribution of comic books, but the role of people engaging with each other has not decreased in importance. The problem today is that so much information circulates various types of media platforms that there is hardly a chance for collectivist discussions to take place. Selective perception of material creates different opinions and combating viewpoints which, more often than not, lead to disagreement instead of debate or conversation. By starting this blog I hope to channel some ideas about issues that are relevant our lives as young people in the world that we have inherited from our parents. The nature of posts will not always be profound or serious but hopefully they will allow many people to come into contact with things they would not have found on their own time and spark new interests to explore. I encourage anyone who reads this to reflect on viewpoints and circumstances that are not your own, to see things in a different light from what you have been taught. While you may not change your opinion, considering two sides of the same story creates understanding between enemies and generates new knowledge. So in celebration of Tarantino's version of Pulp Fiction lets see what sort of rich, eclectic dialogue we can create in the context of a nonlinear storyline.
-Patrick
I leave you with this link to ponder...check it out!
(Gemineye - Poetic Bloodlines)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPz9lL0y8sE&feature=related
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