Ok, this will be the final post of my recent trip to the UK. I've been back for a week now and it feels it like the trip was a million years ago and yet I haven't finished talking about it. So this will be my final post, and then I'll go back to my regular posts of complaining and whining.
I left the last post off at work week at our Waterloo office. We had some "organised fun" during the week, which is so good for keeping things fun and friendly. We went to the Comedy Store in Soho, which was ace.
I'd never gone to a live comedy show before and I was advised by Mark, a colleague, on the two things that you should never ever do when at such shows, if you didn't want to get picked by the comedians on stage:
1. Sit in the front row
2. Go to the toilet in the middle of a show
Mark obviously thought these two rules were sacred, because when Theja got up to go to the toilet, he was horrified and tried to make her sit back down. She basically gave him a look as if to say "I'll pee on your face if you don't loosen your death grip", and so she was allowed to sneak to the ladies' to relieve herself.
The show was in a "Whose Line Is It Anyway" sort of format and was very entertaining (as it should be). The thing is with these shows though, is that cultural references are inevitable and there were parts of it where I had no idea who or what they were talking about. But yes, I laughed anyway. Didn't want them to pick on me for not laughing, and I tried hard to make sure I laughed at the right parts. It could've been quite hard to do as the two guys sitting behind me laughed at absolutely every line.
Next highlight was the Rugby Sevens at Twickenham. I've never been to a football match before but I was told rugby matches were a lot more fun. People are less fanatic about rugby and no one's going to beat up anyone if they lose/win/are ugly.
In fact on the way there we saw people in all sorts of costumes. Being in "fancy dress" has got to be a British past time or something because they are keen to look silly at every possible event. At work we do it at least three times a year, NOT including Halloween and other festive occasions.
There there were cross-dressers, pirates, nurses, Baywatch lifeguards, jailbirds, people in beachwear, and lots of random costumes. At one point in the game, three streakers ran in to the field and gyrated at the crowd. The security people let them do their thing for a while and then arrested them as they came off the field.
Rugby is a fun game to watch if only for the reason that it's so manly and filled with burly men!
At the finals South Africa beat Fiji to win the cup.
The last highlight is when I went to the Tate Modern. I make it a point to go to the Tate Modern when I go to London (well, I've been to London three times and if I don't go I feel as if I lose out on something). The first time I went it was 11 years ago when it first opened. The very first thing I saw on exhibit on my first visit was a glass of water on a shelf, and it has stuck in my mind since.
I've just Googled it and here it is:
It's called An Oak Tree and was created by Michael Craig-Martin in 1973. The display caption for it said: While this appears to be a glass of water on a shelf, the artist states that it is in fact an oak tree. Craig-Martin’s assertion addresses fundamental questions about what we understand to be art and our faith in the power of the artist. The work can be seen as an exploration of Marcel Duchamp’s declaration that any existing object can be declared a work of art. In his accompanying text, Craig-Martin provides the questions as well as the answers, allowing the simultaneous expression of scepticism and belief regarding the transformative power of art.
I just thought it was so clever. Here's some of what I saw on this visit:
We saw so many pieces, some fascinating, some questionable, that made me think back to school. I bet if I had made something like this and sent it in, my art teacher would be so pissed and think I was mocking her.
I left the last post off at work week at our Waterloo office. We had some "organised fun" during the week, which is so good for keeping things fun and friendly. We went to the Comedy Store in Soho, which was ace.
Sarah, Pip and me on the way to the Comedy Store in Soho
I'd never gone to a live comedy show before and I was advised by Mark, a colleague, on the two things that you should never ever do when at such shows, if you didn't want to get picked by the comedians on stage:
1. Sit in the front row
2. Go to the toilet in the middle of a show
Mark obviously thought these two rules were sacred, because when Theja got up to go to the toilet, he was horrified and tried to make her sit back down. She basically gave him a look as if to say "I'll pee on your face if you don't loosen your death grip", and so she was allowed to sneak to the ladies' to relieve herself.
The show was in a "Whose Line Is It Anyway" sort of format and was very entertaining (as it should be). The thing is with these shows though, is that cultural references are inevitable and there were parts of it where I had no idea who or what they were talking about. But yes, I laughed anyway. Didn't want them to pick on me for not laughing, and I tried hard to make sure I laughed at the right parts. It could've been quite hard to do as the two guys sitting behind me laughed at absolutely every line.
Next highlight was the Rugby Sevens at Twickenham. I've never been to a football match before but I was told rugby matches were a lot more fun. People are less fanatic about rugby and no one's going to beat up anyone if they lose/win/are ugly.
In fact on the way there we saw people in all sorts of costumes. Being in "fancy dress" has got to be a British past time or something because they are keen to look silly at every possible event. At work we do it at least three times a year, NOT including Halloween and other festive occasions.
There there were cross-dressers, pirates, nurses, Baywatch lifeguards, jailbirds, people in beachwear, and lots of random costumes. At one point in the game, three streakers ran in to the field and gyrated at the crowd. The security people let them do their thing for a while and then arrested them as they came off the field.
At the finals South Africa beat Fiji to win the cup.
The last highlight is when I went to the Tate Modern. I make it a point to go to the Tate Modern when I go to London (well, I've been to London three times and if I don't go I feel as if I lose out on something). The first time I went it was 11 years ago when it first opened. The very first thing I saw on exhibit on my first visit was a glass of water on a shelf, and it has stuck in my mind since.
I've just Googled it and here it is:
It's called An Oak Tree and was created by Michael Craig-Martin in 1973. The display caption for it said: While this appears to be a glass of water on a shelf, the artist states that it is in fact an oak tree. Craig-Martin’s assertion addresses fundamental questions about what we understand to be art and our faith in the power of the artist. The work can be seen as an exploration of Marcel Duchamp’s declaration that any existing object can be declared a work of art. In his accompanying text, Craig-Martin provides the questions as well as the answers, allowing the simultaneous expression of scepticism and belief regarding the transformative power of art.
I just thought it was so clever. Here's some of what I saw on this visit:
This was on here last year as well and had something to do with industrialisation.
Words streamed through this display and I couldn't really tell if they were supposed to mean anything. I just knew if I didn't look away soon I was going to vomit.
Warhol. I love this.
This was just a block with a slab of glass on the front of it, which created the mirror effect. In the reflection you can see work from the opposite wall, my crazy friend Dom and me.
This wasn't an art exhibit. There was a section closed off with a see-through screen and I thought it looked quite good so I took a photo of it.
I have nothing to wear!
L'escargot by Matisse. Seriously, I don't think Puan Chang would have appreciated this if it came from me.
Victor Pasmore's Stromboli. I can just hear my art teacher's high pitched voice calling me to the front in irritation: Yolandaaaaa!!!
Outside the Tate Modern it was raining and the rain made these views:
St. Paul's Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge
On the Millennium Bridge
The Tate Modern. It used to be a power plant.
I really enjoyed the Tate Modern and would definitely go there every chance I get. I also went to an exhibition that was in a room the size of a classroom, which was so odd I found it so posh and refined. It was an exhibition of a rare selection of work from Egon Schiele, samples of which you can see here.
Well, that's it with the highlights of my trip to London. I was there for a long time but at the same time it wasn't long enough.
It was so good to see friends, see my uncle and cousins, have beer in the park, get seasick, get caught in the rain, fall into a pond, sit on the top deck of a double decker, squish myself into the tube, cook for people, have a big Sunday roast, eat full English breakfasts, enjoy the sunshine, go hiking and chase rabbits, meet up with old and new colleagues, shop at Primark and Poundland, watch endless episodes of Come Dine With Me and Location, Location, Location, line up to the bar, down some ales, go outside to smoke, play, laugh, gossip with the girls...
Now I'm sad and nostalgic about the whole thing! It was lots of fun. I'm looking forward to my next trip to London, whenever that may be.
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