Yesterday I had an absolutely awesome evening. Gwen and I were able to go to the Graham Norton Show. Which, for those of you who are not Anglophiles or don't get the BBC in your television package, is a British talk show hosted by Graham Norton (obviously) a comedian and is absolutely ridiculous and wonderful frivolous fun! I've been watching it since we got BBC America last year and found when I got here that my roomie, Gwen, is also a fan. Gwen had the link to get E-tickets, and the ticket gods smiled upon us! So off we went at 4:15 pm to London Television Studios for the taping, to be part of an actual TV audience! We got horribly lost because the website gave totally weird directions from Waterloo station, when it was clearly closer to the Embankment station.... anyways....
We waited in the non-priority line, got our red wrist bands, and waited some more as the crowd pressed toward the doors and a cold wind picked up off the river. I must note, that Gwen looked incredibly cute in a new teal dress and black tights with her hair (it's like liquid Gold) colored to perfection. She caught the eye of the woman scouting the crowd for audience participants. The woman came up asked her if she wanted to be on the show. She said "Yeah of course!" so we got to skip the line and go into the studios. Then they weren't sure they needed a girl for the show but they got us both seats in the front -like fourth or fifth row. But just as the show was about to start the backstage guy came and found us and said they still needed another girl for the bit. So we got FRONT ROW seats! AND Gwen was totally on TV! She was duct taped to five other people in a gag off of Greg Kinnear's movie (Stuck on You) where he played a Siamese Twin. It was so funny! Tune in next week Saturday at 9pm on BBC America, the girl in the green/teal dress is my friend Gwen! It was a great night!
Today we had class with Lesly and we had a guest speaker, Guy Henry, he was in the play we saw "Twelfth Night" though most of you would probably recognize him from his role in V for Vendetta. He was really funny. And told us Derrick Jacoby stories and talked about what it's really like being a working actor in London. It was a real treat to meet him and probably the best theatre class we've had so far!
Five of us then decided to go walk around the National Gallery after lunch. Rachel and Michelle had to go to collect info for their papers, but Emily, Sarah and I just went for fun. Though I ended up getting separated from Sarah and Emily cause I like to take my time in art galleries. Not that I blame them for leaving me behind cause I'm really slow, and not everyone likes to dally like I do. I'm a professional lollygagger - if there was such a thing.
I walked around the Sainsbury Wing on the second floor. I love looking at art. It's such a calming thing. And the National Gallery isn't like anything we have at home. For one thing it's free. But mostly it's just a ... mood, setting. The collections on display were originally made up of paintings from the British Aristocracy (by donation or loan). Even though the galleries are for public view it still feels like you're walking in the Great Halls or private galleries of some Earl or Duchess. The wall coverings are deep reds and greens, the ceilings high with domes. The rooms are spotted with leather covered couches and wide wooden benches polished to a sheen. This space is worthy of it's art.
I wandered past a Joseph Wright painting "An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump" which is actually much more interesting than it sounds. The canvas is 183 x 244 cm, I'm not going to do the conversion, but I was dwarfed by it in both directions. It featured a group of people around a table at night, the only light coming from a lamp on the table. The effect of the illumination of the faces is mesmerizing. I bought the postcard but it really doesn't do it justice.
I wandered through Monet's waterlilies, Renoir's landscapes, and lingering in front of Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Fields with Cyprus trees. Finding new treasures along with finally meeting familiar images. I found my way through the gift shop and past the cafe (horribly tempting) I love the cafes in museums here because I just can't get over the fact they sell beer. I think it's brilliant, not that I've had one, but I still think it's neat. See some culture and have beer-it's the British way of it.
I bummed around Trafalgar Square since the weather was nice and I hadn't taken any pictures of it before. I headed back to the tube station, but was deterred by a small circular glass building with the sign CRYPT on the top. This obviously needed further investigation.
The CRYPT was a crypt, or used to be the crypt of St. Martin's in the Fields Church which was then converted into a gift shop and cafe and gallery. The gallery was empty, filled informative posters about the space. The cafe was bustling though. It was really odd to see so much life in such a deathly place. There wasn't actual tombs anymore, just the basic architecture remains but it was still strange. I took the stairs up to the chapel and listened in to a rehearsal for some violinists.
I continued on my trip back home but was again deterred by a side alley, filled with bookstores -second hand bookstores. Second hand books stores are not the same here in England. In a second hand bookstore here, their old books are really old. There's at least a shelf for 18th and 19th century books. The first couple stores were filled with too rare of books for my bank account. But I gawked at them anyway. My luck was in the last shop that was having a 1/2 off sale in the basement. I got a slim little red volume by John Milton published in the 1800s, essays about literature for 3 pounds.
I made it back to the flat with plenty of time for dinner before going out to the theatre to see "Entertaining Mr. Sloan" which was pretty funny, but an equally scandalous show (look up the synopsis for details).
Well I've written quite enough I think and since my flat mates are turning in I suppose I should too. Cheers!
Today we had class with Lesly and we had a guest speaker, Guy Henry, he was in the play we saw "Twelfth Night" though most of you would probably recognize him from his role in V for Vendetta. He was really funny. And told us Derrick Jacoby stories and talked about what it's really like being a working actor in London. It was a real treat to meet him and probably the best theatre class we've had so far!
Five of us then decided to go walk around the National Gallery after lunch. Rachel and Michelle had to go to collect info for their papers, but Emily, Sarah and I just went for fun. Though I ended up getting separated from Sarah and Emily cause I like to take my time in art galleries. Not that I blame them for leaving me behind cause I'm really slow, and not everyone likes to dally like I do. I'm a professional lollygagger - if there was such a thing.
I walked around the Sainsbury Wing on the second floor. I love looking at art. It's such a calming thing. And the National Gallery isn't like anything we have at home. For one thing it's free. But mostly it's just a ... mood, setting. The collections on display were originally made up of paintings from the British Aristocracy (by donation or loan). Even though the galleries are for public view it still feels like you're walking in the Great Halls or private galleries of some Earl or Duchess. The wall coverings are deep reds and greens, the ceilings high with domes. The rooms are spotted with leather covered couches and wide wooden benches polished to a sheen. This space is worthy of it's art.
I wandered past a Joseph Wright painting "An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump" which is actually much more interesting than it sounds. The canvas is 183 x 244 cm, I'm not going to do the conversion, but I was dwarfed by it in both directions. It featured a group of people around a table at night, the only light coming from a lamp on the table. The effect of the illumination of the faces is mesmerizing. I bought the postcard but it really doesn't do it justice.
I wandered through Monet's waterlilies, Renoir's landscapes, and lingering in front of Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Fields with Cyprus trees. Finding new treasures along with finally meeting familiar images. I found my way through the gift shop and past the cafe (horribly tempting) I love the cafes in museums here because I just can't get over the fact they sell beer. I think it's brilliant, not that I've had one, but I still think it's neat. See some culture and have beer-it's the British way of it.
I bummed around Trafalgar Square since the weather was nice and I hadn't taken any pictures of it before. I headed back to the tube station, but was deterred by a small circular glass building with the sign CRYPT on the top. This obviously needed further investigation.
The CRYPT was a crypt, or used to be the crypt of St. Martin's in the Fields Church which was then converted into a gift shop and cafe and gallery. The gallery was empty, filled informative posters about the space. The cafe was bustling though. It was really odd to see so much life in such a deathly place. There wasn't actual tombs anymore, just the basic architecture remains but it was still strange. I took the stairs up to the chapel and listened in to a rehearsal for some violinists.
I continued on my trip back home but was again deterred by a side alley, filled with bookstores -second hand bookstores. Second hand books stores are not the same here in England. In a second hand bookstore here, their old books are really old. There's at least a shelf for 18th and 19th century books. The first couple stores were filled with too rare of books for my bank account. But I gawked at them anyway. My luck was in the last shop that was having a 1/2 off sale in the basement. I got a slim little red volume by John Milton published in the 1800s, essays about literature for 3 pounds.
I made it back to the flat with plenty of time for dinner before going out to the theatre to see "Entertaining Mr. Sloan" which was pretty funny, but an equally scandalous show (look up the synopsis for details).
Well I've written quite enough I think and since my flat mates are turning in I suppose I should too. Cheers!
