Another trip to London beckons this weekend- and another stag do. I fly out from Belfast Friday morning and will return on Sunday. There is already plenty lined up.
There will be The Comedy Store on Friday night. This is a fantastic laugh and performances at this venue are shown on The Comedy Channel. That will set the mood right for the rest of the weekend. There will plenty of craziness, creativity and laughter! Some really big names in comedy have performed here, such as Robin Williams. Who knows, we might even see the next big thing.
Then on Saturday afternoon we will be making our way to Wembley Stadium to see the The Challenge Cup final. It is one of Rugby Leagues biggest events. I checked the attendance for last year- and there were 82,000 people there. Very impressive! It will be amazing being at such an iconic stadium for the first time.
The rest of the weekend will be up for grabs. There will be a nightclub on Saturday night and a lot of drinks consumed. As I am unattached, I will be looking forward to chatting to some random women. This is a fun activity and not to be taken too seriously. I love testing out my accent anyway! It always gives me an advantage when I am away anywhere!
Roll on Friday morning!
Showing posts with label London. Show all posts
Showing posts with label London. Show all posts
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Walking tour of London
Yesterday was a beautiful day. As soon as I got into London and booked into my hotel, I had a few hours to spare before going to see Will Self. I got the tube to Oxford Circus and started my walk.
I love being out and about and walking the streets. It gives me the chance to observe other poeple, take stock of the scene and get my head showered. London is especially good for this. There are so many people to bump into and so many nationalities to observe.
I walked along Oxford Street, piles of shoppers going about their ordinary business before taking a right into Soho. This is probably the seediest part of London. The place is full of sex shops, appartments with open doors advertising 'models' and nameless throngs of tourists mixed up in all of this. I even spotted a courier service called, "My Sister is a Bike." It took me a moment to realise what this was all about.
Soho is perhaps the strangest part of London. There is a errie vibe and you can be sure there are things happening behind closed doors that it is difficult to imagine.
From there I went to China Town. There are lots of shop windows with ducks slowly getting cooked. The duck fat drips on meat products I cannot identify. I was reminded here of how within western culture, we have certain norms when to comes to food. One would rarely think of eating certain parts of an animal, such as a heart. This also reminds me to keep an open mind; try not to assume anything just because it is deemed 'normal.'
From there I went to Charing Cross before moving onto Covent Garden. I found myself a nice pub with an outdoor seating area. I bought a pint of ale that is not available back home. There were more tourists taking photographs of a theatre facade close by. Then I noticed a women actly strangely across the street from me. She kneeled down on her hunches before lighting a cigarette and puffing at it madly, looking over. She hardly took a breath between drags. I ignored her and she finally got up and walked away. I am not sure if this was my imagination or if she was looking for 'some business.' She just seemed too forward for it to be concidental. So having finished my pint, I got up and walked toward The Royal Mile before swinging left past The Houses of Parliament.
I walked across the Thames and took a left along the South Bank. This is my favourite part of London. There are many street performers and artists. Located here also is The Tate Modern, HMS Belfast, The Golden Hinde, The Globe Theatre, The British Film Institute, South Bank University and The London School of Economics. They even have an area for teenagers to skate board and spray-can the walls. I had another drink in a pub here before crossing the Thames again at Tower Bridge. I walked past The Tower of London, the place where Mary Queen of Scots was executed. (There is a family myth that we are related to The Stuarts through my maternal line!)
Making my way into the finacial district I found a pub named 'Addendum.' I texted my band mates to tell them of this strange coincidence. A pub named after our band! I even joked that if 'Addendum' ever make another CD, we would use the front of the pub as an album cover. A little like The Doors did for their album, 'Morrison Hotel.'
From there I walked through Algate and Algate East. This is where I lived for six weeks when I was in secondment in London. It brought back great memories. There were eight Scottish colleagues and eight colleagues from Belfast all living in a hotel together. We had a great time. Eating out every night, we got to know London and each other pretty well. This is when I fell in love with the place. There is just so much to do. You have access to great music and other art forms. It makes Belfast look like a village!
I got on the tube at Liverpool Street Station to catch the book reading. A great day joyfully wasted.
I love being out and about and walking the streets. It gives me the chance to observe other poeple, take stock of the scene and get my head showered. London is especially good for this. There are so many people to bump into and so many nationalities to observe.
I walked along Oxford Street, piles of shoppers going about their ordinary business before taking a right into Soho. This is probably the seediest part of London. The place is full of sex shops, appartments with open doors advertising 'models' and nameless throngs of tourists mixed up in all of this. I even spotted a courier service called, "My Sister is a Bike." It took me a moment to realise what this was all about.
Soho is perhaps the strangest part of London. There is a errie vibe and you can be sure there are things happening behind closed doors that it is difficult to imagine.
From there I went to China Town. There are lots of shop windows with ducks slowly getting cooked. The duck fat drips on meat products I cannot identify. I was reminded here of how within western culture, we have certain norms when to comes to food. One would rarely think of eating certain parts of an animal, such as a heart. This also reminds me to keep an open mind; try not to assume anything just because it is deemed 'normal.'
From there I went to Charing Cross before moving onto Covent Garden. I found myself a nice pub with an outdoor seating area. I bought a pint of ale that is not available back home. There were more tourists taking photographs of a theatre facade close by. Then I noticed a women actly strangely across the street from me. She kneeled down on her hunches before lighting a cigarette and puffing at it madly, looking over. She hardly took a breath between drags. I ignored her and she finally got up and walked away. I am not sure if this was my imagination or if she was looking for 'some business.' She just seemed too forward for it to be concidental. So having finished my pint, I got up and walked toward The Royal Mile before swinging left past The Houses of Parliament.
I walked across the Thames and took a left along the South Bank. This is my favourite part of London. There are many street performers and artists. Located here also is The Tate Modern, HMS Belfast, The Golden Hinde, The Globe Theatre, The British Film Institute, South Bank University and The London School of Economics. They even have an area for teenagers to skate board and spray-can the walls. I had another drink in a pub here before crossing the Thames again at Tower Bridge. I walked past The Tower of London, the place where Mary Queen of Scots was executed. (There is a family myth that we are related to The Stuarts through my maternal line!)
Making my way into the finacial district I found a pub named 'Addendum.' I texted my band mates to tell them of this strange coincidence. A pub named after our band! I even joked that if 'Addendum' ever make another CD, we would use the front of the pub as an album cover. A little like The Doors did for their album, 'Morrison Hotel.'
From there I walked through Algate and Algate East. This is where I lived for six weeks when I was in secondment in London. It brought back great memories. There were eight Scottish colleagues and eight colleagues from Belfast all living in a hotel together. We had a great time. Eating out every night, we got to know London and each other pretty well. This is when I fell in love with the place. There is just so much to do. You have access to great music and other art forms. It makes Belfast look like a village!
I got on the tube at Liverpool Street Station to catch the book reading. A great day joyfully wasted.
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
The Vaselines: Live
Last Friday night I went to see The Vaselines play at the HMV Forum in Kentish Town. Like many people there, I first heard of this band through Nirvana. During there famous unplugged set, Nirvana played their song "Jesus Don't Want Me For A Sunbeam." Nirvana's first album also contains two Vaselines covers.
There would therefore be some truth to the statement that The Vaselines have gained fame through Kurt Cobain's advocacy. This is to miss the point however. They really are a great band in their own right- though I might never have discovered that.
The reason I was in London was to see Metallica. Months before, a friend and I were thinking about what to do on the Friday night so we casually checked what live gigs were on. It was a very quick decision- "Yeah, let's give that a go."
There was great musicianship on evidence at this gig but what really carried it was the humour both in the songs and the banter with the crowd. I still haven't fully digested what has happened yet.
It's been twenty years since this band last toured. They are far too good, in their own right, to let this kind of gap to develop again.
There would therefore be some truth to the statement that The Vaselines have gained fame through Kurt Cobain's advocacy. This is to miss the point however. They really are a great band in their own right- though I might never have discovered that.
The reason I was in London was to see Metallica. Months before, a friend and I were thinking about what to do on the Friday night so we casually checked what live gigs were on. It was a very quick decision- "Yeah, let's give that a go."
There was great musicianship on evidence at this gig but what really carried it was the humour both in the songs and the banter with the crowd. I still haven't fully digested what has happened yet.
It's been twenty years since this band last toured. They are far too good, in their own right, to let this kind of gap to develop again.
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