More Oxford

Christ Church

Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology 

Part of the Library?  Unsure.

Oxford Streets - City Hall/Public Library 

Christ Church

The Great Hall at Oxford

Oxford

Many more pictures to come...

"Instincts are misleading, you shouldn't think what you're Feeling."

i worry sometimes that with too much preparation in life, the only moments of genuine emotion will transpire through tragedy. 

Start A War

We expected something, something better than before.

We expected something more.

Do you really think you can just put it in a safe behind a painting,

Lock it up and leave?

Walk away now and you're gonna start a war.

Whatever went away I'll get it over now.  I'll get money, I'll get funny again.

Walk away now and you're gonna start a war.

We expected something, something better than before.  

We expected something more.

you were always weird, but I never had to hold you by the edges like I do now.

Walk away now and you're gonna start a war.

Whatever went away I'll get it over now.  I'll get money, I'll get funny again.

Walk away now and you're gonna start a war.

- the national

Lost In Translation

For some reason, sleep is getting hard to come by.  

Otherwise, things are things.  I'm not really in the mood to write, but I just wanted to say hi to everyone.  

Happy Birthday to my niece tomorrow!!  She will be four!  

Miss everyone.

x.

Amused by Colours

Thanks Tate Modern.

Quattro Stagioni: Primavera, Cy Twombly (1993-4)

Quattro Stagioni: Estate, Cy Twombly (1993-4)

Quattro Stagioni: Inverno, Cy Twombly (1993-4)

Quattro Stagioni: Autunno, Cy Twombly (1993-4)

Azure Day, Yves Tanguy (1937)

Goat's Skull, Bottle and Candle, Pablo Picasso (1952)

Whaam! Roy Lichtenstein (1963)

Untitled, Jannis Kounellis (1979)

Peg-Top, Hans Bellmer (circa 1937-52)

Prunier, Max Beckmann (1944)

Three Figures and Portrait, Francis Bacon (1975)

Message From a Friend, Joan Miro (1964)

Head of a Catalan Peasant, Joan Miro (1925)

Red on Maroon, Mark Rothko (1959)

Black on Maroon, Mark Rothko (1959)

Swinging, Wassily Kandinsky (1925)

 

Exact Change

Hello to everyone who is actually taking the time to look at this!  I promise you that you are only wasting your time by a little bit.  But, the longer I drone on, then that's when the wasting of your time increases exponentially.  I guess only you can truly choose how to waste your time most efficiently.  If you can be efficient wasting time, then I'd say you are quite good.  I mean, look at this, in five sentences, look how much time you (and I) have wasted together.  Anyway....

I started working at Boots' The Chemist in a little town, right close to Bristol, called Keynsham.  I have only been there for three days, but I must say that the staff is extraordinarily friendly.  I have already had quality conversations concerning Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels, Snatch and The Beatles.  It turns out that the manager of this chemist (pharmacy) is a huge Beatles' nut and collects equipment - instruments, amps - that were the exact models of what the Beatles used to record.  He has stated that he can't quit listening to Abbey Road, how his favorite Beatles track of all time might be Nowhere Man, and we have unanimously decided that the best track on Abbey Road is I Want You (She's So Heavy).  It's so obvious anyway.  

Another woman there has let me borrow The Office, the English version.  I am a huge fan of the American knock-off, so I am interested in giving this a spin.  As far as the pharmacy itself goes, things are interesting.  Everything seems a bit primitive.  There really doesn't seem to be any order to anything at all.  Prescriptions are dropped off from customers or surgeries (which may or may not be outpatient doctor's offices) and are then either thrown into a box and prepared in the next 48 hours (yes, 48 hours) or are immediately whipped up with really no rhyme or reason so long as a label prints from the computer and is smacked onto a box (hardly anything is counted because everything is all ready by unit dose boxing), is checked by practically anyone around... the pharmacist does have the final say, and is handed to the patient within minutes.  I haven't heard one patient pissing and carrying on about the wait for the drugs nor have I heard anyone moaning about their insurance co-pay.  This may have something to do with the National Health Service and universal coverage.  This is something I need to explore a little more however.  

I go into work around 0900 and leave by about 1800.  The hour lunch break is beautiful and affords me the opportunity to check out quaint little eateries or coffee shops in the town.  The other thing that I may grow very fond of are these 15-30 minute tea breaks throughout the day.  We get one in the morning and one in the afternoon.  And we actually drink tea and eat biscuits!  It is true.  It really happens in England.  One thing that I already fancied at home was tea, but I am beginning to feel right at home with a little splash of milk in my tea.  Tasty.  

I think that this pretty much brings everyone up to speed.  Tonight I went down to the laundry machine to do a bit of laundry and was ready to go -- I had my £1 and my 60 p and I was set.  But, once I got down there, I discovered, after I had already put my pound into the machine, that it only accepts 20 pence pieces and that my 50 pence piece was not allowed into the washer apparently.  And this was of course perfect, as I have none of the correct amount of change in my pockets, in my room, anywhere.  And to piss me off a bit more, the washing machine was not, under any circumstances, no matter how many times I pressed the return change button, no matter how loud I swore, going to give my money back to me.  And that's not £1, that's $2!!! ( Yes, I am still converting all transactions inside of my head...)

I eventually just bit it, put another £1 into the machine - and it happily accepted the remainder of my £1.60 plus tip and merrily starting washing away.  And this little story reminded me a bit of last night.  I felt like I didn't quite have exact change...  I am getting to the point, being away from home for about eleven days and I am starting to miss familiarity.  The ease of making a sandwich at home or curling up on the couch with my fiancee and dog and watching some TV.  

To remedy the situation though, I bought two tickets to see one of my favorite bands, The National.  And things began to feel a little more familiar and my change started to balance out exactly.  And at the moment, in the words of Thom Yorke, Everything is in its right place... For the time being anyway.  And besides, I think with change.. You can never feel exact.  

Abbey Day: Westminster and Abbey Road

Abbey Road NW8: City of Westminster.  Right across the street from the Abbey Road album crosswalk.  This sign was moved to the top of the apartment building just recently because the last one on street level was full of graffiti from Beatle fans.  Many of the fans can't reach this one.

Atop the Abbey Road Studios door

Abbey Road Studios!  

The zebra crosswalk from the Abbey Road album.  It was actually extremely entertaining standing by this crosswalk.  All pedestrians have the right away in zebra walks, so cars must stop.  Well, there was a huge congregation of people around this walk and how I didn't get any in this picture is amazing.  Everyone was getting pictures crossing the walk, talking off their shoes, lighting cigarettes (very Paul-esque)... and whatever.  Cars would fly up to this crosswalk and smash the brakes because of people standing and crossing the road recreating the album cover.  It was quite funny.

Me, extremely nervous, prior to tea time with the Queen.  Man, was she nice. 

Westminster Abbey.  Very gorgeous.  

A better picture of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. 

I took this picture while walking up the Thames, to Westminster Abbey.  If you look at the front leg and back foot you can see some battle scars, literally.  This was damaged by a bomb that dropped pretty close to the spot in WWII.  

London: Part Two

I was able to snap this picture off of the Millennium Bridge.  I believe it's capturing The Southwark Bridge and in the back left of the picture you can see Tower Bridge.  Unfortunately, it was a bit cold this night and my hands were shaking, making for a blurry photo.

Snapped this on the way between St. Paul's Cathedral and The Tate Modern.  You can see the Millennium Bridge in the front.  The Tate Modern was very sweet.  There was a dimly light Rothko room that was probably my highlight.

St. Paul's Cathedral from the South

St. Paul's Cathedral from the West

Back in Bath, The Abbey

Tomb

All inner walls had these memorials and headstones

Nave

I took the train back from London on Thursday morning and met Megan at the train station.  We had tried to see the Bath Abbey on the previous day, but there was a funeral procession and we obviously weren't invited.  Today we would see the Abbey.  Now, this was my first abbey experience and I guess I really didn't know what to expect.  I think I expected a gorgeous nave with a few arches and whoopitty doo.  But, from the moment I stepped into the cathedral, I was blown away.  It was extremely inspiring...

(Note: When trying to add other pictures, it seems as though the orientation of all vertical pictures will not align correctly.  So this is all you get for now.)

Editors at Alexandra Palace

Tom Smith

Tom climbing around the piano, generally being awesome

Tom and Russell 

London

Trafalgar Square and Admiral Nelson's Monument

Houses of Parliament

The London Eye

River Thames from Westminster Bridge