Update?!?

At the behest of my friend Rob, here's the update:

With regards to trip planning, it's obvious that at least part of my trip did not turn out.  But I will be spending a day and a half in Geneva (the greater portion of a day will likely be in the Alps), which will be nice.  And then I'll be back in Paris for six days.  Which will be awesome.  Sure, I may not revisit the Eiffel again, but it'll be nice to visit the rest of the stuff I never got to see.

In other news, though, I've been keeping up pretty well with the NCAA tournament, seeing most of the MSU-Tenn game and the end of the Duke-Baylor game.  MSU-Tenn was definitely one of the most gripping games.  Maybe it was because I chose to personally invest myself into the "Izzotron" with Ohio State's unceremonious dismissal by Tennessee, but most likely it was a preference for the Big Ten over the SEC (and, let's face facts.  The SEC sucks.  Also, they were a pretty weak basketball conference this year).

But this has led me to a bracket-picking discovery.  It's unbelievably hard to pick against the Izzotron.  You just can't.  Unless there's some beyond-overwhelming disadvantage, the Izzo makes up for that.  He's some mastermind and genius, and his teams that he puts out, no matter what deficiencies, are always playing crazy good defense and are pretty disciplined (i.e. free throw shooting, etc.).  The discipline played a big part, I think.  Tennessee shot pretty poorly from the line, which cost them especially down the stretch (it's what also cost Kentucky vs. WVU...notice an SEC trend here?).

So here's the picks for here on out:

MSU vs. Butler: MSU
WVU vs. Duke: WVU

MSU vs. WVU: WVU

The only outcome I'm pretty adamant about though, is WVU advancing to the final.  I'm not sure Duke can keep up with WVU.  MSU-Butler seems like a tossup.  If MSU has enough rest they can do it.  But, one might have to imagine Butler advancing given a hometown game.  This occurred last year given Michigan State's run and advancing to the title game in Detroit (though they got blown out by UNC in the title game).

Aside from that, there's not a whole lot that's been going on.  I did meet up with one of the kids of the  family I know here in London (mentioned VERY early on),  and got coffee and chatted.  He was pretty much mortified with the way doctoring is set up in the US, with the whole medical malpractice deal and the fact that there's no real protective body for doctors, and the fact that becoming a full-on doctor takes much longer.  That sort of stuff.

I did go out for a drink with a friend, and met some of his college friends, which was nice, but I just couldn't miss the rest of the Duke-Baylor game so I came back for that.  Sounds lame, but it really isn't, haha.

That's all for now, I'll update again in a few days or something.  Most of my week will be getting all that trip stuff prepared and studying for exams.  Not very exciting, unfortunately.

Cheers,
-e.

NP: The Velvet Underground - VU

This is steadily becoming my favorite Velvet Underground record, for reals.  Within the last 24 hours, I've probably listened to it all at least 5 times.  Yeah, about that...

Hey folks

Sorry for not updating in awhile.

But to go through it all:
Two weeks ago consisted of writing a history paper.  I was going at a pretty good pace (spacing the work out over two weeks), and a few days before it was due, I was at 2000 words and I went to meet my professor to see if where I was going was pretty solid.  Turns, out, it wasn't solid at all.  So I had to rewrite the whole thing.  And then I still went out on St. Patrick's Day.  I needed to finish the paper before my sister got here, but that didn't really happen.

The last week consisted of my sister visiting, which was awesome but now I miss home even more.  The terrible feeling was totally worth her visit, though.  Took her around most of the touristy stops in London, and then went through Paris in 36 hours or so and got through most of the big things, i.e. the Eiffel, Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, Bastille, Notre Dame, and the like.  It was a swell trip.  The French are even more standoff-ish than Brits, which was sort of surprising (probably shouldn't have been) and it was slightly hard to navigate without French and being able to ask people.

But here's my favorite picture from the trip (sorry to be so brief about everything - ask me when I get back!):

For once, it's not a panorama!  I'm not particularly sure what it's of, but my inclination says that it might be Perseus rescuing Andromeda.  The angle seemed rather interesting, and it turned out well.  Oh, and false, here's another favorite of mine:

It's a rather straightforward shot of Eros and Psyche, but it looks great.  You can probably ascribe most of that to the sculpture, and not me, haha.

But yes.  The term ends today, and I have two classes left (whereas at OSU I would have no Friday classes...bummer).  Afterwards is a month off, and then two exams and a paper to do.  Currently slated is Italy in late April.  Possibly slated (I need to go to the train people and inquire) is a massive two-week bonanza starting in Brussels, to Stuttgart, to Geneva, to Paris (again for me) and back to London.  Granted, this trip starts on Sunday if I go, so I need to figure that out today, it would be moderately helpful.

I know earlier I said I'd be screwed for my exams, but in some ways it doesn't seem too terrible, as long as I study like a crazy man.  Luckily with the UK system, there are no classes during the entire exam period, so I can wake up at nine and study the whole day.  It's not a terrible system at all.  We'll see how that goes.

Oh, and I'm back May 19th.  Mark your calendars, bubsniffers, I'll be back!

-e.

NP: Big Star - Keep An Eye on the Sky

Alex Chilton's death hit me pretty hard, and now all I've really been listening to (outside of some rare exceptions) has been Big Star.  I'd gone through the comp a couple times before, but honestly, my acknowledgment of Big Star was more of an "influence" thing for groups like the Replacements, Wilco, R.E.M., and basically any other musician thereafter.  But in coming back to it, every tune is a special tune, one anyone else would kill to write.  And Alex Chilton wrote these like he was totally not putting in effort, which is gross.  He was barely even 21 when he was writing all this Big Star stuff, and he'd charted at #1 earlier with the Box Tops at the ripe age of 16.  How's that for a model of success?  The talent this guy is absurd, and it should be time that everyone recognizes it.  But some people don't, which is the sad part.  Alex has said he has wanted it that way...he didn't want a lot of fame.  I wouldn't either, but with such skill it should've happened that way, I suppose.

The worst part is that it took me his death to revisit his material.  It happens that way often, but it always feels weird when you realize the voice coming from your speakers is no longer speaking any more, just a voice from the speaker.  But the legacy lives on, o my soul.

Something exciting!

Yesterday I went to see Passion Pit at the HMV Forum.  A friend had an extra ticket, and it was pretty swell!

The opener-opener was probably the worst opener I've ever seen.  Worse than Skeletons, worse than the Honeydrips.  This was just a trip to Hell and back.  As far as I know, the band's name was "Little Death"?  Not sure, but if it was, I died a big death during their set.  It wasn't that it was just noise blasting my face.  What I could discern wasn't great either, songs without a whole lot of originality and the like.  Just wayyyyy bad.

The opener (there were two) was Ellie Goulding.  Me?  I could take it or leave it.  Some of it had the electronic bend to it (hence the selection as a Passion Pit opener making sense), but it was also basically a whole lot of pop.  Which means for me, I don't value it too highly.  But she was a solid performer.  She's apparently a very British phenomenon, and quite a few people actually only showed up for her (i.e. leaving after her set, before Passion Pit's).

But Passion Pit was sick.  They are ridiculously good live.  The only downer with them was that the setlist was super short.  Maybe 13 songs?  They played most of the Chunk of Change [EP] and most of Manners (maybe not doing like 2-3 tracks off of it).  The unfortunate thing about the show was the group of douchebags in front of me.  I won't go on much about that, though, it was just aggravating because I just wanted to watch the damn show and they constantly infringed upon my enjoyment of it.  Maybe I'm getting too old for those sorts of shows.

Back to Passion Pit, though, I would definitely catch them if at all possible.  It is my understanding that they had played Columbus back in October, but I missed them, mostly because back then I didn't really know who Passion Pit were (was?).  There's not a whole lot of the whole banter business going on in their shows, which may have been kind of a bummer but they were on top of their game.  And they were a remarkably lively band.  The fear with a keyboard-based group like Passion Pit is that they would just idly stand by their keyboards and twiddle knobs, but they had a definite sense of energy and movement about them, which definitely helped them maintain momentum throughout their (altogether brief) set.

That's basically the only news I have.  I should work on my paper a bit if I'm going to do something tonight.  Yuck.

Adios for now, folks
-e.

NP: Passion Pit - Manners

There Really Isn't A Whole Lot Going On.

I'm kinda serious.  I'm currently putting off a Problem Set due Thursday in blogging.  No sightseeing worthy of elaboration since I covered Kew Gardens, mostly just a bunch of homework and hanging out with some close friends here.

We did make a Guinness cake here yesterday (Guinness is there to enhance the chocolate, apparently, not for actually making the cake taste like Guinness, unfortunately).  The icing actually had Bailey's in it too, which is absurd, but awesome.  Of course, that just made the icing "sweat" or whatever it's called (that's the terminology I heard from the resident bakers in the group).

I also realized over the weekend in having two pints of Guinness in London (the first pints since Dublin) that it still pales in comparison to Guinness in Dublin.  So if you like USA Guinness, you will absolutely fall in love with Dublin Guinness.  Depending on the person, you may sell all your assets and move to Dublin to marry Guinness.  Tales are told about Irish guys who don't marry because they feel like that would be cheating on their true life partner, their Guinness.  OK, I made that last bit up, but I seriously would not doubt that happening at some point.

Classes end in two full weeks (aka two weeks after this week).  The last week will be terrible because there will be no incentive to go.  Also, my sister will be here (HUZZAH!) and so why should I go to class when I can take her places?  Yep, I guess I'm not going to class on Monday...we'll see about Thursday and Friday, after she leaves.

To end with two funny stories (or rather, jokes) that I happened upon, which may or may not translate as text.  They're "story" jokes which means the payoff is later...sort of like my favorite comedian of the moment, Aziz Ansari:

I took this class concerning economic development, and yes, poverty is a big issue and all, but the thing about it is that you have to give it to the right people.  So they have to use the census to do so, and go around and make sure people are poor before helping them out.  My teacher said that there are definite reasons for those near but not in poverty to make themselves look like they're in poverty to be able to rake in the benefits after the census people come by.  So I couldn't help but think of this:  "Hey, José, it's me, Diego.  How's it going, man?  Oh, your house got repossessed?  That's a bummer, man.  Listen, I need your help tomorrow.  Those census people are coming by tomorrow to see if I'm poor, so I need you to hold some stuff for me.  Like my TVs, my computers, my refrigerator, the floorboards in our house, and hey, take the toilet and the sink, too.  And if you want, you can take the Rolls out for a spin tomorrow.  Oh, and can I borrow some of your kids?  I need to them so I look poorer to those guys.  Thanks, man, I appreciate it."

I was in a class regarding politics and development and we were talking about AIDS and how it effects development.  And naturally, we got off topic, and so it de-evolved into a bunch of talk as to whether or not AIDS has social stigma attached to it.  You know, like the whole "You have AIDS? Shunnnnnnnn" sort of deal.  Somehow, we got to talking about the culture of the Zulu in southern Africa, and one of the guys in my class said it's one of those things that's not talked about, because to them you'd rather have AIDS and have a lot of kids and keep the whole AIDS thing secret.  He said it's not like they go out for beers and talk about this.  Really, man?  You think they would?  I mean, how would that go?  "Hey man, what's happening?"  "Oh, not too much."  "You got AIDS?"  "Hell yeah, man, it sucks.  Flared up yesterday."  "Dude, me too, I got it from my wife two years back.  Fuck that noize, right?"  "Dude, yeah, fuck that shit."  "Cheers, dude...cheers to that."

NP: Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks - Real Emotional Trash

Way too late, I know!

I know.  I'm terrible.  I haven't updated in ages.  But, um, I am now.

Work is mounting.  And a couple of realizations about the school I chose to study at have scared me shitless and have made me try (and I repeat, try) to stop procrastinating and get stuff down.

1. UCL is the #4 school in the world
2. UCL rarely, rarely ever gives out the equivalent of an A.
3. I'm getting my ass kicked in one of my classes.

I half-realized the first point before I got to London.  The second I realized when I got a paper I wrote back marked with the equivalent of a B+, and the guy in my class I went with to get my paper said "Whoa, B+?  That's really good.  Since they don't really give out As..."  So, yikes.  And three has been a steady realization since I thought I did well in the beginning.  It's just hard.  There's just a considerable divide between what I thought was answering the question for the problem set and what they were expecting.  I don't know if this is just because I'm not cut out for it, or if the courses I took back at home ill-prepared me for the course here, that I didn't even take a course back home that would definitely help me right now, or if I'm just still not in the right frame of mind (as in a totally economic mindset) to approach the course.  It's probably a mix of all of them.  At least nothing we've done so far has affected the grade, because for better or for worse, the Final Exam is 100% of my grade.  Yep, 100%.  Which is sort of lucky because I'm getting my ass kicked right now, but that means I need to stop getting my ass kicked by this class to make it out of it alive.

And the sheer irony of it all is that I went abroad with the impression that I could just come back with a nice set of As or so and keep my GPA at the level its at...and now I might come back with a fistful of Bs and kill my GPA.  Jeeeeeeeezus.

But aside from all the academic junk that could get any person down, here's a description of the fun stuff that's happened since the previous update, which is numbered at...two things.

The first is a trip to Kew Gardens.  Basically it's a set of Gardens with a bunch of conservatories and exhibits sponsored/maintained by members of the Royal Family.  When visiting last Saturday, it was still the "Tropical Flowers" special theme, which meant bunches and bunches of orchids and other amazing-looking flowers.  Here's my favorite orchid photo:

 

It somehow looks less vivid than on the camera and on iPhoto before I uploaded it, so I'm gonna chalk the downgrade to Facebook and what I would guess is some strange tendency to decrease color count.  But moving on, here's another flower (non-orchid) picture I was a big fan of:

 

There were also small exhibits regarding animals, but there wasn't anything very rare there at all.  The rarest thing was probably a green water dragon, which I'm guessing is likely not very rare at all.  That being said, Kew Gardens was basically really fantastic.  I loved it.  I would love to go back when the weather's nicer.  There was a pretty rad "treehouse" sort of walkway that slightly evoked memories of Donkey Kong Country while on it.  It was ludicrously high up (my estimation is 50ft) and so you got to see the entirety of the park.  Pretty stellar, if you ask me.

Event number two actually occurred right after the trip to Kew Gardens.  All of us who went all came back to my flat and ate a very, very American dinner: Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.  I'm lucky in that I received a shipment from my parents and can thus enjoy it once in awhile, but some of the folks hadn't had any at all since coming here.  Which amazed me.  It was a fun occasion, in that we were all American and were enjoying the essence of American (gourmet, depending on how you look at it) cuisine.

But yeah.  There has not been too much new.  Just a lot of work and a lot of muted panic as the horrors of this term have been slowly creeping up on me, dogging me every day.

Today and yesterday, however, have had totally beautiful weather.  I don't think the weather has ever been nice two days in a row since I've gotten here.  Woah.  I am super happy about that though.

Stay rad until next time, folks,

-e.

NP: Talking Heads - Fear of Music

Maybe David Byrne was right when he said that heaven "is a place where nothing ever happens."  Food for thought, I suppose.