Happy Leap Day, and Talk of London

London last weekend was really good.
The two other times I was there I reserved my judgement, knowing that I had not been there long enough to really know if I liked it or not, but it's now official - I like London. It's short (a big advantage, in my opinion - the towering buildings of some cities make me very uncomfortable), it's pretty, it's full of history and cool things. And really good museums.

I was lucky on this trip, because my study abroad program paid for both dinners, one brunch, and my lodging - as well as my train ticket. Considering how expensive London is, that was very good.

On Friday the highlight (after an afternoon spent riding in the entrance / between-cars vestibule of the train) was definitely going to see The Shockwaves NME Awards Tour at the Carling Academy down in Brixton (in south London). Tom and I went, along with another American named Cambria who has just returned to York for another term after having been here last year.
We missed the first band, The Ting Tings, but we got there right before Does it Offend You, Yeah? started. They won my awards for Best Punctuation, and Most Direct Song of the Night ("Let's Make Out," of which the main lyrics are, yes, "let's make out!").
After DiOY,Y? Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong came on. They were the band I was most excited about hearing. They're brand new - no album out or anything. But their songs are already getting a decent amount of play, and their lead singer is Joe Van Moyland / Joe Beaumont / Joe Lean, an actor I like. They were my favourite of the night - so terribly British, clever and angular (music and looks), with Joe Lean doing his awkward pointy dancing... it was great. They weren't perfect, some of their songs were lackluster, but it was generally a really good showing. The crowd wasn't so enthused, but that's their loss. To stick with this award theme - they win My Favourite, Best Dancing, and Best Banter.
The headliners of the night were The Cribs, who were, in Tom's words, "decent." I was surprised how many of their songs I knew - they've crept into my consciousness without me being fully aware of it. The highlight of their set was definitely the fact that Johnny Marr, guitarist of The Smiths and indie god, came out and played the last few songs with them, including a Smiths cover. That was terribly exciting. They win... Most Direct Single Lyric ("I'd rather cut off my own arms then see you go out with him"), Best Guest, and Most Shoes I've Ever Seen Thrown at One Stage.

I really enjoyed the music, and just being at a British indie gig - something I've wanted to do for years. And I liked how well put on the show was - no too-large gaps between sets, and it was all over by 11pm - plenty of time to catch the Tube back to the hotel.


On Saturday I went to Sir John Soane's Museum with Tom. I've been wanting to go there for ages, and it lived up to every expectation. The place is jammed full of the extensive collections of one of the great Classical Revival architects, and it has hardly been changed since he died - meaning it really gives a feel for an early 19th century home, and for the ways in which collectors used to address and present their collections. And, of course, it's just terribly eccentric, all these odd pieces of house stuck together, with tons of windows and mirrors and sky lights, strange little objects everywhere, no labels on anything, a random skeleton staring out at you from a box in a room in the basement. I loved it, and spent absolute ages there.
After that, I had a ramble in Hyde Park before meeting some of the other American York girls for lunch and a spot of shopping in an overwhelmingly crowded and cheap clothing store. I picked up a new top and a wonderfully sparkly, star-covered necklace.

That night the study abroad program had a river cruise dinner and dance for us. It was great - the food was good and I loved seeing the city at night from the water. We went all the way down to Greenwich and the Thames Barrier - which I was terribly excited to see, though no one else really cared. I've wanted to see it for years. We also saw the tallest building in the UK, at Canary Wharf, an odd business development that really looks like someone build a mid-size American city (maybe a slightly scaled-down Charlotte) on the banks of the Thames. You completely forget it's London.
In Greenwich we saw the terribly ugly Millennium Dome / O2, but, more importantly, we saw the remarkably strong green laser that is projected from the Royal Observatory to mark the exact line of the Prime Meridian - which is pretty freaking cool, if you ask me. tom got some good shots of it, you can see one here.


Sunday we had a very good all-you-can-eat brunch, then Tom and I set off for the National Portrait Gallery. It was quite cool - they own a lot of very famous paintings, especially in their Tudor galleries - almost every famous portrait from that era hangs in maybe two galleries at the museum. And you can also trace some of the evolution of artistic style through only that one type of painting, so it's interesting for my art historical brain.

To finish up our weekend, Tom and I did a bit of music shopping, and I picked up Bishi and Leafcutter John, two artists I've been wanting albums by, so that was good.
On the train back we actually got seats, so that was really nice. Tom took some really cool pictures on the ride, featuring reflections and long exposures -you can see them here. Meanwhile, I listen to Leafcutter John and read a book I finally bought on an impulse after wanting to read it for a while - The Book Thief. I'm so glad I picked it up, it's stunningly good. Markus Zusak's turns of phrase are brilliant.

Since London I've really just been relaxing. I've been sick, so it's good to get some rest.