dear friends and folks,
my computer has a severe viral infection, which has disabled most of its functions. thus, i am computerless until i go home on christmas eve. so i'm spending a lot of time on the computers in the library here, finishing up my coursework and things. going to spain for four days with a flatmate on friday, flying back home shortly after. crazy.
i am bursting with things to relay on here, sights and sounds, photos, mementos, happenings. there is too much, and i'm afraid i will forget it all too soon, so i'm working on it. hopefully will finish work and get back to it.
until then, hope you're all okay.
stay warm, watch the blizzards there, wowza.
xx
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
traveling North
while in edinburgh, laurel and I took a day trip up to the scottish highland capital of inverness. we took megabus all the way, laurel sleeping because she was getting the flu at this point and feeling quite ill, me staring at a fine-looking gentleman a few rows ahead or daydreaming out the window. throughout my travels, I continue to fall in love with people I don't even know. I've never even met. I don't even know who they are or what they are about, but I KNOW I am in love with them. I know that if I could just speak with them once, we would become soulmates. I should stop doing this. It's silly. But I won't. There is a certain ease in the distance you keep from not confronting a person, never interacting with them except through eye contact.
There were little kids on this bus too, and they liked to sing. The one right behind my seat was first singing MC Hammer's "Can't Touch This," followed by the Super Mario Bros. Theme and then "Who Let The Dogs Out," and also shouting "There's another castle!" when we passed a castle in the distance. It was a pleasant ride with all these people, families, children, cute guy with bed head, Laurel and I, riding through mountains of snow and no civilization.
Inverness was a quaint little town, with nothing else in sight but the mountains. There was, of course, another castle here, but it was very chiseled to house a courtroom today. I have some photos of the views from up near the castle, which I will put on the album for Edinburgh. We also witnessed some sort of drug exchange right near the castle. Strange it was here, and not Glasgow that we encountered this. I do not have a photo of that. We learned about the history of the highlands in a museum, and I wanted to go to Loch Ness to see the creature (it is a short bus ride away from the town), but Laurel was feeling too sick and said she'd get seasick. So we just wandered around Inverness for a bit. And here is where I come back to the notion of heading North that I mentioned before but never explained. From my experience, going further and further north means coming upon a people that is so in touch with its earth, with its land and climate. Living in the North means knowing how to deal with the bitter bitter cold and accepting it for what it is. It means keeping warmth inside and giving it out despite that cold. I felt an immediate connection with the people of Inverness because of this understanding. They were all so friendly, so 'down-to-earth,' so laid-back. They live in a beautiful place of mountains and lakes and snow and good people who want nothing but that. Some might wonder why anyone would travel so far North to live, away from the cities and the centres, away from the polluted air, but there is a special place in my heart for these people of the North. Actually, something I found a bit strange, there is a noticeably large population of senior citizens in Inverness, ambling around town with their canes. And they were the least annoying old people I've ever seen. They were full of life.
By the time we got back to Edinburgh, Laurel was miserable, I felt terrible for her. So we got quick food and headed to the hostel so she could sleep and get better. And next day, she did feel better. We went on a walking tour of Edinburgh with a great tour guide, learned a lot of interesting tidbits. Like in the 15th century, if you committed a crime, you would have to stand for an entire day and night with your ear nailed to the town crier post at the center of the royal mile, while people of the town laughed at you and poured things like the contents of their bedpans on you. Some people just couldn't tolerate it so they ripped their ear off to escape. brutal. Also, Edinburgh has been the home of J.K. Rowling, so Laurel and I ate in the cafe where she wrote some of the first Harry Potter books while she was too poor to afford heating her house. The people of Edinburgh are very proud of J.K. Rowling. And I felt that I was in a magical place in that city. Something about the architecture and it being up on a hill and the castle and the alleys I guess. I would like to go back there someday I think.
That evening, whichever evening that was, Laurel and I parted ways, she back to London, me to Dublin to visit Catie. And this will be continued in the next.
a few more photos:
Inverness
authoritarian.
town in the mountains with the friendly folk
tourists are we
royal mile, edinburgh
here are the rest:
http://s931.photobucket.com/albums/ad151/maple018/Edinburgh%20and%20Inverness/
There were little kids on this bus too, and they liked to sing. The one right behind my seat was first singing MC Hammer's "Can't Touch This," followed by the Super Mario Bros. Theme and then "Who Let The Dogs Out," and also shouting "There's another castle!" when we passed a castle in the distance. It was a pleasant ride with all these people, families, children, cute guy with bed head, Laurel and I, riding through mountains of snow and no civilization.
Inverness was a quaint little town, with nothing else in sight but the mountains. There was, of course, another castle here, but it was very chiseled to house a courtroom today. I have some photos of the views from up near the castle, which I will put on the album for Edinburgh. We also witnessed some sort of drug exchange right near the castle. Strange it was here, and not Glasgow that we encountered this. I do not have a photo of that. We learned about the history of the highlands in a museum, and I wanted to go to Loch Ness to see the creature (it is a short bus ride away from the town), but Laurel was feeling too sick and said she'd get seasick. So we just wandered around Inverness for a bit. And here is where I come back to the notion of heading North that I mentioned before but never explained. From my experience, going further and further north means coming upon a people that is so in touch with its earth, with its land and climate. Living in the North means knowing how to deal with the bitter bitter cold and accepting it for what it is. It means keeping warmth inside and giving it out despite that cold. I felt an immediate connection with the people of Inverness because of this understanding. They were all so friendly, so 'down-to-earth,' so laid-back. They live in a beautiful place of mountains and lakes and snow and good people who want nothing but that. Some might wonder why anyone would travel so far North to live, away from the cities and the centres, away from the polluted air, but there is a special place in my heart for these people of the North. Actually, something I found a bit strange, there is a noticeably large population of senior citizens in Inverness, ambling around town with their canes. And they were the least annoying old people I've ever seen. They were full of life.
By the time we got back to Edinburgh, Laurel was miserable, I felt terrible for her. So we got quick food and headed to the hostel so she could sleep and get better. And next day, she did feel better. We went on a walking tour of Edinburgh with a great tour guide, learned a lot of interesting tidbits. Like in the 15th century, if you committed a crime, you would have to stand for an entire day and night with your ear nailed to the town crier post at the center of the royal mile, while people of the town laughed at you and poured things like the contents of their bedpans on you. Some people just couldn't tolerate it so they ripped their ear off to escape. brutal. Also, Edinburgh has been the home of J.K. Rowling, so Laurel and I ate in the cafe where she wrote some of the first Harry Potter books while she was too poor to afford heating her house. The people of Edinburgh are very proud of J.K. Rowling. And I felt that I was in a magical place in that city. Something about the architecture and it being up on a hill and the castle and the alleys I guess. I would like to go back there someday I think.
That evening, whichever evening that was, Laurel and I parted ways, she back to London, me to Dublin to visit Catie. And this will be continued in the next.
a few more photos:
Inverness
authoritarian.
town in the mountains with the friendly folk
tourists are we
royal mile, edinburgh
here are the rest:
http://s931.photobucket.com/albums/ad151/maple018/Edinburgh%20and%20Inverness/
edinburgh
now begins massive consecutive posting to finish the tale of three cities...
so that monday, i can't remember the date, catie and i woke up in glasgow, in susan's home, very very early, dropped catie off at the airport, then went into the city centre where my bus would leave from. we were a bit early, so susan and i sat and had a nice little chat at starbucks. we talked about jobs and what i'm going to do with my life after university. it was very nice, i felt like she was my aunt, not just my aunt's friend. then we said our goodbyes and it was a nice moment. she told me i should ring her whenever I'm in scotland next and that my dad must be very proud of me. i don't know if she meant for traveling or what, but it was sweet anyway.
I slept on the bus to Edinburgh and met my friend Laurel at the bus station (she had taken the night bus all the way from london). We checked in at our hostel which, I have to say, was really really great. much nicer than I thought, cool young workers, cheap good food, comfy beds. our bunk room had classy red wine-colored walls and themed sherlock holmes. nice. after we ate and locked up our things, we walked up the Royal Mile, browsed through the many plaid and cashmere shops and visited the castle.
I think the exterior was used in some of the harry potter films?
see the city
playground
we did a bit of shopping, got bored at the national gallery, went back to the hostel. we found out earlier from a lady at a music shop that the place next door to our hostel has good traditional live music, so we went to check it out. and it was more beautiful than i had expected. we left the rain to step inside a little bar named after the Hebrides, a cluster of islands off the west coast of scotland. inside this bar was a different world. a community of people, young and old, but mostly old, who are such close neighbors and spend their evenings together singing and drinking. laurel and i sat there watching them, drinking our tea, smiling, clapping. they asked us where we were from, why we were drinking tea instead of beer, and we all laughed. one guy who kept looking at me, acknowledging me like a new friend, pointed at my mug as he walked by and said "what is this shit?" said it was bad for the organs compared to beer. we smiled. it wasn't a rude gesture. it was like we had become close acquaintances without exchanging more than 4 words. i can't remember the last time someone used the word shit with me out of respect and common ground and friendliness and humour. how had we found this place?
it was so warm and toasty and there was a big circle of men playing instruments and singing from an old book of Scottish songs. it was mostly men singing, old buddies. they would add in and out of the harmony, some singing, some playing, some just clapping or stomping along. then it mellowed a bit, and out of nowhere, this woman who was quite younger, sitting with a man in the corner table (i thought they were just maybe tourists or there to have drinks and listen) began to sing this long sort of birdsong. she had the most beautiful voice, it was like an angel was speaking. and everyone just stopped and listened and then applauded and continued to the next song. she was obviously a regular in the group. i think we were the only people who weren't. anyway, it was a lovely evening. after the music, we had dinner at a pub on the royal mile and i tried haggis (a traditional scottish dish that contains minced sheep organs) and it was strangely good. It's always nice to sit down with someone and really talk while consuming something hot.
that's enough for this post i think.
xx
so that monday, i can't remember the date, catie and i woke up in glasgow, in susan's home, very very early, dropped catie off at the airport, then went into the city centre where my bus would leave from. we were a bit early, so susan and i sat and had a nice little chat at starbucks. we talked about jobs and what i'm going to do with my life after university. it was very nice, i felt like she was my aunt, not just my aunt's friend. then we said our goodbyes and it was a nice moment. she told me i should ring her whenever I'm in scotland next and that my dad must be very proud of me. i don't know if she meant for traveling or what, but it was sweet anyway.
I slept on the bus to Edinburgh and met my friend Laurel at the bus station (she had taken the night bus all the way from london). We checked in at our hostel which, I have to say, was really really great. much nicer than I thought, cool young workers, cheap good food, comfy beds. our bunk room had classy red wine-colored walls and themed sherlock holmes. nice. after we ate and locked up our things, we walked up the Royal Mile, browsed through the many plaid and cashmere shops and visited the castle.
I think the exterior was used in some of the harry potter films?
see the city
playground
we did a bit of shopping, got bored at the national gallery, went back to the hostel. we found out earlier from a lady at a music shop that the place next door to our hostel has good traditional live music, so we went to check it out. and it was more beautiful than i had expected. we left the rain to step inside a little bar named after the Hebrides, a cluster of islands off the west coast of scotland. inside this bar was a different world. a community of people, young and old, but mostly old, who are such close neighbors and spend their evenings together singing and drinking. laurel and i sat there watching them, drinking our tea, smiling, clapping. they asked us where we were from, why we were drinking tea instead of beer, and we all laughed. one guy who kept looking at me, acknowledging me like a new friend, pointed at my mug as he walked by and said "what is this shit?" said it was bad for the organs compared to beer. we smiled. it wasn't a rude gesture. it was like we had become close acquaintances without exchanging more than 4 words. i can't remember the last time someone used the word shit with me out of respect and common ground and friendliness and humour. how had we found this place?
it was so warm and toasty and there was a big circle of men playing instruments and singing from an old book of Scottish songs. it was mostly men singing, old buddies. they would add in and out of the harmony, some singing, some playing, some just clapping or stomping along. then it mellowed a bit, and out of nowhere, this woman who was quite younger, sitting with a man in the corner table (i thought they were just maybe tourists or there to have drinks and listen) began to sing this long sort of birdsong. she had the most beautiful voice, it was like an angel was speaking. and everyone just stopped and listened and then applauded and continued to the next song. she was obviously a regular in the group. i think we were the only people who weren't. anyway, it was a lovely evening. after the music, we had dinner at a pub on the royal mile and i tried haggis (a traditional scottish dish that contains minced sheep organs) and it was strangely good. It's always nice to sit down with someone and really talk while consuming something hot.
that's enough for this post i think.
xx
Saturday, December 4, 2010
continuing from before
I now have about 2 weeks left in london. before anything in my life can move on right now, i have to finish telling about the past two weeks. too much has happened, i'm about to forget.
picking up where i left off, glasgow. i have some photos to accompany the post that was two posts ago:
view from a cemetery in glasgow
city centre
glaswegian pedestrians
The rest are here:
http://s931.photobucket.com/albums/ad151/maple018/Glasgow/
xx
picking up where i left off, glasgow. i have some photos to accompany the post that was two posts ago:
view from a cemetery in glasgow
city centre
glaswegian pedestrians
The rest are here:
http://s931.photobucket.com/albums/ad151/maple018/Glasgow/
xx
Friday, December 3, 2010
still smiling, high on arcade fire
okey, so. i have a lot to catch up on here.
but first, i have to re-enact last night. because,
it was possibly the greatest night i have had in london so far.
arcade fire at 02 arena in greenwich.
the best show i have seen in MY LIFE.
i am telling you, these people, this band. they are absolutely amazing. every encounter i have with their music makes me fall in love with them all over again. i get chills, sometimes tears, words cannot describe my love for arcade fire. not only are they beautiful musicians, but their lyrics describe the suburban childhood that so many of us can relate to, so many americans. the crowd at the 02 was massive, but i was a bit more into it than my neighbors on the floor. i feel an american show might have an exponentially more explosive audience, but i don't know for sure.
a few videos to share. this first one, i really encourage anyone to watch, it is a sort of slow motion of them performing 'ready to start' a song from their newest album called Suburbs. to be honest, the first time i watched this video, i had tears in my eyes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oI27uSzxNQ
proud to say their performance of this at the show last night was equally epic. god. i think win butler may be god. my friend jenny touched his leg at the show. we got soo close to the stage, despite being in a huge stadium (i couldn't find the exact number of people it can hold on its website, but i did find out the eiffel tower could fit inside it lying on its side and that it could be filled with 3.8 billion pints of beer. so.. it's big.) we wouldn't have gotten so close if it weren't for the guys we were with, jenny's friends, pushing our way up to the front. but people didn't care, we were the biggest fans there.
here, my one photo that was not too blurry:
look at them. i didn't stop smiling during the whole show. not joking. well, except for the times that i was singing. :) ah it was gorgeous. they played all my favorite songs. they danced while playing, hopping around with the violins, regine looked like a fancy robot, win's brother with his fantastic open-mouthed expression, hitting everything with his drumsticks.
their 'Suburbs' has been a bit hit among kids of our generation. i think you will see why if you watch this video, the actual official music video..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Euj9f3gdyM
thoughts?
anyway, i am in love. completely.
I mean, how incredible are the Neighborhood Songs? Especially number 3 (power out):
i woke up with the power out
not really something to shout about
ice is covered up my parents' hands
don't have any dreams, don't have any plans
i went out into the night
i went out to find some light
kids are swingin' from the power lines
nobody's home so nobody minds
...
i went out into the night
i went out to pick a fight, but they won
light a candle for the kids
jesus christ, don't keep it hid
...
growin up in some strange storm
nobody's cold, nobody's warm
i went out into the night
i went out to find some light
kids are dyin' out in the snow
look at them go, look at 'em go.
and the power's out
in the heart of man
take it from your heart
put it in your hand
what's the plan?
is it a dream? is it a lie?
i think i'll let you decide.
light a candle for the kids,
jesus christ, don't keep it hid
cause nothing's hid from us kids
you ain't fooling nobody-with the lights out!
...etc.
wow.
but first, i have to re-enact last night. because,
it was possibly the greatest night i have had in london so far.
arcade fire at 02 arena in greenwich.
the best show i have seen in MY LIFE.
i am telling you, these people, this band. they are absolutely amazing. every encounter i have with their music makes me fall in love with them all over again. i get chills, sometimes tears, words cannot describe my love for arcade fire. not only are they beautiful musicians, but their lyrics describe the suburban childhood that so many of us can relate to, so many americans. the crowd at the 02 was massive, but i was a bit more into it than my neighbors on the floor. i feel an american show might have an exponentially more explosive audience, but i don't know for sure.
a few videos to share. this first one, i really encourage anyone to watch, it is a sort of slow motion of them performing 'ready to start' a song from their newest album called Suburbs. to be honest, the first time i watched this video, i had tears in my eyes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oI27uSzxNQ
proud to say their performance of this at the show last night was equally epic. god. i think win butler may be god. my friend jenny touched his leg at the show. we got soo close to the stage, despite being in a huge stadium (i couldn't find the exact number of people it can hold on its website, but i did find out the eiffel tower could fit inside it lying on its side and that it could be filled with 3.8 billion pints of beer. so.. it's big.) we wouldn't have gotten so close if it weren't for the guys we were with, jenny's friends, pushing our way up to the front. but people didn't care, we were the biggest fans there.
here, my one photo that was not too blurry:
look at them. i didn't stop smiling during the whole show. not joking. well, except for the times that i was singing. :) ah it was gorgeous. they played all my favorite songs. they danced while playing, hopping around with the violins, regine looked like a fancy robot, win's brother with his fantastic open-mouthed expression, hitting everything with his drumsticks.
their 'Suburbs' has been a bit hit among kids of our generation. i think you will see why if you watch this video, the actual official music video..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Euj9f3gdyM
thoughts?
anyway, i am in love. completely.
I mean, how incredible are the Neighborhood Songs? Especially number 3 (power out):
i woke up with the power out
not really something to shout about
ice is covered up my parents' hands
don't have any dreams, don't have any plans
i went out into the night
i went out to find some light
kids are swingin' from the power lines
nobody's home so nobody minds
...
i went out into the night
i went out to pick a fight, but they won
light a candle for the kids
jesus christ, don't keep it hid
...
growin up in some strange storm
nobody's cold, nobody's warm
i went out into the night
i went out to find some light
kids are dyin' out in the snow
look at them go, look at 'em go.
and the power's out
in the heart of man
take it from your heart
put it in your hand
what's the plan?
is it a dream? is it a lie?
i think i'll let you decide.
light a candle for the kids,
jesus christ, don't keep it hid
cause nothing's hid from us kids
you ain't fooling nobody-with the lights out!
...etc.
wow.
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