Stories, photos, and more as we embark on life in London!
Max and I are taking up home in London, UK, after living much of our lives in Portland, OR, USA. We are excited for all the travels and adventures that lie ahead!
I work in nonprofit technology and Max in theatre scenic design - watch for random stories on internet usage and play reviews :)
Trip to Brighton
Yesterday I took the train (about 50 minutes) South to Brighton. I didn't look at a map beforehand or anything, just knew the name of the city where I was going and bought the corresponding train ticket. I was headed down just for the evening, where I was speaking at the New Frontiers in Social Media event. Luckily for me, the train got in early and I had time to take some pictures as I walked from the train station to the venue. And guess what: It's right on the coast! Who know?! Well, most people, apparently; but I didn't.
Here are some pictures from the main drag in Brighton; a super cute town! Max and I are investigating bike paths/routes between London and Brighton to go back together.
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Regent's Canal
Our flat is just a block from the canal which stretches through Islington, Camden, Regent's Park, the zoo, and all the way down to Little Venice. The day before Sascha arrived, Max and I took a stroll down the canal to check it out and were more than pleasantly surprised!
Not only was it a beautiful day, with temperatures in the low 70s (that was just two and a half weeks ago, and it is currently 48 outside at 3pm), but the canal was a getaway to a calm, beautiful, and charming stretch of the city we hadn't yet explored. We walked for a few miles until stopping by a long stretch of house boats in Westminster and heading back. Unfortunately, the camera battery died just as we were starting the walk, so we'll have to go get more pictures now that the charger has arrived (thanks, mom!).
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MMT in UK
Last weekend, Max and I met up with a face from home: Brian Walsh! Brian served as an awesome intern at MMT through De La Salle's business intern program. He is now studying at University of Portland and spending the year abroad in Salzburg, Austria. He and some of his fellow abroad students have been putting in lots of miles to see as much of Europe as they can during their time here. He and nine or so others were in London for the weekend, so we met up to have some coffee, catch up on life, and show him a bit of our new city.
We walked from Holland Park over to Hyde Park to St. James Park, to the Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard. It was a long walk :) The picture below is from outside out the palace before we parted ways. Great meeting up, Brian - hopefully we see you again before you head home!
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Recipe comparison
I subscribe to Care2's Healthy & Green Living e-newsletter and get tasty-looking recipes all the time. This one caught my eye today because I desperately have been craving my mom's chocolate zucchini cookies lately. This recipe looks pretty tasty, and I'm a sucker for flax seeds, so I may give it a try this weekend.
Mom, what do you think? Does it compare to your recipe? :)
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Review: Shunt Lounge & Paperweight
Here's the first of what should be many more reviews!
Shunt Lounge
Rating: 3 Thumbs Up
Thursday night, Max, Sascha and I went down to London Bridge where the unmarked entrance for the Shunt Lounge is located. Shunt is a performance space as literally as that can be taken. Occupying the now-out-of-use train tunnels connected to the London Bridge Underground (tube) and Overground (above ground train) station, you are free to roam about as you please, through the tunnels: some are left empty, some have art installations, others stages (either figuratively or literally) where performances of all kinds take place throughout the night. There is a bar, a DJ and some areas for both dancing and seating, some stages are more traditional and obvious than others. Quite a few people from Max's program were there as well, though it wasn't the best atmosphere for meeting new people and have conversations, as it was quite loud in many places and when it wasn't there was a performance...that, and some of the folks seemed quite interested in drinking.
The creators of Shunt are graduates of Central (Max's school) and the curator is participating with Max's program as a weekly speaker right now. It is a curated space, with all of the acts changing weekly. Some of what we saw:
- aerials with hoops or bars (suspended from rope from the ceiling).
- French back rides (a guy dressed as a Frenchman would give you a backride, usually running, throughout the space for free).
- a guy doing beat-boxing type vocals that were expressive/synched with his body movements and such throughout one of the tunnel spaces.
- a piece that took place over an hour or two, with 4 characters at sea filming in a small box set up as a submarine or ship with a window so you could see them though the camera was projecting it live in multiple locations against the wall so you could follow their dramatic excursion from wherever you were (audio was going over the speakers that are throughout the space, though competing with the music from the DJ), including a run-in with a Spanish mermaid, some passionate dancing, and the death of the captain.
- a puppet show piece, that was done with three people, one acting as the marionette, another the woman 'controlling' her and the third a man helping the marionette break free.
- two performances by The Paper Cinema, including "King Pest" by Edgar Allen Poe. This was by far our favorite. It was incredibly well done, the amount of planning, story-boarding, drawing and practicing had to be immense. Pretty much, they have created drawings, some simple, others large and very intricate, to relate the entire story with only music (being performed/created live) to help narrate. They have a camera set up between the two 'actors' with a black wall only a foot or two away. They manipulate the hundreds of black and white drawings, cut out and put on sticks, in front of the lens of the camera, all the while watching the screen where it is being projected and which the audience is watching as well. It sounds so simple, but it was one of the most moving theatrical performances I have seen in a really long time. It was incredibly touching and the characters were drawn in such a way that you really connected to them and empathized, even without human actors or spoken word. Both performances were so touching and passionate, nearly everyone in the facility came and crammed into one tunnel for over half and hour to watch in silence.
- a ticketed piece (we arrived early to get tickets as it is a one-on-one performance so not very many during the course of the night) that we all liked, for different reasons, and to varying degrees. Max and I liked it more than Sascha, though she admits that the jet lag may have had an effect on that. With your ticket, you arrived to a small 'waiting room' area near the main entrance where two young women (in character) took your ticket, filled out a booking with your information, gave you a ticket that was much like a luggage tag on your wrist, and prepared mint tea while you waited. Next, you were taken into a dark room where music was playing and when they shut the door behind you, a young man flipped on a table lamp and you saw you were in a very small, but comfortable, homey and cluttered room (bookshelves, cloth, odds and ends filling the place up) where he asked you to take a seat opposite him at a table. He talked very quickly and was always fumbling with things in his hands, whether a ball, a nut, whatever. There was a blackboard with things written on it in a list and he asked you to chose one to hear about. I chose Black Holes; so I heard the description of black holes and theories about our universe, etc. explained, very quickly, with a few objects incorporated for metaphors. After the theory lesson, you are asked if there is anything you want to talk about, a lesson you want to teach. Then, you are asked to turn around and make a move on the chess game already under way, after your move, he makes one as well. Lastly, you are asked if you want to change the record that's playing (though I left it as it was with Led Zeppelin). You are taken out of the room from a different exit (as if there were space for multiple exists), where you leave your tea in an otherwise very empty part of the space and then taken around the corner where you get to look through a peep hole to see the scene recreated with the person who had signed up for the slot after you (in my case, Max). After you watch the other person go through the same scene, with different decisions of course, that you just went through, you are taken around another corner back to the waiting room where you write down any thoughts in another book, much like one you'd have at a wedding or other event for people to write in. It was wonderfully done and the whole experience of having this special appointment, secret meeting and then secret observation worked to, simultaneously, build your feeling of privilege or specialness to be part of something secret and knowing that it isn't unique or special or secret. It was fun but also really serious feeling, the way a very secret experience is.
The current season is over in November but we are hoping to go again before then. Next time you're in London, we'll take you!
'Paperweight' at The Camden People's Theatre
Rating: 3 Thumbs Up
After winning at the Fringe Festival recently in Edinburgh, Paperweight is running at the Camden People's Theatre. One of the developers and actors is a Central grad (notice a theme?) so we were able to get discounted tickets for the Saturday night show. The theatre is really close, well, it is in Camden so I guess that's obvious. The performance sounds a bit reminiscent of The Office TV show or even Office Space the movie. We were assuming we'd see some of that same drama and comedy but were pleasantly surprised to find instead a very real and very emotional exploration of the relationships, games, and ultimately the decisions that revolve around two people in otherwise-dead-end office jobs. It was funny, silly, sad, and charged. Even had some nudity! We were happy to see the piece move beyond the jokes and humors already explored in the tv shows and movies about cubicle lands. We were also surprised at the level of emotions and story line conveyed to the audience with a noticeably limited amount of dialogue between the two performers. There was a lot of conversation that took place in interaction, not talking, that seemed natural and not forced - probably because we can all relate so well to the situation.
We are definitely keeping our eye on the theatre for more shows and watching for other pieces put together by the Paperweight team.
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The Office, a tryptic
1. Literally, my office
A colleague and super awesome guy, Simon Berry, offered up his desk (and accompanying wifi router, comfy chair and tall tea cup) for me to use as often as I like in the 1 London Bridge CAN center. This is super cool. CAN is a company that builds awesome office buildings in very accessible/popular areas and then nonprofits get to fill up the open plan space on the cheap. They get communal board and meeting rooms, kitchens on every floor, and all that kind of stuff. It's great. Simon runs RuralNet and is only in his desk in London maybe once a week or once every two weeks and that is just for meetings in meeting rooms anyway. So, I've taken him up on his offer, at least while we don't have internet at home, and have been commuting from Camden down to the south waterfront. It is about 30-40 min commute depending on traffic, and it makes me feel very at home coming down hill, hitting the bridge and riding along the water to work, just like back in Portland; this time though, the bridge is huge, the river is huge, and it feels even more important and connecting to be aware of the city from the bridge. Pictures of 1 London Bridge below...
2. Figuratively, Max's school
On our second day in London, when all of the letting agencies were closed and we couldn't work on finding an apartment, we biked to Max's school to check it out, prove it exists and all the loan money was really going to a legitimate place, and figure out how to get there for once he was in session. It is all very compact, the buildings made into each other, more or less, and pretty old - all as we expected. We took a couple pictures of the school, the famous graduates' names carved into the steps, and Max standing out front. He just finished his week of orientation and tomorrow will begin for real! Whatever that means. He doesn't have classes so it is hard to know what to expect. He has three other people (all girls) in his program. There are also four students in lighting design, sound design, and directing (and most all are girls, in the school at large, and graduate degrees at large). He has projects with all of the students in Advanced Theatre Practice and then individual projects, as well as paired work with members of other strands. It is broken into four terms with each one building on the previous. We'll keep you posted on his projects and the school!
3. Comedically, the tv show
We still don't have internet in our place so haven't been able to watch much online, like the Daily Show or the debates, etc. Max was able to download The Office (US version, already watched UK) season 1 over the course of the week by connecting to the wifi on his campus and any rogue signals at home. So, we have been able to have one bit of sit-back-and-relax viewing thanks to Michael and the gang :) We are about to jump in to season 2, now, so more updates later!
:)
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Biking in London
We've been asked by lots of folks back home and actually by many here for a comparison of the bikability between London and Portland. I think of three main issues:
1. Bike Lanes
In London, the bike lanes are actually the bus lanes; bikes are just supposed to ride in them, too. It would be okay, probably, if this is how it actually played out. Instead, you have taxis darting in and out of the bus lanes as a way to dodge through traffic. You have bus lanes that turn into left turn only lanes so buses are trying to merge back into normal lanes of traffic, and so are bikes. Then there are the instances where curb and railings are on both sides of the bus lane, trapping you the lane, in a huge pile up of buses so there you are, standing with your bike, trapped between two double decker buses with visible black exhaust everywhere. It's awesome!
2. Share the Road ethic
As I'm sure you can glean from the first point, there isn't a great deal of 'share the road' idealism out here. The reigning theory is more 'every man for himself' or even a challenge of man v metal. Of course no where is perfect unless it is just one vehicle or the other, and Portland had many drivers who openly disliked cyclists using the same space. In London, I've found many a driver who tries to disregard your presence or acknowledge when you were in the right.
3. City Planning
Lastly, and most annoyingly, is the city planning. London's growth outwards from the downtown and in between neighborhoods has made for a crazy nest of streets. Looking at a map, you'd think it would be miles and miles and a lot of time to get between two places; all of those streets are really so very small, though, that it doesn't take all that long at all to get where you want to go.
The hardest part is creating a route from the map. We've all done this before with driving maps, etc. You find where you are, and where you want to go, and then identify what looks to be the most direct or the only logical route to take. So, that's what you do, and you take off. Lo and behold! The street you are biking down magically turns into a one-way going the opposite direction that you are and you have to turn. Well, you can't just turn immediately onto a parallel street and continue in the direction you want to go because there is no such thing as parallel in London. Instead you are forced to turn and then continue off course for much too long before you can turn and head in a corrective path that only adds minutes and miles onto the route. Needless to say, we've had fun!
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There have been a few recent bike accident deaths in the news lately which is pretty scary - ghost bikes going up around town much faster than in Portland. The most recent was a young woman, 31, who moved to London a couple years ago and just celebrated her 2nd wedding anniversary. She worked as a dancer for a couple local theatres and was biking home when she was actually smashed by a bus. It was horrible. We are very careful when we ride, always wearing helmets and being cautious though it seems we are the minority. In my commute I see many other cyclists not wearing helmets and darting in and out of different lanes. I'm so scared for them.
It isn't all bad though. It's a big city, a bigger city than Portland, which means just by per capita standards there are more cyclists on the roads so it always feels a bit better to come to an intersection, stop in the bike box (more bike boxes than I imagined they'd have) and not be the only cyclist. We've seen a lot and built out a much larger mental map of the city than many other people simply from riding around instead of dropping down to the tube and re-emerging where you want to be with no idea what lies between the two areas.
So, come visit and bring your bikes (or rent them here) and we can show you the city by bike! Plus, it's much easier biking on the weekends without commuter traffic and all. Just have to yell at J-walking tourists!
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First weekend in Camden
Our first weekend in Camden was great! As you'll see in the pictures below...
The weather was unlike it should be for the area and time of year so we took advantage of it and bike around! We headed down to the South waterfront (London is divided S v N by the Thames River, unlike Portland's E v W). We tried to get day-of cheap tickets to a show at the National Theatre but they were already sold out. So instead, we:
- Walked along the waterfront, past the theatre, Tate, bridges, Eye, and all that.
- Crossed over the river to take an obligatory photo in front of Big Ben to prove that we are Londoners :)
- Ate lunch in one of the small palace parks where it was starting to look like autumn.
- Biked back North, to walk around Soho, get some groceries, and then try our luck finding Max a winter coat in shops around Oxford Circus.
At the end of the day, Ron, Khara and Nathan (the wonderful friends who let us live in their living room for two weeks) came over to see our new place. We even tried out Quinn's across the street. It was great! Much larger than we expected, cozy, crazy decor, and patrons of every demographic imaginable.
I think we've positioned ourselves in a spot of London we are really going to enjoy!
After over two weeks of very high stress from all of the banking and apartment hassles (thanks to our moving timed perfectly with the international banking crisis!), it had set myself up quite well to come down with a horrible cold once we finally moved in and were settled. That's just what happened. On Wednesday of last week I started getting a tickle in my throat and when I woke up on Thursday, well, I was sick. I made it through the morning in the office but just barely. Friday I was horrible. Feeling so much better after a day and a half of solid sleep, tea, spicy food, sleep, tea, spicy food, that I thought I was up for all of our adventures on Saturday. It really took it all out of me and Sunday and Monday I was back on the couch. I'm all better again though, feeling much more like myself. But, like usual, Max now has it :) He's fully aware of the symptoms and what's in store so acting accordingly!
Sick or not, we're happy.
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