A Few Great Days

Hello there! Hope you haven't missed me too much. The Internet has been down for a bit at the flat, and it's making me go crazy. I'm at the cafe down the road, downloading tv shows, checking facebook, and taking care of business. Instead of filling you in on every thing I've done since the last post, I'm just going to tell you about a few great days.

First off: Of Montreal. I saw them twice a couple weeks ago. I saw them play an in-store gig at Rough Trade East. It was really neat. They stripped down a bunch of their new songs in order to play in such a small venue. It was cool to hear the new stuff played acoustically. However, that was just a warm up for the huge spectacle at KoKo. Wow, it was ridiculous. The band had actors on stage, dressed up as giant Buddhas, animals, Adam and Eve. All kinds of crazy characters acting out the songs throughout the whole night. I'll upload videos at a later time. The only bad part of that night was the crowd. It was an "all ages" show, so there were a bunch of teenagers, and they started a mosh pit. I left to watch from the balcony after suffering through a little bit of that.

not the best picture, but notice the dancing Buddhas

Of Montreal closed with a cover of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
It was amazing.

Second: Not this past Saturday, but the one before. I started the day with a little shopping at American Apparel. (I'm now curbing my spending a lot.) Anyway, I got some great stuff there. After that, I saw American Teen at the London Film Festival. It was amazing, and it put me in such a good mood. The documentary is about four high school seniors in Indiana. It was exactly like my high school experience, so I felt pretty nostalgic. I also realized just how much I love Indiana (a lot!).

Third: This past Sunday. Wow, I crammed so much into this day off from work. I started at the First Out Cafe with an incredible Sunday brunch. It was very traditional (yet also vegetarian). There was fried egg, hash brown, sausages, toast, tomatoes, baked beans, probably more. So yummy; I'll be going back there. Then I finally went to church at Westminster Abbey. It was really beautiful. Felt good to be back at church, and I think I'm going to go regularly now. After that it was time for the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery. Both were nice, and I realized I have a new favorite painter: Degas. Then I had a great dinner at a Milaysian restaurant. Finally, I ended the night with two film screenings for the London Film Festival. I saw Hamlet 2 (not as good as I hoped) and The Wrestler (amazing!). The Wrestler was the secret film for the festival. Every year, they have a special screening that remains a mytery until the lights go off and the film begins. Last year was No Country For Old Men. The Wrestler has received a ton of rave reviews at other festivals, so it wasn't a huge surprise. Definitely look out for this film when it comes out. It is really tough to watch, but Mickey Rourke's performance and Darren Aronofsky's direction are superb. So, yeah, that day was chock full of goodness.

Otherwise, I've been staying busy. This week is Halloween, so that should be a fun night. Also, Quantum of Solace opens Friday. I'll probably see it on Saturday or Sunday. And Guy Fawkes' Day is Nov. 5th, so there will be lots of fireworks going off. I think I'll go to Victoria Park to watch its annual display.

On a personal note, I'm personifying LCD Soundsystem's song, "New York, I Love You, but You're Bringing Me Down." Except, it's "London" and it deserves an "And Up, Too" at the end. Maybe that's confusing. What I mean is, London is sort of like a roller coaster (i.e. lots of up and downs, yet always thrilling). I am really homesick, and it sort of scares me that I still have 3 months left. I know it's going to go quickly, especially now that I'm working. However, I hate thinking about the fact that I'm missing Thanksgiving, and most importantly, Christmas. It's going to be pretty hard. That, and I just generally miss the States, home, family, friends. I've come to realize how much I value said items.

On the flip side, days like Sunday remind me of how amazing and unique this situation is. Where else can I go to church in such an incredible place, go to two museums, and attend a film festival screening. Nowhere but London. As long as I make the most of the unique opportunities I have here, I will feel fulfilled. So from now on, I am going to make it my mission to soak up all that London has to offer (without spening toooo much). London is amazing, after all. I just can't let myself dwell too much on my life in the States. I will live that life once again when I get back (it's not that long when you think about it). While I'm here, I'm living the London life!

New Post Soon

The internet crapped out again, so I'm at a cafe, and it's about to close. Hopefully the internet will resurrect at the flat soon. Then I'll add a new entry. There's a lot to blog about!

Since The Last

Well, This is a much needed update. I apologize for the 11 day absence. I know that my mom probably checks this a few times a day, so here is an exciting post. P.S. If anybody else is reading this, leave a comment. Send me some love!

So, Kim moved in the day after the last post, and she is wonderful! She is a welcome addition to the flat. Matt is with us still, and hopefully he'll be sticking it out. He just got a job at Reiss, so that should help him pay rent and keep him happy. I hope!

The next exciting happening was the Concrete and Glass music festival. Thursday was the first night of it. The only band for that day that I wanted to see was Bodies of Water. The hard part was getting there. First, we had to collect our free wrist bands that I won on the Internet. I got Matt and I so lost, trying to find them. We almost gave up. But then somebody told us we were really close.

On our way to the ticket place, we passed three girls. One of them asked me for directions. I told her we were lost, too. Then I looked over at the girl on the right, and who was it? It was Mischa "O.C." Barton. I quickly snapped into nerd mode, and shouted, "Hi, Mischa!" She just gave a coy smile and kept on walking. It was quite an adrenaline rush.

Then we found the place, got the tickets, and power walked to the nearby venue. We arrived minutes before the band started. They were amazing. It's like gospel indie rock. So joyous. Cue video evidence:



We got home after the show, and I got a good night's sleep because the next day (Friday) was my first day at Offspring! It was amazing! Everything is so great at work. I've now worked a whole week, and the initial excitement hasn't worn out at all. I'm still so pumped. The shoes, the responsibilities, my co-workers, the department store; they're all great. So, you get the point: I love this job. I won't be parting with it until I get kicked out of the country.

After work, I had some dinner at Wagamama. Then, I met Matt and Scott at Brick Lane to see Lykke Li perform. This was day 2 of the Concrete and Glass festival. Now, I am not a huge Lykke Li fan. I really like her a lot, but I have had trouble falling in love. Fortunately, her live performance was way better than her album. She was amazing. So much energy. Her enthusiasm and the band's performance took her songs to a whole new level.




After that, I sought out TV on the Radio. They were supposed to play at one venue, but when I finally found it, the place was deserted. I met a nice, married, Brazilian couple, and we formed a team to find the new venue location. Unfortunatly, when we got there, the queue was super long. We waited for an hour, only to find out that none of us were going to get in. So, I was bummed out and headed home.

We took Kim out on Saturday night and had a good time. Then I made Sunday a lazy one. I watched Gossip Girl almost the whole day. I hadn't seen a single episode, but now I'm both caught up and obsessed.

Monday I worked 10-7. Tuesday was 11:30-8:30. And Wednesday was 10-7. After work on Wednesday, I headed to Camden to see CSS perform for free. It was actually not that great. I expected them to be a little more crazy. Plus, I don't care for their new album very much, and a lot of the songs were off of it. But, it was free, so that's alright.

Thursday was tough because I worked 9-6 (aka I had to get up earlier than usual), but it was still a nice day at work. Then, before I realized it, it was Friday once again. I have a feeling my time here is going to pass much more quickly now that I'm working every week, and I'm fine with that. I actually had Friday off because Saturday was my induction into Selfridges.

I spend that Friday night at St. Luke's for the London Contemporary Orchestra. It was really great. The main reason I went was to hear Johnny Greenwood's piece, called "Popcorn Superhet Receiver." It turned out to be almost the exact music from There Will Be Blood, so I was thrilled. You'll recall how incredible the score for the film was, so I was excited to hear it played by a live orchestra. Here's a video that I snuck between my legs since recording was prohibited:



As amazing as the piece was, it was the performance before it, "Put Flesh On!" by Emily Hall, that really caught my ear/attention. It was the world premiere of the arrangement. What Emily did was use recordings of a female preacher's sermon, remix the words and add electronic music, then have all of that performed with strings. It was captivating and like nothing I had heard before. I don't think the video really captures the piece, but here's a little sample anyway: