Lately, I have been over-scheduling myself like a Baby Boomer mom with her Gen Y kid. This urge to fill my calendar springs from an effort to assert my independence during Alex’s latest trip and carve out the elusive social life I so desperately (and impatiently) crave here in London town. The drawback, however, is twofold: First of all, I have been scheduling much of my time with people who are from the States and visiting (therefore negating the London social life aspect) and secondly, I’m so damn tired that the little space beneath my desk at work suddenly looks like a dern good place to take a nap.
Still, it has been a very fun week, and you know, all of this activity keeps me off the streets and whatnot, so I think it’s good.
We met up with Christy and Jason at the Frank Gehry pavilion at the Serpentine Gallery.
I was somewhat underwhelmed by the structure itself (it’s no Pritzker Pavilion), but the people-watching alone made for a lovely afternoon.
Tuesday: (I realize I just skipped a few days, but unless you want to hear about how Alex and I watched Minority Report for the umpteenth time or how I unwittingly guilted him into giving me his Wii Fit, be happy we’re skipping over the rest of Saturday through Monday.)
Megdon and I headed to The Old Vic (creative director: Kevin Spacey) to see Table Manners, part of The Norman Conquests, a trilogy of plays by Britain’s own national treasure, Alan Ayckbourn. The concept is that the three plays, comedies written in the 70s, all take place at the same time over the course of a weekend, but each focuses on a different room in a house. In other words, you see the action of the six characters in one room/play, which tells a complete story, but you don’t know the full story of what was happening when each character was off-stage until the see the other two.
The play was great (and we’re already booked in to see another one: Round and Round the Garden), but an even funnier aspect of the night was the action that took place afterwards. Megdon and I headed to a pub across the street for some late-night food and drinks. Let’s just say it was the first time I’ve been a wing man in London, and you’ll be happy to know that the whole my name-is-Jessica-and-this-is-Elizabeth-and-we’re-sisters thing totally translates across borders.
Wednesday:
My friend Chris from college came to town, and we enjoyed a few drinks at The Crown and Sceptre. It was so great to see him, but I might have scared him when I told him he was my third best friend in London, even though he was leaving in two days and I hadn’t seen him in 8 years.
Thursday:
Do you remember that show, Mystery Science Theater 3000? The one where the bad movies would be shown and comedians would make fun of it? Jason, Megdon and I went to the live-action version of that phenomenon last night, aptly named the Bad Film Club. Last night’s cinematic trainwreck was Congo, a jewel that managed to escape my attention when it was released, but now might replace Teen Wolf Too as the worst movie I have ever seen, ever. Even after seeing it and listening to two very funny comedians rip it to shreds throughout, I still have no idea what that ridiculous spectacle was about.
It starred Laura Linney, who was slumming it big time before her string of Oscar noms, Dylan Walsh (who would go on to be plastic-surgeon-and-family-man-turned-sociopath Sean McNamara in Nip/Tuck), Tim Curry (doing an appallingly bad Genericistan accent), and I kid you not, a man dressed as a talking gorilla called Amy. There was a rhinoceros attack, mass murdering of evil gorillas with a laser, and a scene where the black guy from Ghostbusters (here with a British accent, for some reason) jumped out of a plane with Amy the talking gorilla strapped to his chest. I mean, you can’t make this stuff up…and it provided ample fodder for the comedians to turn it into a very funny night.
(Also, we got gorilla masks to cut out. I made a Sarah Palin one complete with bangs and glasses. It’s now hanging in my living room…I’ll make sure I photograph it for future eps of the OckleShow).
Le weekend part deux:
This weekend another friend from home is in town; I have my second writing class; Saturday is out on the town night; and Sunday, Megdon and I are going to see Sarah Silverman live at the Hammersmith Apollo.
Should be fun, assuming I manage to work in some sleep during that time. Thanks for the well wishes to Alex during the hurricane scare (he’s fine, btw), and keep the comments coming! I do love them so.
Still, it has been a very fun week, and you know, all of this activity keeps me off the streets and whatnot, so I think it’s good.
Allow me to review...
Le weekend:
Before Alex took off on Sunday morning, we got to enjoy a beautiful 70-degree and sunny Indian summer day in the city. It began with my trip to my first Creative Writing Class, which was cool but somehow made me feel buoyed and defeated at the same time. More on that as it progresses.
Afterwards, we went to Hyde Park. Somehow, despite having been here for over four months now, I haven’t ventured too far into the wonder that is Hyde Park and the Serpentine. On such a beautiful day, it was pretty crowded because all of London felt the need to expose their startling pale skin to the sun for the first time all year, but was heartening to see the peeps out and about.
Le weekend:
Before Alex took off on Sunday morning, we got to enjoy a beautiful 70-degree and sunny Indian summer day in the city. It began with my trip to my first Creative Writing Class, which was cool but somehow made me feel buoyed and defeated at the same time. More on that as it progresses.
Afterwards, we went to Hyde Park. Somehow, despite having been here for over four months now, I haven’t ventured too far into the wonder that is Hyde Park and the Serpentine. On such a beautiful day, it was pretty crowded because all of London felt the need to expose their startling pale skin to the sun for the first time all year, but was heartening to see the peeps out and about.
We met up with Christy and Jason at the Frank Gehry pavilion at the Serpentine Gallery.I was somewhat underwhelmed by the structure itself (it’s no Pritzker Pavilion), but the people-watching alone made for a lovely afternoon.Tuesday: (I realize I just skipped a few days, but unless you want to hear about how Alex and I watched Minority Report for the umpteenth time or how I unwittingly guilted him into giving me his Wii Fit, be happy we’re skipping over the rest of Saturday through Monday.)
Megdon and I headed to The Old Vic (creative director: Kevin Spacey) to see Table Manners, part of The Norman Conquests, a trilogy of plays by Britain’s own national treasure, Alan Ayckbourn. The concept is that the three plays, comedies written in the 70s, all take place at the same time over the course of a weekend, but each focuses on a different room in a house. In other words, you see the action of the six characters in one room/play, which tells a complete story, but you don’t know the full story of what was happening when each character was off-stage until the see the other two.
The play was great (and we’re already booked in to see another one: Round and Round the Garden), but an even funnier aspect of the night was the action that took place afterwards. Megdon and I headed to a pub across the street for some late-night food and drinks. Let’s just say it was the first time I’ve been a wing man in London, and you’ll be happy to know that the whole my name-is-Jessica-and-this-is-Elizabeth-and-we’re-sisters thing totally translates across borders.
Wednesday:
My friend Chris from college came to town, and we enjoyed a few drinks at The Crown and Sceptre. It was so great to see him, but I might have scared him when I told him he was my third best friend in London, even though he was leaving in two days and I hadn’t seen him in 8 years.
Thursday:
Do you remember that show, Mystery Science Theater 3000? The one where the bad movies would be shown and comedians would make fun of it? Jason, Megdon and I went to the live-action version of that phenomenon last night, aptly named the Bad Film Club. Last night’s cinematic trainwreck was Congo, a jewel that managed to escape my attention when it was released, but now might replace Teen Wolf Too as the worst movie I have ever seen, ever. Even after seeing it and listening to two very funny comedians rip it to shreds throughout, I still have no idea what that ridiculous spectacle was about.
It starred Laura Linney, who was slumming it big time before her string of Oscar noms, Dylan Walsh (who would go on to be plastic-surgeon-and-family-man-turned-sociopath Sean McNamara in Nip/Tuck), Tim Curry (doing an appallingly bad Genericistan accent), and I kid you not, a man dressed as a talking gorilla called Amy. There was a rhinoceros attack, mass murdering of evil gorillas with a laser, and a scene where the black guy from Ghostbusters (here with a British accent, for some reason) jumped out of a plane with Amy the talking gorilla strapped to his chest. I mean, you can’t make this stuff up…and it provided ample fodder for the comedians to turn it into a very funny night.
(Also, we got gorilla masks to cut out. I made a Sarah Palin one complete with bangs and glasses. It’s now hanging in my living room…I’ll make sure I photograph it for future eps of the OckleShow).
Le weekend part deux:
This weekend another friend from home is in town; I have my second writing class; Saturday is out on the town night; and Sunday, Megdon and I are going to see Sarah Silverman live at the Hammersmith Apollo.
Should be fun, assuming I manage to work in some sleep during that time. Thanks for the well wishes to Alex during the hurricane scare (he’s fine, btw), and keep the comments coming! I do love them so.
1 comment:
Loves it! The Wakefield link is broken, and of course I'm dying to read what it's about. The baby boomer mom reference made me laugh out loud. Have a great weekend!
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