Week 2
May 9 – 16
SUNDAY was an adventure. We tried to get to Blackheath to attend church. To get there, we had to take the tube to Victoria Station where we would catch a train to Blackheath. We had two problems. One, once we got to the station, we had no idea where to go next. We didn’t get that far, though, because of problem number two. The Victoria station will be closed in the Blackheath direction every weekend for the next while. Our only other option to get there would involve a 10 pound trip from train to bus to a lengthy walk. We opted to go to the ward close to the flat which is overpopulated with visitors.
After church, we went to St. Peter’s Cathedral. It is currently under construction, so we couldn’t see it’s fully glory, but it was gorgeous. You can see its spire from almost any point in the city. Pictures aren’t allowed inside, so I only have outside shots (which I will get into email soon). We attended the beginning of evensong which is a daily ceremony involving adult and children’s choir. We sat in the back, behind the partitions, so we could leave without commotion. The boy’s choir was lovely. It was enchanting looking at the vaulted ceilings painted with vivid colors and gold while listening to the boy’s choir. I don’t know what it is about boy choirs that I love so much, but I think it has to do with the childhood silent animated movie The Snowman. An English boy sings as the snowman and the boy fly to the North Pole.
After that, we promptly returned home because my left ankle began to ache. I am giving it a lot of rest and have wrapped it to give more support. I think it only has to do all the walking that I am not used to. I have always has weak ankles.
MONDAY was class. We’re discussing Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Poetics in history, and Macbeth in Shakespeare. As soon as I got home, I napped because I had been working my ankle in class with my Pilates band and had tuckered out.
We saw The History Boys at the National. It was so good; I forked over the 2 pound 50 for a program. There are so many nuances that I loved that it is hard to talk about. The story followed seniors in public school preparing for the entry exams for Cambridge and Oxford. The issues dealt with ranged from historicity, literature, homosexuality, and above all expectations. The acting was exemplary. All of the actors actively listened and honestly interacted. The story came so to life that I could have watched it much longer than the 2 and a half hour running time. The writing was subtle and natural. The comedy came from honesty rather than shtick. This is the first show that I could not point out the weak actor or weak plot point. Everything worked together.
On the way home, my right leg began to hurt because of having to take care of the left leg. I am staying off of it as much as I can with the dependence on mass transit. I’m sure it will get better, so no need to worry, it’s just a complication for all the walking we do here.
TUESDAY we went to see Life Game. It is a game show style performance where someone that is somehow related to the National Theater gets interviewed by an improv troupe and sees their life acted out. Our interviewee was a director with little to say. She perked up the most when they enacted a Christmas family dinner and she could ding a bell if what they were doing was right and honk a horn if they were wrong. She liked that so much that she wanted to use the bell and horn throughout. Afterwards, we learned that Amanda got her purse stolen during interval. She kept it with her, but didn’t have bodily contact with it. It was found later that night with her money and books missing. Our teachers told us to deface our book by writing our name largely on the cover so they won’t have a good resale value. We are all a little more aware of our surroundings now.
WEDNESDAY we made out first visit to the Tate Modern. We took two hours to look at one floor. It had two displays - Nude/Action/Body and History/Memory/Society. In History, I was most impressed by Pollok’s painting. I didn’t take down names and we can’t take pictures, so I will just have to go back. In the Nude, I was surprised by a realistic nude painting called The Painter and his Second Wife which had the explanation that the marriage was never consummated. All I could think was, why? It stuck with me and now I want to do research on it. Rodan’s The Kiss was beautiful. I have learned that I appreciate installation art. Instead of just statue, it includes environment. There was one called My Two Lighthouses which showed such slow transition of light that I could not tell the color was changing until it was completely different. I can’t remember most of it, so I will definitely have to go back.
We visited Piccadilly Circus which is like Times Square. I then made a full dinner with Emily, including chicken which may be the first meat I’ve had here.
THURSDAY we saw our first Matinee, Tom Stoppard’s translation of Pirrandello’s Henry IV. In it, a man loses consciousness while impersonating Germany’s Henry IV and wakes up believing he is Henry. This delusion lasts almost two decades with complete castle and costumes. He comes out of his delusion just long enough to kill his ex-fiancé’s husband and must revert to his insanity to avoid prosecution. The acting was superb and it marked the shortest play as of yet at only an hour and a half. Ian McDiarmid, best known as the emperor in Star Wars, played the title role convincingly. The ensemble worked well together.
We then did a little window shopping in Covent Garden where Donmar Theater is located. The rest of the day I was just a home body.
FRIDAY morning was filled with Kew Gardens. We spent six hours and only saw maybe half the garden. Most of the time was spent in the Palm House. Now that I have the whole picture email thing worked out you’ll get pictures which will describe the day better.
We then journeyed back to the National to see Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads. Taking place in a pub, the story revolves around race relations in England. It was so powerful I cried during most of the interval after Act I. The ensemble worked so well together that they really made the set come alive.
SATURDAY we went back to the Tate Modern, though this time to the third floor. Here we had Landscape/Matter/Environment and Still Life/Object/Real Life. I took nearly a half hour to look at one installation entitled Lighting with a Stag in its Glare. The lighting is a huge triangular brass piece suspended from the ceiling. The stag is an ironing board on logs cast in aluminum to show the brightness of the flash. There is a cart to represent a goat and little sausage things to represent primordial creatures. The artist, Joseph Beuys, was the man credited with saying “everyone is an artist.” I was drawn to it without much explanation. After seeing several of Matise’s paintings, I realize that I don’t like them. They are too simple and I can’t really understand their importance. This was yet another time when I will have to come back to get it all in.
We also found the best, cheapest produce at Berwick Market just a ways from Piccadilly Circus. I bought mushrooms, oranges, strawberries and green beans (each a medium-sized baking bowl full) for four and a half pounds.
SUNDAY while on my way out of church, a woman stopped me to be sure I was in fact old enough to be attending college since I didn’t look it. I hadn’t gotten that one in a while. When we got home, we just rested and caught up on journals.
SUNDAY was an adventure. We tried to get to Blackheath to attend church. To get there, we had to take the tube to Victoria Station where we would catch a train to Blackheath. We had two problems. One, once we got to the station, we had no idea where to go next. We didn’t get that far, though, because of problem number two. The Victoria station will be closed in the Blackheath direction every weekend for the next while. Our only other option to get there would involve a 10 pound trip from train to bus to a lengthy walk. We opted to go to the ward close to the flat which is overpopulated with visitors.
After church, we went to St. Peter’s Cathedral. It is currently under construction, so we couldn’t see it’s fully glory, but it was gorgeous. You can see its spire from almost any point in the city. Pictures aren’t allowed inside, so I only have outside shots (which I will get into email soon). We attended the beginning of evensong which is a daily ceremony involving adult and children’s choir. We sat in the back, behind the partitions, so we could leave without commotion. The boy’s choir was lovely. It was enchanting looking at the vaulted ceilings painted with vivid colors and gold while listening to the boy’s choir. I don’t know what it is about boy choirs that I love so much, but I think it has to do with the childhood silent animated movie The Snowman. An English boy sings as the snowman and the boy fly to the North Pole.
After that, we promptly returned home because my left ankle began to ache. I am giving it a lot of rest and have wrapped it to give more support. I think it only has to do all the walking that I am not used to. I have always has weak ankles.
MONDAY was class. We’re discussing Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Poetics in history, and Macbeth in Shakespeare. As soon as I got home, I napped because I had been working my ankle in class with my Pilates band and had tuckered out.
We saw The History Boys at the National. It was so good; I forked over the 2 pound 50 for a program. There are so many nuances that I loved that it is hard to talk about. The story followed seniors in public school preparing for the entry exams for Cambridge and Oxford. The issues dealt with ranged from historicity, literature, homosexuality, and above all expectations. The acting was exemplary. All of the actors actively listened and honestly interacted. The story came so to life that I could have watched it much longer than the 2 and a half hour running time. The writing was subtle and natural. The comedy came from honesty rather than shtick. This is the first show that I could not point out the weak actor or weak plot point. Everything worked together.
On the way home, my right leg began to hurt because of having to take care of the left leg. I am staying off of it as much as I can with the dependence on mass transit. I’m sure it will get better, so no need to worry, it’s just a complication for all the walking we do here.
TUESDAY we went to see Life Game. It is a game show style performance where someone that is somehow related to the National Theater gets interviewed by an improv troupe and sees their life acted out. Our interviewee was a director with little to say. She perked up the most when they enacted a Christmas family dinner and she could ding a bell if what they were doing was right and honk a horn if they were wrong. She liked that so much that she wanted to use the bell and horn throughout. Afterwards, we learned that Amanda got her purse stolen during interval. She kept it with her, but didn’t have bodily contact with it. It was found later that night with her money and books missing. Our teachers told us to deface our book by writing our name largely on the cover so they won’t have a good resale value. We are all a little more aware of our surroundings now.
WEDNESDAY we made out first visit to the Tate Modern. We took two hours to look at one floor. It had two displays - Nude/Action/Body and History/Memory/Society. In History, I was most impressed by Pollok’s painting. I didn’t take down names and we can’t take pictures, so I will just have to go back. In the Nude, I was surprised by a realistic nude painting called The Painter and his Second Wife which had the explanation that the marriage was never consummated. All I could think was, why? It stuck with me and now I want to do research on it. Rodan’s The Kiss was beautiful. I have learned that I appreciate installation art. Instead of just statue, it includes environment. There was one called My Two Lighthouses which showed such slow transition of light that I could not tell the color was changing until it was completely different. I can’t remember most of it, so I will definitely have to go back.
We visited Piccadilly Circus which is like Times Square. I then made a full dinner with Emily, including chicken which may be the first meat I’ve had here.
THURSDAY we saw our first Matinee, Tom Stoppard’s translation of Pirrandello’s Henry IV. In it, a man loses consciousness while impersonating Germany’s Henry IV and wakes up believing he is Henry. This delusion lasts almost two decades with complete castle and costumes. He comes out of his delusion just long enough to kill his ex-fiancé’s husband and must revert to his insanity to avoid prosecution. The acting was superb and it marked the shortest play as of yet at only an hour and a half. Ian McDiarmid, best known as the emperor in Star Wars, played the title role convincingly. The ensemble worked well together.
We then did a little window shopping in Covent Garden where Donmar Theater is located. The rest of the day I was just a home body.
FRIDAY morning was filled with Kew Gardens. We spent six hours and only saw maybe half the garden. Most of the time was spent in the Palm House. Now that I have the whole picture email thing worked out you’ll get pictures which will describe the day better.
We then journeyed back to the National to see Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads. Taking place in a pub, the story revolves around race relations in England. It was so powerful I cried during most of the interval after Act I. The ensemble worked so well together that they really made the set come alive.
SATURDAY we went back to the Tate Modern, though this time to the third floor. Here we had Landscape/Matter/Environment and Still Life/Object/Real Life. I took nearly a half hour to look at one installation entitled Lighting with a Stag in its Glare. The lighting is a huge triangular brass piece suspended from the ceiling. The stag is an ironing board on logs cast in aluminum to show the brightness of the flash. There is a cart to represent a goat and little sausage things to represent primordial creatures. The artist, Joseph Beuys, was the man credited with saying “everyone is an artist.” I was drawn to it without much explanation. After seeing several of Matise’s paintings, I realize that I don’t like them. They are too simple and I can’t really understand their importance. This was yet another time when I will have to come back to get it all in.
We also found the best, cheapest produce at Berwick Market just a ways from Piccadilly Circus. I bought mushrooms, oranges, strawberries and green beans (each a medium-sized baking bowl full) for four and a half pounds.
SUNDAY while on my way out of church, a woman stopped me to be sure I was in fact old enough to be attending college since I didn’t look it. I hadn’t gotten that one in a while. When we got home, we just rested and caught up on journals.
posted by Sylvia at 12:15 AM
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