Rumshake, Park Art, and Moshi Moshi

10-18-08

Our original goal today was to get bitch'n London tattoos. By 'our' I mean about five of us from Wisconsin who all had our own original ideas for tats and intending on getting inked while we were overseas. I would love to divulge what my design was to be even though I didn't get it, however that doesn't mean I won't get it trapped into my skin sooner or later.

None of us got tattoos that day, mostly because the best places were booked for the day, but also because after short consultations with multiple artists, none of us were really pleased with their feedback. I heard from three different artists at three different shops that my design would have to be much bigger that I would like it because of the detail involved. If any tattoo artists are reading this and can set me straight please comment. While I suppose they might just have my best interests in mind, I also had a suspicion that they were all trying to make an extra £100 off me. Meredith on the other hand (remember her from the art gallery?) scheduled an appointment and will be heading back next Sunday to get the outline of Wisconsin somewhere on her body.

Our trip to the Camden tattoo parlors was no waste of time. Camden is always a fun time, whether it be shopping or just looking. Our excitement today was stopping by a place called the Diner. It's a chain and a good one at that. I had a hard milk shake, strawberry cheesecake to be exact. The perfectly blended rum was barely noticeable and slowly hit me as we chilled in the diner. Katy's fries were the icing on the cake as I dipped them in my rumtastic beverage.

Kallie and I ended up making the walk back to the Regent's park area together and stopped to see the outdoor sculpture garden of the Frieze Art fair. This huge exhibition features galleries from around the world and takes over the largest green space of Regent's for five days. In any other circumstance, I'd be upset that a large green space was being monopolized by a huge structure. However, this art fair looked as if it was definitely worth it. We didn't go into the exhibition hall, that will have to wait for tomorrow, however we did see the free sculptures.

Tin cans skull

A semi-happy fellow

After checking out the sculptures, I went back to the room and had a quick nap. It lasted 10 minutes until my buddies came in to get ready for the night ahead of us. Mike, Chad, and I headed to the O2 for the Moshi Moshi records anniversary party. Took us a little while longer to get there than we anticipated as the Jubilee line, the tube line that leads to the O2's front door, was out of commission. So we took the tube as close as we could then hopped on a bus.

The bus ended up taking longer than it should have as well since the driver took us in the opposite direction of the 02 until someone said ''excuse me, where are you taking us?''

His reply, ''opps, thought I was driving the 29 instead of the 20, shouldn't have drank so much tonight.''

Reassuring I know.

Anywho, we made it there around 11:30 and only ended up missing one of the bands we really wanted to see. The gig was from 10pm-7am. We ended up staying till about 5am listening to some incredible DJs while grooving on a dance floor that vibrated due to the giant sub woofer underneath it. 

Oh and saw some incredible bands....

Tilly and the Wall: wasn't incredibly familiar with them before tonight, but I sure am now. Their bass drum is accented by the three singers pounding their feet while they dance on amplified wooden boxes.

and HOT CHIP. I've been in love with this band for a good two years now. When I got to London I immediately looked up tickets to see these blokes and found the cheapest ticket at £100. However at this Moshi Moshi party I saw both bands and DJ's for £20....Hot Chip rocked me hard, and I loved every minute. Even when I was sandwiched amongst sweaty bodies.

Good Food and Comedy

10-17-08

Most Fridays I don't work. It's a nice arrangement that I'm going to miss once I have to get a real job. I did however go in today. 

The first thing I did when I got to work was go out to lunch with my supervisor and another volunteer my age. Salaam, the restaurant which made my taste buds sing, is on my route to work every day and I've always wanted to check it out. Now I have.  The humus was creamy and delectable and the warm nan bread complemented it quite well. 

My main course was the size of a family meal, a plate-size piece of nan bread topped with a salad and lamb meat. This meal served well as multiple meals throughout the weekend. 

After getting a wee bit of work done that afternoon, I went out with some co-workers to see a fellow c0-worker in his comedy routine. There were 4 comics total, including one from Brooklyn. My co-worker, Geoff, was the headliners and rightfully so, as he was the most talented comic that night. The venue was small, and unfortunately not many showed up, but it made for all the more intimate of a show.

An Evening of Proud

10-16-2008


After work today, I got to see how one of my fellow interns is doing at her place of employment. Meredith is working at Proud Galleries. It's a sweet combinatioin of a concert venue, bar, and an art gallery. There are three branches of them in Camden and other parts of London. This one, on this particular night was giving away free drinks as a celebration / slap-in-the-face to the gallery next door who was trying to hold a celebration of their own.

Free drinks and cool photographs of musicians form the 70's? Pretty sweet place to work Meredith.

A Wednesday in Harlesden

10-15-2008

London is cultured. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Above is an example of such culture. You're in a crowded Tube car. You can't move and the only thing that's going to keep you from tumbling onto the blokes around you is the handrail above your head. As you reach to grab on, you notice the above poem by Robert Graves.

She tells her love while half asleep,

   In the Dark hours,

       With half-words whispered low:

As Earth stirs in her winter sleep

    And puts out grass and flowers

         Despite the snow,

         Despite the falling snow.

The excitement at Life today was that I got to work with a professional to voice an ad. This was a great change of pace from working with small business owners who really don't know how to deliver a voiced radio ad. No offense too them, but they should leave it to the professionals. Like Adam here. He's narrated documentaries and voiced plenty of adverts, including one for Mc Donald's, which he assured me was only done because it was good money. 

After working with him throughout the morning I came to find out that this voicing ads thing is just a side gig. He's an actor. A damn good one at that. I know because after putting the pieces together I came to realize that he played the fairy leader in A Midsummer Night's Dream when I saw it at the globe (see a day at the Globe post). Bottom line, Adam was super cool and down to earth and didn't seem to mind a star struck Wisconsin kid asking him tons of questions about his career. 

My Love, Jose Gonzales

10-14-2008

I love what I do at work, but every once in a while you just want to get through the day. Today was one of those days, because after work I had tickets to see Jose Gonzales. The concert was at the University of London Union, a quaint venue that gave the entire show a personal touch that is very much necessary for Jose's kind of music, as well as the opener, Horse Feathers.

They were a pleasant surprise on the evening. A chill indie band from Oregon on their first tour of Europe consisting of a singer/acoustic player, a violin, viola, an cello. I absolutely love when classically trained musicians take their talent to an indie scene. It only ever means good news.

Jose is a brilliant classical guitar song writer who puts lyrics to his mellow finger picked arpeggios. When he was joined by two hand percussionist, their tight knit groves gently swayed the crowd as many sang along. 

A euphoric evening of music. At the end of the concert, I was ready to go into a music en dosed slumber. However, the lady who accompanied me to this concert had yet to spend her £2.50 that us interns are give every day as a "meal stipend." We used it at the bar, which surprisingly got us two drinks. Gotta love the ISH bar. 

Two drinks was not all I had though, unfortunately.  Two blokes from East London just so happened to be at the ISH bar buying round after round for the ladies from Wisconsin. Ben and Joe were great though because they didn't discriminate. They were buying drinks for the guys  as well. Before I could say no, I had two shots and a pint coming my way. Long story short, I ended up closing the bar with these guys...pretty good Tuesday.

Awake to Amsterdam, Sleep in London

10-13-2008

I woke up this morning at 5:00am in a room of 30 bunk beds with about 40 random people of all genders sound asleep around me. This is the life of hostel living. It' s not luxurious, but it sure is cheap, and truthfully, it's all anyone needs. 

Wherever you find a hostel, you will find an amazing city with lots to see, do, and fun to have. So why would you waste your money on a place you are going to spend 8 hours in max? These youth hostels have it down. A locker to put your stuff in, and a bed to pass out on. Simple. Granted, you have to hope the others in your room aren't (1) Drunk and obnoxious (2) Heavy snorers (3) or serial killers...meh, you get what you pay for. 

I made my way in the lonely darkness of the red light district towards Grand Central Station to catch a train to Schipol Airport.  This was the first time I have seen the city absolutely dead. No red lights, no shouting bars, no half naked women, just me, the cobblestone streets, and the canals... oh, and a persistent bum who kept yelling at me for change even after I was a block away. I guess those guys never sleep.

I got to work around noon. Finished what I needed to do and made my way home. 

For the first time today, I took a good look at the tube tracks  at the Willesden Junction tube station and discovered why one should never jump onto them...

A Sunday in Amsterdam and I Missed Church

10-12-2008

Once again I have to praise Sandeman's New Europe Tours. We took a three hour walking tour today with a lovely, intelligent guide who showed us a bit of the history of this fabulous city.

The original headquarters of the Dutch East India Company. Which I've come to discover is the world's first international conglomerate corporation. They began the evil...

World famous fries from the Vleminckx. They are world renown for the sauces that their fries get smothered in. Mike and I tried the war sauce: mayo, onions,  and peanut sauce. Amazing.

Hidden chapels where

Catholic's worshiped during their persecution. 

And of course, the narrowest house in Amsterdam (note the red brick).

We also took some time out in Dam Square to see some street performers. I wish I could say good street performers but they really weren't. Mostly living statues that weren't really all that still. However, there was one performer worth of note. 

She was from Canada, or at least she claimed to be. If I were from Canada, I would have walked up to her three minutes into her show and punched her in the face for giving my country a bad name. But thankfully, I'm not from Canada, so I just laughed.

Sporting a red track suit with the word "Canada" plastered all over it, a Canada visor, and a pair of glasses that belonged to the early 80's, she told jokes that were not funny, juggled tricks that were not hard, and every time she didn't get the audience response she desired, looked at the audience and gave out an annoying "Come on!" My friend Chad claims this all was part of her comic genius, but I beg to differ.

An Amsterdam Saturday

10-11-2008

Amsterdam. It's an experience. It was a very chill day, but a good day with some great friends.

Red lights anytime of day.

Playing chess in the Amnesia coffee shop. 

Febo, a chain of giant vending machines.

A tiny car with a tiny dog, worthy of a pic. 

Amsterdam Belatedly Begins

10-10-2008

I've been putting off writing this post for a while because this day sucked. 

Last night I got to hang out with opera stars... and have quite a few drinks with them. It was free, what was I supposed to do, only have 8 glasses of wine instead of the 9 that I had? Actually, in retrospect that's exactly what I should have done....

I woke up Friday morning at 7:30am, having slept right through my alarm. My flight left at 6am. It's a solid hour and a half journey to Luton airport. So I ended up spending quite a bit of time in that airport and have come to loathe the place. 

But let's look at this glass as half full, shall we. In my time at the airport, I wrote my entire final paper that was due for the end of the continental tour. Plus I bought an amazing book which I'm in the middle of now called The Whole Truth by David Baldacci (I found this link when looking for the previous link, worth a click and a scroll) It's an international terror-thriller about the rise of a second Cold War. 

Eventually I made it to Amsterdam the beautiful city of canals and cobble roads. I found a cheap hotel right in the middle of the red light district (probably why it was so cheap), and galavanted around Amsterdam. I was supposed to meet some buddies here, but I was 8 hours late and they obviously weren't in there hostel room. So meeting up with them would have to wait till tomorrow. 

I soaked in the red lights and later in the night, I made it to the Paradiso. This club had four separate rooms, each catering to a different dancing crowd: hip-hop, disco-ish, chill, and the basement indie scene, where I spent most of my time. The headlining DJ in this basement scene was one of the Junior Boys, a favorite sound of mine. 

I Talked with a Worldclass Counter-Tenor

10-9-2008

At Life today I began probably the biggest project I’ve worked on yet. It’s an audio story telling of different cultures' Diwali celebrations. The Brent Council and I are producing these story tellings to be played at the annual Diwali celebration in a couple of weeks. First, I spent about 3 ½ hours in the studio with a fabulous story teller and her friend who served as the music consultant. Truthfully her voice didn’t need any music behind it. She’s just that captivating. But the music does fill in a lot of gaps.

We got all the music and narration in place. Then we went through the script with a fine tooth comb and they told me where they’d like effects to enter in, where music should fade in a fade out, and the like. After another 3 hours of editing, I have half of it done. I’m pumped to go into work Monday and finish it.

I had to leave work right at 6 in order to make it to the English National Opera in time. My flat mate Luke is interning there and he scored me a ticket. He told me the other day that while he isn’t getting “paid,” he has been compensated in the form of opera tickets to the sum of £1,200. Once I saw where we were sitting, I completely believed him. We were in row K of the stalls (the main floor). A brilliant seat for a contemporary / 1950’sish take on Handel’s Partenope, a ‘comedy’ about a queen which basically everyone is in love with. So a massive love triangle.

The set was very modern. The first act took place in a large white room where the lighting really played with shadows. The second act was outside a building, and a bathroom on the outside of the building carried most of the action. Finally in act three, the cast is in one room where a photographer, who has been taking pictures throughout the whole show, is combining his pictures into a massive collage.

During the two intermissions, Luke was able to get us into the press lounges where we enjoyed free wine and bumping elbows with London's press. After the show Luke’s leverage worked to our favor again as we went to the after party with the performers in the sky bar at the top of the Coliseum. There I was able to chat with pit conductor Christian Curnyn, soprano Rosemary Joshua, and countertenor Iestyn Davies. Mr. Davies was awesome. I had a good conversation with him about how to develop a countertenor voice. He was truly down to earth.

Luke and I were also interviewed for an ENO promotional video:
http://www.eno.org/video/main.html
We're at the end of the Audience Reaction to First Night of Partenope video.

An amazing night to say the least. An opera at the Coliseum and got to talk with world class opera performers. Oh and all the drinks at this after party were free…..

A Wednesday in Harlesden

10-8-2008

Work was interesting today, as my tasks were quite varied. I began the day adding friends to the Life FM myspace page. Eventually though, I was off doing my normal audio editing. At one point today, I officially felt like an intern as my uber busy boss asked me to get her a cup of tea. It didn’t really feel degrading, more like one co-worker asking for the another's asisstance. She apologized after her meeting saying she’d never ask me to do something like that again, just that she was in a rush.

Later that night, Meredith, Kaity, and I attempted to see The Ting Tings. We were intending on just scalping a ticket from outside the venue, as the show had been sold out for months, however due a tube delay of about 25 minutes on the Bakerloo line, we realized we weren’t going to make it to the venue, Sheppard’s Bush, in time. So we hopped a different line to Oxford’s circus.

When we ascended from the tube station there, we stumbled upon two terrific street musicians. The drummer played four plastic pails, a tin pot, and a symbol which he laid on the ground and used his foot on top which made it function like a high hat and sound like one too. The sax player with him gave the duet a melody which he rocked hard.

Down Regent’s street we attempted to go to a pub called Ain’t Nothing But (the Blues) as they feature live music every night. However, that was packed and the bouncer was enforcing a strict one in, one out policy. So we journeyed around the corner to a hip diner called The Diner, where the men’s and women’s bathrooms are marked with just a black lightning bolt and a red lightning bolt, nothing else. Which would you choose?

There we sampled a banana bread beer. Not bad really. In a night I could probably only handle one. But the beer went great with my waffle topped with Swiss cheese. From there we checked out a club called The Metro, nothing to write about here…


After that it was 1:00AM, and we all had work in the morning.

A Tuesday

10-7-2008

Of the six people that I went out with last night, I was the only one who could really physically afford to be out all night, as I didn't have to be to work till much later in the morning. Plus, I danced off all my alcohol so this morning I felt great. Others, not so much. One of my friends wrote the following on my facebook wall:

"By the way, last night was a fantastically retarded idea. I can't decide if I love you or hate you for it."

Indeed, strolled into work around 11:30 and had a cup of tea, did some audio editing, and took lunch two hours later. Today I also sat in on an executive staff meeting. It's amazing how an ocean apart, there are still the same issues that arise in every station or every office. Same Same, but Different.

Grabbed a spring roll from a stand in the Baker Street station after the tube ride home and made my way to room 179. Where I've been online since. Good day.

P.S. Look at the date I wrote this... then above that at the day I posted it. Yup, completely caught up. I'll probably get behind again tomorrow, enjoy it while it lasts.

A Monday

10-6-2008

I’ve been working at Life FM now for a little under two weeks. Therefore, my supervisor thought it appropriate that today we have a short review. She asked me if I was getting out of Life what I hoped to (no pun intended), what I could do better, and basically we just had a pleasant little sit down.

She also brought in real Italian lasagna for the office, as she is from Italy.  It was more creamy than cheesy, but oh so delicious. 

After work we had a UWSP group meeting. I sat down, had a piece of Katie’s birthday cake, and left. It was a good meeting.

The night got much more exciting as myself, along with Luke, Jose, Chad, and Mike, did a bit of clubbing, because I didn’t have to be in to work till 11:30. I randomly connected, via facebook, with an old high school mate, Joseph, and I had him tag along with us. First we all went to Roxy then to Ghetto, which we came to realize was a gay club, but they were playing good music so we didn’t mind. Except when I accidentally made eye contact with a guy in the bathroom… just don’t do that, trust me. 

Welcome to Planet Starbucks

10-5-2008

I’m caught up. I’m actually writing this date's entry on the date it’s happening (although I didn't post it till two days later). Currently, it’s 18:27 on this Sunday and I’m in a Starbucks getting caught up. Yes, I agree, it’s corporate America, but as Mike Wilson so elegantly puts it “capitalism is the new imperialism,” but that’s a topic for a different post.

Perhaps it was divine intervention because I went to that Fetish Convention yesterday, but as I was catching up on blogging, doing laundry, and trying to figure out what I would do today, I stumbled across the picture I took of the Westminster Abbey service schedule. Thanks to that picture, I took in the 15:00 Evensong, their Sunday afternoon service featuring the Westminster boys choir. My sister told me about this fantastic group and upon recognizing the title, I knew I had to see it.

Heavenly is the only way to describe their voices combining in unison to give praise to God. I’ll be visiting them again…maybe I’ll make it a Sunday thing. I haven’t done that in a few years. Bah, I have to get out of this Starbucks. If I do anything exciting tonight, I’ll revisit this post.

*The most exciting part from Starbuck to when I got home was that there was the cutest dog ever on the tube. She rested her head on my foot. Her name was Angel.

PARENTAL DISCRETION is ADVISED, London Fetish Weekend

10-4-2008

Thanks to picking up a copy of London’s entertainment magazine, Time Out, we discovered that this weekend was Fetish Weekend in the UK’s capital. The largest "alternative lifestyle" (a.k.a fetishes) expo was being held today. It's simply called TheXpo. How could we not!

Visit the following sites and you’ll get the gist of our day (by clicking you consent that you are at least 18 years of age and that you are the pervert for clicking the link and Shawn is not):

• Esinem: Japanese Bondage Courses
• Medieval garments and masquerades
• Waaaayyyyy too much latex
• Swings make everything more fun!
• Latex for men as well
• A little help for the boys
• Our favorite

Basically a lot, and I’m talking a lot, of latex and rubber. We watched a fashion show, did a bit of window shopping, the girls bought some nifty heals, and we watched a girl in a bunny suit get tied up in some pretty intricate bondage. I’ll post the more appropriate pictures here:

We stopped by Primark on the way home, a four story department store that goes through it’s entire inventory in about 4 days. It looks all pretty at the beginning of the day, but around 6 when we got there, it looked like a tornado or a tropical storm had rolled through. It’s packed at every hour of the day, and it’s understandable why. With jeans at £6, sweet hoodies at £6-8, pillows at £3, a five pack of dress socks at £2, everyone in London has at least one item from Primark. After shopping there once, I can walk around London and recognize Primark products. I got two bomb hoodies, one of which is a combination cardigan / hoodie.

All that intense Primarking got our appetites going, so Kris, Jose, and I stopped at the most amazing fast food joint called Yo Sushi!

It is the future of fast food as we know it. You sit around a bar-like counter with a conveyor belt that carries around saucer sized dishes with sushi on them. The dishes are color coded by price. At the end of the meal, a waiter counts up how many dishes you've eaten and you're good to go. I've never had sushi before and I'm very pleased Yo Sushi stole my sushi virginity. Thanks Bobbi and Kenny for suggesting this one.

Early in the week, I met the back-up vocalist to Eric Roberson, a R&B Soul artist who was playing London tonight. This kind guy from Chicago chatted with me about football and we ended the conversation with him giving me a free ticket to the show. So I took the tube out to the O2 and got there with the help of two ladies who were also on the way to the show. They stopped me from getting off at the wrong stop.

I love discovering new music. Eric Robberson’s soulful R&B was very jazz based with lyrical rap-like vocals over the top. I thought it was fantastic.