Friday, June 8, 2012

The Diamond Jubilee

If you've been anywhere near a media outlet this past week, you know we just had the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The country celebrated sixty years of Elizabeth II's reign. Well, some call it service, not reign. I've had the opportunity to hear varied opinions about the monarchy and the queen for the past ten days - even if I didn't ask for those opinions. And the opinions run the gamut from one extreme to the other. I assumed that I'd write some biting, jingoistic blog post about how it's been revealing to be an American in this country during the Diamond Jubilee. I mean, that would be the funny route, wouldn't it? And I try to make this blog a bit on the lighter side, so that it's an easy, quick read. But I found that I've been kind of indifferent to it. It's not really fair for me to hate on it as much as it isn't fair for me to defend it. 

It's a conflicting narrative people tell about the monarchy:
It's a bit anachronistic. It brings up bad memories of a British empire, colonizing the world over; the monarchy saps millions of public funds each year. Some go so far as to say that is't an exercise in inequality and unearned reverence. But, there are a lot of people that tacitly endorse it. And lots of people talk about how it's a draw for tourists, a historic event, a symbol for the country, and - at the end of the day - none of my business!

Let's keep the politics out of it. 

Kenz and I didn't know how to properly celebrate the Jubliee. It was characteristically English weather - cold, rainy, and gray. On Sunday, we decided to stroll up to the Thames River for the flotilla parade. We knew the parade was from 2-6pm. And we knew that the Thames is a long river. I assumed that if we got there at 2ish, then we'd be able to find some spot along the southside of the river to stand along the shore and watch the boats go by. I thought to myself, "well, I have been taking a lot of walks lately. I'm sure that I can go to one of my secret spots along the river where nobody will be. Maybe ten or so people will be down near Lambeth, but not so many that we can't find a place right beside a river barrier. We'll get a good spot. I bet most of the other people will be up near Westminister, the Eye, and towards Tower Bridge where the parade finishes."

All the buses were stopping at Elephant & Castle. That was my first warning. There's like seven bridges - plenty of space for people interested in watching the flotillas, I thought. Well, most all of them were shut down. Some were open to foot traffic, but most of those were only for ticket holders. Translated: bridges for ticket holders were bridges for super rich people who had donated some amount to specific charities. The other bridges that had people on them were filled with people who had gotten there super early. Kenz noted, "Even the Queen's public appearances are private."

We walked up to Westminister Bridge to find out just what we were in for. A million people littered alongside the river. That's not an exaggeration - Kenz did some research when we got home and they had estimated that a million people came out to the river on Sunday. A million. How many of you are reading this blog in a city that doesn't even have a population of one million? Yea. We had a million just sitting along the riverbank. 

Needless to say, we didn't make it onto the Westminister Bridge. There was, however, a big screen television set up in the middle of the bridge. But I wasn't happy with our view. The boats hadn't started yet, so I suggested we move on down to my "secret" (what was I thinking) spot, further west towards Lambeth Bridge. 

This was our view when we got to my "secret" spot:
A million
People were everywhere. And they were all dressed up - some in costumes, some with painted faces, some with the Union Jack flag as a cape. 




Some smart intern at whatever movie studio is producing Madigascar 3 (an animated children's movie franchise) had suggested making branded periscopes and flags. On one side of the flag, there was the Union Jack, and on the other side there was an advertisement for the movie. The periscopes were all branded out. "Free" advertising, I guess. 

My spot was the opposite of secret. There was nowhere to stand that had a good view. I don't even want to think what time we would've had to show up in order to get a "good" spot. People were up in their business offices, plastered along the windows, looking out. People were on walls, on top of bus stops, up in trees, and even climbing on the spires at each end of the Lambeth Bridge. There was another big screen television in the middle of the Lambeth Bridge. 

As the boats started, I hoisted Kenz up on my shoulders like a good husband. She snapped countless photos of the boats passing as I grimaced, tried to breath in a relaxed fashion, and watched the boats pass by from the screens on the cell phones of the people in front of me who were taking pictures of their own. At least Kenz was happy. 


This was the boat that lead off the parade. There are bells under the gold section in the middle of the boat. We both thought the person in red in the front of the boat was the Queen. Ha! We're pretty ignorant. 

Then the flotilla parade began. There were 1000 boats in total - most of them were driven by oarsmen like the ones in this picture.


THEN the Queen came. She's in that gold section in the middle. You can see a white spec under the gold awning. That's her. Her boat was the biggest. 


Standing on top of a bus stop

Sitting on walls and bus stops



All in all, it was quite the spectacle. We were happy to have gone, but decided to opt out of the rest of the weekend's festivities. There were big events on Monday and Tuesday, but they were just as crowded and we'd had enough of the crowds. We did, however, watch some more of it on the television. Coverage on the BBC was ridiculed for being sycophantic and boring, but it seemed kind of par for the course in my opinion. It is the Queen, after all, right?

Just a random picture of Kenz
We decided to celebrate the extra day off with a midnight showing of Prometheus in the IMAX in 3D. 

I know. We look absurd.
That's it for us. Hope you have a great weekend!

Friday, June 1, 2012

Photo Update

I started out thinking there wasn't much to report this week, but, as it turns out, the blog post wound up being fairly long. Forgive my verbosity. Kenz has been in and out of the studio, doing optional summer work and I've been working and taking walks. 

We've been enjoying the weather here; it has been delightful. However, we've learned a new wrinkle about London: there are lots of flies. I'm talking about houseflies. If we open the windows to welcome the warm breeze, an army of flies come in with the springtime air. Army may sound hyperbolic, but two days ago, I turned around from my desk and estimated about fifteen flies circling the living room. 


We had Owen and Celia over for dinner this week. I asked them about the flies. They just shrugged and nodded, saying "Yup." I swatted one or two, and Owen gave me a look that said, "Why?" Ashamed, I took to tolerating them. 

Still, though, flies. Just...everywhere

I've kept the windows closed the past two days.





Kenz joined me on a stroll last Sunday. 


Most restaurants in Chinatown have a similar window display. It makes me less enthusiastic about ordering squid.
We made our way through central London, connecting dots about where some nooks and crannies are - places where we'd been before, but had always sought out on purpose. I really appreciate being able to fill in some blank spots on my mental map. We realized that the Johnny Cupcakes store is a lot closer to central London than we had originally thought. 


Johnny Cupcakes in Carnaby Place

Carnaby
For some reason, I always think to go to a play on Sundays. Most of the rest of the days of the week, it doesn't cross my mind, but Sundays are usually the days I think, "Man, I really want to go to a show." The problem is that there's hardly any plays that have shows on Sundays. I usually slump in resignation, knowing I've missed out for the week, and resolving to plan ahead the next week. 

We lucked out this past Sunday, however. As we were finishing our stroll on Sunday evening, we happened upon Rock of Ages: 


Knowing the movie is coming out this summer, both Kenz and I had resolved to go see the play before the movie - possibly so that we could reserve the right to be those people. You know those people - the ones who say "Yea, well the book was better," or "Well, we saw the play in London's West End..." Of course, we won't be those people (at least I hope not), but...you know...maybe?

Anyways, we saw that the show was starting in fifteen minutes. I looked at Kenz like a puppy dog and asked, "Can I just see if they've got any cheap tickets left?" Kenz was pretty tired, ready to go home, and not as excited about the show as I was, but acquiesced. 

We got third row seats for 25 pounds. 


Now, you're thinking to yourself, "Third row! That's pretty awesome." And, for the record, it was awesome. However, it wasn't necessarily as awesome as you'd think. The seats were cheap for a reason. A theatre production isn't the same as a rock concert. Being that close at a concert means you get to interact with the musicians, see them play their instruments, and get blasted in the face with your favorite songs, etc. At a play, you're sitting in your seat, craning your neck back, and looking at the undersides of the performers' chins.

And there's another thing about Rock of Ages. As we were walking in, Kenz said, "There's going to be a lot of half-naked women in this show." I half thought she was kidding. I was pretty oblivious to the promotional posters outside the show; all I knew was that there was going to be a lot of 80's hair band songs repurposed for the plot. I hadn't paid much attention to anything else. I thought it'd be a fun romp of a show on a Sunday evening. 

Well, Kenz was right. My explanation will be unfairly reductionist - there's a lot more context to the show that I'll cut to make a long story short - but there were three women on stage for 85% of the show that were only about 15% covered. Yea. Three women dancing, singing, and gyrating on stage in their quite revealing underwear. 

For example:



It was hilariously awkward for both of us. We thought about the family sitting in the row in front of us - the family of mom, dad, and teenage son. I would've been mortified if I was that teenager. And I'm even someone who values "the theataaa" and, you know, Kenz and I are supposed to be mature and getting culture and all about some art - but we couldn't help but giggle every time those girls came on stage.

All in all, though, it was a fun show. They tried to create a rock concert atmosphere, complete with vendors strolling up and down the aisles, selling bottles of American beers. We had a good laugh about it afterwards. 

We took the long walk home, too, because it was the perfect temperature - one that doesn't have Kenz too cold and me too sweaty. That's a hard balance to find, trust me. 

View from the Hungerford Bridge (looking west)

Late night busker
I made it down to Croydon again this week for some Wednesday night league play. The stinging Nettles wrecked my legs. It felt like I was walking through a jellyfish tank. But it was fun and pretty:

The sun doesn't set until about 8-8:30 now. It makes up for the 4pm sunsets during the winter.


I got out to Bethnal Green to visit with my friend Stephen. A lot of people make fun of south London, saying it's ugly and isn't really a part of the 'real' London. And Stephen is one of those people, often asking, "oh, south London - is it still there?" Well, I wasn't too impressed with east London, myself. 

Bethnal Green looks and feels a lot like Camberwell - copious amounts of liquor stores and fried chicken shops, not a lot of impressive architecture, and enough trash to make Alcoa Highway (in Tennessee) look pristine. 

The Olympics will mostly be in east London - that's where the Olympic park and stadiums are. Stephen got a letter in the mail that said surface to air missiles will be positioned on top of the building just down the road from him and that, during the three weeks of the Olympics, fighter jets will make regular flyovers day and night. You know, for protection. He was taken a bit off guard by that, naturally.

Stephen's rabbit, Henry Blu Bunnydude

The Bethnal Green park had children in the local school decorate bricks.

Just outside the Bethnal Green tube exit

Time for random photos:

Sunbathers outside the Imperial War Museum

The overlooker

Kenz hosted a baby shower for a school friend; someone brought these Lillies as a host's gift. They still smell awesome.

Brixton street art

"You always take pictures of me eating!"

Kara and Jerry making fun of my moustache




Thanks for reading! It's the Queen's Diamond Jubilee this weekend; everyone is displaying their Union Jack flags, prepping for some anachronistic adoration of the monarchy for the next few days. We'll try to get out and see what it's all about, taking pictures as necessary. 

Have an exceptional weekend!