Well Mattyboy wanted to see shots of my new room, so I figured I'd oblige...
It's hard to understand a 3D space using only 2D pictures, but I've done my best...first you should check out the floorplan.
All right, so going counter-clockwise (or 'anti-clockwise' as they say over here) along the floorplan, starting with the doorway, which is currently storing my shoes, empties, 'rubbish bin' and excess supplies (kleenex, apple juice, etc.)
Next is my bed and related wall. I bought that world map for £3! It helps me keep focussed on my dreams.
Onwards we have my dresser adorned above with a map of Venice (because I love that place so much!), followed by the makeshift closet which does a fine job. Now we come to the table by the window (directly across the room from my bed) which sports a lovely lava lamp and Posable Pink Panther which the previous tenant left for me to use! (I should also point out that all the furniture in here belongs to him too...it was quite nice of him to leave it and let me use it all!)
Moving on we have the bookcase and my desk; finishing with the wall behind my desk, upon which hangs my autographed Hayden poster and pictures of all of you lovely folks! If you want, take one more look at the floorplan to get a better overall idea of my room.
Lastly, I have taken a picture of my window from the outside, where I have tried spread a little Canadian culture to passers-by...
Still no word on a job, but I'll let ya know as soon as something starts. I would like to post more about the new church/christian community that I've been attending, but I'll save that for another post.
God bless all!
Monday, January 31, 2005
Sunday, January 30, 2005
More updates on the way...
Well, after being in Oxford for a week and a half, I finally finished unpacking and sorting my stuff out. I was going to take pictures and put them up here, but the lighting in my room isn't great so I decided to wait until tomorrow morning (or more likely, afternoon) to get some natural light to help liven the place up.
In the mean time, check out this link. It's a really good interview with a guy on the Daily Show.... it's kinda big, so it might be a little choppy the first time you watch it. If this is the case, I recommend waiting for it to play through once (in all its choppiness) so that the clip is fully downloaded. Then, when it reaches the end you can play it through from the beginning again in all its smoothness. It's really worth it...just let it take the 5 or 10 minutes or whatever and leave the room and go do something else, and by the time you remember it, it'll be ready to go!
All right, I really gotta get to sleep...my sleep patterns are all messed up again (or right back to normal, depending on how you look at it)
In the mean time, check out this link. It's a really good interview with a guy on the Daily Show.... it's kinda big, so it might be a little choppy the first time you watch it. If this is the case, I recommend waiting for it to play through once (in all its choppiness) so that the clip is fully downloaded. Then, when it reaches the end you can play it through from the beginning again in all its smoothness. It's really worth it...just let it take the 5 or 10 minutes or whatever and leave the room and go do something else, and by the time you remember it, it'll be ready to go!
All right, I really gotta get to sleep...my sleep patterns are all messed up again (or right back to normal, depending on how you look at it)
Sunday, January 23, 2005
I Have a Dream...
Calling all intrepid travellers! I have a dream, and I am inviting you along for the ride! My dream looks like this:
That's right...I want to get from England to Australia via every transporation method EXCEPT flying...that means trains, buses, ferries and whatever else is necessary! Anything except an airplane!
Crazy? Perhaps, however this is largely possible due to the Trans-Siberian Railway - interested prospective companions should check out that link for TONS more information.
Now, as you can see, my desired journey is a little bit different than the one on the map. I'd like to start with a ferry from England to Scandinavia, then using trains and more ferries, eventually arriving at Helsinki, where the train goes to St. Petersburg, which leads to Moscow and the beginning of the Trans-Siberian railway.
Now, as for funds...well, it would definitely be expensive, although maybe not as expensive as you think. I've done some preliminary research, and the cost for the train is relatively cheap. Here's my rough estimate for TRAVEL costs alone, as well as links to my sources, when available (prices are in US dollars, as that's what most sites tended to quote in):
England -> Sweden (ferry): $35
Train across Sweden: $50
Stockholm -> Helsinki (ferry): $160
Helsinki -> St. Petersburg (train): $122
St. Petersburg -> Moscow (train): $66
Moscow -> Irkutsk (trans-sib): $272
Irkutsk -> Vladivostok (trans-sib): $100
Vladivostok -> Fushiki (ferry): $200
7 Day Japan Rail pass: $275
Osaka -> Shanghai (ferry): $200
Shanghai -> Hong Kong (train): $165
All right, I'm tired of looking things up...in theory the trip goes from Hong Kong into Vietnam/Cambodia/Thailand/Laos/Malaysia/Indonesia/Australia/New Zealand and then flying back to Canada.
Ok, so just adding up those numbers, it comes to $1645 US dollars. Now, I may be naive, but I'm not stupid. I recognize that doesn't include all the extra costs like food and visa entry fees and hostels and sightseeing fees and all that. So likely, this trip would cost two or even three times that much. I also know that a flight home from New Zealand (or Australia or China or Japan) won't be cheap either. HOWEVER! Considering that a return airline ticket to Asia from Canada is about the same price ($1645 USD or more), it's not that bad a deal! A lot of nights would be spent on trains or ferries, so a lot of lodging is actually included in that original figure, something you can't do if you just fly directly. Plus, this way you get to say that you took the full trans-siberian express, and saw stuff along the way! How friggin' cool is that?!?!
The beautiful part about this trip is that it is SO huge that it could be customized according to available time and funds...can't afford to go to Japan? Fine! Take the trans-siberian to Beijing instead! Got some extra time & cash? Spend more at the beginning in Denmark/Sweden/Finland. Got nothing better to do? Spend a few weeks on the beach in Laos! Of course, all of this would have to be planned ahead of time, but it can be customized when the time comes...
Speaking of which, this may not happen soon...in fact, it likely won't be the next trip I take, but mark my words, it WILL happen! This is going to literally be the adventure of my lifetime, and I'm going to do it! I invite anyone (whom I know, that is) to come along! And even if no one else hops on board, I'll go it alone! This is too good to pass up! I've already taken the first step in crossing the Atlantic ocean...now I just have to make it across the land mass before me to get to the Pacific. I'd even be happy just taking the trans-siberian to Beijing...(then again, if you've gone all the way to beijing, you might as well take the ferry to japan...or the train to bangkok...or, or, or.....)
Well, that's enough dreaming from me. I'm going to go curl up in bed with my copy of Lonely Planet's Guide to the Trans-Siberian Railway that I bought downtown today. Some may think I'm foolish for spending £13 on a book when I don't even have a job yet, but believe me, it will provide all the incentive I need when I go out to look for work tomorrow. (If I could just save £200 each month for the rest of the time I'm hear, I'd have almost £4000 by the time I was ready to leave....)
Take care all...and don't forget to e-mail me to tell me that you're coming along ;)
That's right...I want to get from England to Australia via every transporation method EXCEPT flying...that means trains, buses, ferries and whatever else is necessary! Anything except an airplane!
Crazy? Perhaps, however this is largely possible due to the Trans-Siberian Railway - interested prospective companions should check out that link for TONS more information.
Now, as you can see, my desired journey is a little bit different than the one on the map. I'd like to start with a ferry from England to Scandinavia, then using trains and more ferries, eventually arriving at Helsinki, where the train goes to St. Petersburg, which leads to Moscow and the beginning of the Trans-Siberian railway.
Now, as for funds...well, it would definitely be expensive, although maybe not as expensive as you think. I've done some preliminary research, and the cost for the train is relatively cheap. Here's my rough estimate for TRAVEL costs alone, as well as links to my sources, when available (prices are in US dollars, as that's what most sites tended to quote in):
England -> Sweden (ferry): $35
Train across Sweden: $50
Stockholm -> Helsinki (ferry): $160
Helsinki -> St. Petersburg (train): $122
St. Petersburg -> Moscow (train): $66
Moscow -> Irkutsk (trans-sib): $272
Irkutsk -> Vladivostok (trans-sib): $100
Vladivostok -> Fushiki (ferry): $200
7 Day Japan Rail pass: $275
Osaka -> Shanghai (ferry): $200
Shanghai -> Hong Kong (train): $165
All right, I'm tired of looking things up...in theory the trip goes from Hong Kong into Vietnam/Cambodia/Thailand/Laos/Malaysia/Indonesia/Australia/New Zealand and then flying back to Canada.
Ok, so just adding up those numbers, it comes to $1645 US dollars. Now, I may be naive, but I'm not stupid. I recognize that doesn't include all the extra costs like food and visa entry fees and hostels and sightseeing fees and all that. So likely, this trip would cost two or even three times that much. I also know that a flight home from New Zealand (or Australia or China or Japan) won't be cheap either. HOWEVER! Considering that a return airline ticket to Asia from Canada is about the same price ($1645 USD or more), it's not that bad a deal! A lot of nights would be spent on trains or ferries, so a lot of lodging is actually included in that original figure, something you can't do if you just fly directly. Plus, this way you get to say that you took the full trans-siberian express, and saw stuff along the way! How friggin' cool is that?!?!
The beautiful part about this trip is that it is SO huge that it could be customized according to available time and funds...can't afford to go to Japan? Fine! Take the trans-siberian to Beijing instead! Got some extra time & cash? Spend more at the beginning in Denmark/Sweden/Finland. Got nothing better to do? Spend a few weeks on the beach in Laos! Of course, all of this would have to be planned ahead of time, but it can be customized when the time comes...
Speaking of which, this may not happen soon...in fact, it likely won't be the next trip I take, but mark my words, it WILL happen! This is going to literally be the adventure of my lifetime, and I'm going to do it! I invite anyone (whom I know, that is) to come along! And even if no one else hops on board, I'll go it alone! This is too good to pass up! I've already taken the first step in crossing the Atlantic ocean...now I just have to make it across the land mass before me to get to the Pacific. I'd even be happy just taking the trans-siberian to Beijing...(then again, if you've gone all the way to beijing, you might as well take the ferry to japan...or the train to bangkok...or, or, or.....)
Well, that's enough dreaming from me. I'm going to go curl up in bed with my copy of Lonely Planet's Guide to the Trans-Siberian Railway that I bought downtown today. Some may think I'm foolish for spending £13 on a book when I don't even have a job yet, but believe me, it will provide all the incentive I need when I go out to look for work tomorrow. (If I could just save £200 each month for the rest of the time I'm hear, I'd have almost £4000 by the time I was ready to leave....)
Take care all...and don't forget to e-mail me to tell me that you're coming along ;)
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Chris Langston: 2004 Year in Review
Well, 2004 ended up treating me pretty well...to begin with, a list of famous cities I saw for the first time in my life in 2004:
- Miami, USA
- New York City, USA
- Philadelphia, USA
- Washington (DC), USA
- Baltimore, USA
- London, UK
- Brighton, UK
- Cambridge, UK
- Oxford, UK
- Tarifa, the southern most city in Spain
- Rome, Italy
- Florence, Italy
- Venice, Italy (well, technically I visited these last 2 in the first four days of 2005, but let’s keep that tidbit of information between you and me)
- I also got a chance to pop into Montreal on the way back from our February reading week holiday in Quebec, and while it wasn't my first time there by any means, I do love that city…
Not a bad list, if I do say so myself. My challenge for 2005 is to visit 20 world famous cities ;)
In 2004 I also had the chance to meet & speak with two of my living heroes! First, when my mom and I were in Philadelphia this summer, we took a trip to The Simple Way (www.thesimpleway.org) who are a radical Christian group living in the in the inner city. It was founded by several people, including Shane, who is probably the most vocal of the group. He wrote up a description of The Simple Way in an old issue of adbusters and I’ve been following them ever since. When we showed up there this summer, they had a group of teenagers from California about to arrive, but we got a chance to talk with them for about 30 minutes before they showed up. It was great!
My second hero is Brian McLaren, who has written a bunch of books on how Christians must adapt to continue to not only exist, but thrive in a postmodern culture. I got to go to one day of the Emergent UK conference in London in early December and saw him speak. Afterwards I went up to him and let him know how much I appreciate his work and got him to draw a picture in the front cover of my copy of A Generous Orthodoxy! After the conference officially finished at 4pm, Brian invited all the foreign nationals (ie: non-UK citizens) to meet in the backroom and discuss what God was doing in their own countries. We sat and listened to each other for 75 minutes or so and it was absolutely incredible. I will never forget that moment in my life.
Well, I’m currently sitting on a bus heading toward my destiny. Or to be less dramatic, my destination. Which happens to be Oxford. My plan for 2005 is basically just to work in the UK and then travel with the money I’ve saved, then when I run out of money, come back and work some more. That’s actually also my plan for 2006 at the moment, but these conditions are subject to change without notice.
I’m currently paying for a room in a student house with 3 other guys until July. It will be nice to be in one place for a while, especially since I haven’t lived in any single place for more than a month in the last 5 months…and in fact, the last 6 weeks have witnessed me changing locations almost weekly. Then again, I also shouldn’t count my chickens before they hatch. Or maybe I should say ‘shouldn’t count my roommates before they hatch.’ Or, since that doesn’t make any sense, maybe I should say ‘shouldn’t count ON my roommates before I meet them.’ They have a Pulp Fiction poster hanging above the couch in the living room though, and an XBOX attached to the TV, so it can’t be all bad…
Well that’s it for now…keep an eye here for further information and updates. And please feel free to try out the comment system – I want to know that it works!
Cheers to 2005….
Monday, December 13, 2004
testing
Ok, I got the new service up and running...hopefully this looks nicer, and will allow people to leave comments :D
Unfortunately, it's going to be a little bit still before I get all the pictures back up, so for right now, they're all dead links. Hopefully not for much longer however.
Lot's more very soon, stay tuned....
Unfortunately, it's going to be a little bit still before I get all the pictures back up, so for right now, they're all dead links. Hopefully not for much longer however.
Lot's more very soon, stay tuned....
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Wednesday Dec. 01/04
I have decided that the way to go is to find a woman twice my age. That's right, 44 or older. For some reason, they're the only females who find me attractive. I was looking through my past year of journal entries today, and found this one:
"Apr.03/04 - 4:08pm
I have determined that girls don't like me. This is not an absolute rule, but more of a general guideline (although even as a guideline, it's pretty accurate). And when I say "like" I mean "are attracted to." At parties and various other social functions I always see girls flirting with my friends, but never me. Y'know what though? I'm ok with it. I think. It sure would be nice for the ego to have girls fawning over me, but that can also be dangerous too."
That being said, I went to help out for a couple hours in the village primary school on Tuesday morning, and when the (middle-aged) teacher introduced me, she explained to the children that their regular Tuesday morning volunteer was somewhere else, and that I'd be taking over, and that it was all right because I was much more 'handsome' than the normal helper. It got me thinking back to all the middle-aged women at my mom's various jobs over the years who commented on how 'handsome' I was. So I'm thinking, really, that ought to be my target market! Forget these 20-somethings who don't even glance at me, I need to hit up and hit on the older ladies!
...or not.
In other news, I'm going to see Brian McLaren speak in London this Friday! Brian McLaren is one of my heroes, due to his tremendous writing. Most of his books have to do with reshaping theology and Christian practice in light of the current cultural shift from modernity to postmodernity. He's speaking on Thursday as well, but unfortunately I'm trapped in the village with work on that day :( Oh well, at least I'll get one chance! I went to his church near Baltimore earlier this year, in August, hoping to see him speak, but unfortunately although he was scheduled he had been busy and someone else took over. Oh well, I'm really excited for this time and hope (pray) that everything goes ok. It's going to be tight because the conference ends at 4pm, and I gotta be back in Hartfield to run Roots (the youth group) at 7:30. It only takes an hour and half in theory, but that's assuming that trains and buses are on time, which they never are. So we shall see.
Lastly, I finally caved in and bought a cell phone (or as they call it over here, a mobile). I have it with me almost all the time (it doubles as my watch, organizer and gameboy), and I can receive calls for free, even from overseas. That being said, it would probably cost you more to call me, but with phone cards these days, it's pretty cheap for anything. If you want the number, e-mail me and I'll send it back in a reply.
Ok, that's it for now folks. My mom flies over for a couple weeks before Christmas next (not this) Friday. Then after Christmas I'm off to Rome with Mark for 10 days. Hope life is treating you all well. Good luck with those exams for all you unfortunate saps not lucky enough to be across an ocean ;) God bless
"Apr.03/04 - 4:08pm
I have determined that girls don't like me. This is not an absolute rule, but more of a general guideline (although even as a guideline, it's pretty accurate). And when I say "like" I mean "are attracted to." At parties and various other social functions I always see girls flirting with my friends, but never me. Y'know what though? I'm ok with it. I think. It sure would be nice for the ego to have girls fawning over me, but that can also be dangerous too."
That being said, I went to help out for a couple hours in the village primary school on Tuesday morning, and when the (middle-aged) teacher introduced me, she explained to the children that their regular Tuesday morning volunteer was somewhere else, and that I'd be taking over, and that it was all right because I was much more 'handsome' than the normal helper. It got me thinking back to all the middle-aged women at my mom's various jobs over the years who commented on how 'handsome' I was. So I'm thinking, really, that ought to be my target market! Forget these 20-somethings who don't even glance at me, I need to hit up and hit on the older ladies!
...or not.
In other news, I'm going to see Brian McLaren speak in London this Friday! Brian McLaren is one of my heroes, due to his tremendous writing. Most of his books have to do with reshaping theology and Christian practice in light of the current cultural shift from modernity to postmodernity. He's speaking on Thursday as well, but unfortunately I'm trapped in the village with work on that day :( Oh well, at least I'll get one chance! I went to his church near Baltimore earlier this year, in August, hoping to see him speak, but unfortunately although he was scheduled he had been busy and someone else took over. Oh well, I'm really excited for this time and hope (pray) that everything goes ok. It's going to be tight because the conference ends at 4pm, and I gotta be back in Hartfield to run Roots (the youth group) at 7:30. It only takes an hour and half in theory, but that's assuming that trains and buses are on time, which they never are. So we shall see.
Lastly, I finally caved in and bought a cell phone (or as they call it over here, a mobile). I have it with me almost all the time (it doubles as my watch, organizer and gameboy), and I can receive calls for free, even from overseas. That being said, it would probably cost you more to call me, but with phone cards these days, it's pretty cheap for anything. If you want the number, e-mail me and I'll send it back in a reply.
Ok, that's it for now folks. My mom flies over for a couple weeks before Christmas next (not this) Friday. Then after Christmas I'm off to Rome with Mark for 10 days. Hope life is treating you all well. Good luck with those exams for all you unfortunate saps not lucky enough to be across an ocean ;) God bless
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Thursday Nov. 25/04
Oh my, it's been an exhausting week. And it doesn't look like things are going to let up until early next week. In case you missed it, my entire SPAIN trip has been uploaded here.
That's all I have the energy for now folks, more earlier next week.
That's all I have the energy for now folks, more earlier next week.
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Sunday Nov. 14/04
Allow me to expound the brilliance of the cinematic trilogy...it is quite simply this: time.
There is time to fully develop the characters, time that is not avaible in a standard 2 hour (or even 3 hour) film.
There is time to fully develop and explore the diagetic world - this especially holds true for the genres of science fiction and fantasy, in which the world(s) often differ from our known one.
There is a superior story arch which encapsulates the three individual story arches - the beginning, middle and end of an overall beginning, middle and end.
Speaking of which, there IS a definite ending, concluding with the finale of the third part. This separates the trilogy from its close cousin - the series film - avoiding their possible pitfalls of repetition, boredom and obsolescence.
Needless to say, I'm suffering a bit of withdrawal from my film education, and am on a bit of a trilogy kick lately ;)I'm starting with the latter-day ultimate trilogy, The Lord of The Rings (which is in fact one trilogy, all though it is the length of two!) and then plan to move on to the original Star Wars trilogy (TRULY original, pre-special edition crap). After that, I am undecided...possible contenders include Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, The Godfather and the Matrix (although that last one is really more like a single movie with two sequels :P) I'm tempted to include Harry Potter as well since there have been 3 released so far, but it is actually a series, and NOT a planned trilogy, and so the feeling is a little bit different...maybe I'll save it for the end then.
Well, if anyone else has any other recommended trilogies, I'll be glad to add them to the roster...sorry about the pictures from Spain taking so long to upload, but that's how it happens when you only have dial-up. Believe me, it's worth the wait!
Until then...
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Thursday Nov. 11/04
Shout outs today go to BURNIE for being the first Canadian who didn't give birth to me to send me mail! I'm not quite sure what the deal was with the fish on the front of the card, but inside was a 2 1/2 page letter! And on top of that, she even sent me money to pay me back for a concert that we went to at the beginning of May. MAY! I didn't even remember that she owed me money, and would have been happy to let it slide, but not good ol' Burns! And on top of THAT, she sent the money in British Pounds! Most people would have just sent Canadian dollars, if anything at all, but not this ISTJ! She went out of her way to get currency that I could actually USE! Now THAT'S friendship! To be honest, I don't even really care about the money...the fact that she just put the thought and effort into mailing me anything is what I most appreciate...she will DEFINITELY be getting a cheapo Hartfield postcard in reward for her efforts! If any of you would like a cheapo postcard from Hartfield, then e-mail me your address and I'll send you one. Better yet, mail me something with your return address on it, then I'll send something back. I don't want to put my address on the Web, but if you e-mail me and ask me for it, I'll tell ya...I'm always glad to get mail, of either the "e" or "snail" variety.
Now, as for this elusive big update that I keep promising....the problem is that it's, well, big!...as in, many megabytes. Queen's only gives me about 20MB to host my site and I've more or less filled it up with the text and pictures so far. I'm looking into getting more webspace from somewhere else, but I don't want my site covered in ads. But in order to whet your appetite, and for those who don't already know, the big update consists of Sarah, Cassie, myself and a couple wild apes, in a European nation which the locals refer to as España
Stay tuned....
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Friday Nov. 05/04
Had an awesome walk on the way to Roots tonight...the stars were out and the temperature was perfect - cool, but not cold. Listened to my all-time favourite album, Wooden by Drew & Duncan, and during that half hour it was just me and God...awesome. Only 3 girls showed up to Roots tonight, because Nov. 5 is fireworks day in England (apparently one year on Nov. 5 some English chap tried to blow up parliament with gunpowder, so now they celebrate that fact by having fireworks every Nov. 5...??) It was good tho...since it was small we just got to hang out and chat and laugh. It was a really good time. On the walk home I got to watch the fireworks too ;)
Just thought I'd share that...be on the look out for the big update still...I plan on going for a bike ride tomorrow, but if it's rainy I'll stay inside and work on the site...so until then!
Just thought I'd share that...be on the look out for the big update still...I plan on going for a bike ride tomorrow, but if it's rainy I'll stay inside and work on the site...so until then!
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Thursday Oct. 21/04
This update is gonna be a bunch of random thoughts strung together. Been busy this week...was in London on Tuesday and then Tunbridge Wells again on Wednesday. Tuesday night I went to a church housegroup with Caroline (the daughter of the folks that I'm staying with) and then Wednesday I met with Anthony, a youth worker in Tunbridge Wells that I met through the course in Cambridge. We had lunch at this pub which was actually converted from an old opera house. Pics are to the right. Paul was in Oxford today which left me to run the whole service for the school. My part went just fine, but the head teacher (principal) kept yelling at all the kids to be still and keep quiet. No wonder no one wants to go to church any more, especially if they were forced to go to church as children and then yelled at for not being still and quiet and boring. I can't help but feel like the message gets lost, or at least pushed to the backburner, when half the service involves telling the children how rotten they are...and on that sad note, here's another good parody to cheer you up.
PS: Enoch had a particular fixation with the 3 wheel car I posted about earlier, so I promised her I'd take more pictures so that she could get a better idea of it. Again, pictures are to the right, but nothing quite beats the 3D experience!
PS: Enoch had a particular fixation with the 3 wheel car I posted about earlier, so I promised her I'd take more pictures so that she could get a better idea of it. Again, pictures are to the right, but nothing quite beats the 3D experience!
Opera house / pub:
3 Wheel Car:
Sunday, October 17, 2004
Monday Oct. 18/04
Hmmmm....Monday's and Wednesday's are apparently becoming my regular update days...interesting. Anyhoo, I felt very English today...I spent the afternoon out in the garden enjoying the sun, listening to BBC Radio 4, and sewing my hat - sure it doesn't look very good, but at least I did it myself...I'm quite independent! It's been falling apart for a while now, and was in need of a good stitching. At the same time, Radio 4 had some great programs on, including one entitled "Microsoft, PowerPoint and the Decline of Civilization," as well as a radio drama about poetry "slams" in Bristol -- poets who enter contests and perform their poetry publicly...à la 8 Mile only cooler and more European. If you have realplayer installed, the direct links are here and here. The links are only good for this week tho, afterwards you'll have to search the BBC Radio 4 Website. Anyway, it made for a lovely and relaxing afternoon. Here are some shots of the garden (albeit through the window, so they're a bit flared): 01 - 02 - 03 - 04
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Wednesday Oct. 13/04
Caught the final train into London from East Grinstead last night (the 22:37) then took the tube to Bayswater (well actually, Notting Hill Gate, since Bayswater was closed for construction) Walked around for a bit and eventually found the Astor Hyde Park youth hostel. Checked into an 8 bed dorm (for £15) and then waited until these chicks showed up! They had just gotten back from a pub, but claimed they still had energy (despite having been up for 36 hours straight!) so we went out again! The closest place that was open late on a Tuesday night was this random Egyptian restaurant on Queensway, so that's where we went! We hung out for about an hour, and then decided it was time to get some sleep, so we headed back to the hostel and said goodnight. We got up the next day around 10am, checked out of the hostel, and decided to hit London. Before hopping on the underground however, we decided to go to a local cafe and get some breakfast. We ordered take-away (aka 'takeout') and mine was given to me in this very European-looking bag, which I tried to incorporate into every photo thereafterwards (as seen above and to your right). We got an all day pass for the underground and saw Buckingham Palace, Big Ben/The Parliament Buildings/Westminster Abbey, the London Eye and Picadilly circus. We tried to hook up with Leslie, but we weren't very well organized, and in the end it fell through. Oh well, there's always next time, and nevertheless it was a fun day. It was hard to say goodbye, but we had to since Sar and Cass were flying to Paris later this evening. They'll be back through London in December thought, so hopefully I'll see them again! That's about it, enjoy the pictures.
- From right to left: Me (and my bag), Sarah, Russel (the "Big Gay Texan" whom we met at the hostel) and Cassie in front of the Victoria statue across from Buckingham Place
- The statue
- The Palace
- More Palace
- The Full Palace
- Cassie, trying to be like Batman and scale the Palace gates!
- Me, admiring the anatomical correctness of a lion statue near the palace
- A pillar from the Canada Gate, near the Palace
- Beautiful gardens near the palace
- Gardens, cont'd
- Sarah and Russel in a brush with the law!
- Big Ben
- Bigger Ben
- Big Ben & Friends
- Just the Friends
- View from across the Thames
- The London Eye (which is, in fact, a ferris wheel NOT an eye...)
- Sar, Cass and Russ on a bench near the Eye (what's so funny Cassie?)
- Me and the gals (and the bag, again)
- Picadilly Circus (which is also misnamed, as it's really just a bunch of giant ads for American and Japanese products...with no circus-like qualities to be found)
Sunday, October 10, 2004
Monday Oct. 11/04
Some excerpts of a sermon I recently read which was orginally given by Archbishop Desmond Tutu:
The Jesus I worship is not likely to collaborate with those who vilify and persecute an already oppressed minority. I myself could not have opposed the injustice of penalizing people for something about which they could do nothing - their race - and then have kept quiet as women were being penalized for something they could do nothing about - their gender, and hence my support inter alia, for the ordination of women into the priesthood and episcopate.
And equally, I could not myself keep quiet whilst people were being penalized for something about which they could do nothing, their sexuality. For it is so improbable that any sane, normal person would deliberately choose a lifestyle exposing him or her to so much vilification, opprobrium and physical abuse, even death. To discriminate against our sisters and brothers who are lesbian and gay on grounds of their sexual orientation for me is as totally unacceptable and unjust as Apartheid ever was.
...
God will not heed your worship, your beseeching, for your hands are full of blood, the blood of your sisters and brothers killed in wars that were avoidable. Demonstrate your repentance by how you treat the most vulnerable: the orphan, the widow, the alien. When you are king over this people, and this God gives you God's righteousness, it is so that prosperity will prevail, will prevail because as king, you judge rightly, you judge rightly especially the poor with equity, you give justice to the poor, you deliver the needy when they cry and the poor man who has no helper. You will pity the helpless and needy and save the lives of the poor. How many of our governments would pass this stringent test: "how did you deal with the poor?"
The Jesus I worship is not likely to collaborate with those who vilify and persecute an already oppressed minority. I myself could not have opposed the injustice of penalizing people for something about which they could do nothing - their race - and then have kept quiet as women were being penalized for something they could do nothing about - their gender, and hence my support inter alia, for the ordination of women into the priesthood and episcopate.
And equally, I could not myself keep quiet whilst people were being penalized for something about which they could do nothing, their sexuality. For it is so improbable that any sane, normal person would deliberately choose a lifestyle exposing him or her to so much vilification, opprobrium and physical abuse, even death. To discriminate against our sisters and brothers who are lesbian and gay on grounds of their sexual orientation for me is as totally unacceptable and unjust as Apartheid ever was.
...
God will not heed your worship, your beseeching, for your hands are full of blood, the blood of your sisters and brothers killed in wars that were avoidable. Demonstrate your repentance by how you treat the most vulnerable: the orphan, the widow, the alien. When you are king over this people, and this God gives you God's righteousness, it is so that prosperity will prevail, will prevail because as king, you judge rightly, you judge rightly especially the poor with equity, you give justice to the poor, you deliver the needy when they cry and the poor man who has no helper. You will pity the helpless and needy and save the lives of the poor. How many of our governments would pass this stringent test: "how did you deal with the poor?"
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Wednesday Oct. 06/04
Ran into a fellow Canadian in Brighton today by the name of Hayden. I had to pay 6 quid to hang out with him, but then he played a few songs for me. In fact, they were:
1. Dynamite Walls
2. Back from Texas
3. Home by Saturday
4. All in One Move
5. My Wife*
6. Killbear
7. Woody
8. Bass Song
9. Wide Eyes
10. The Hazards of Sitting Beneath Palm Trees
11. Between Us to Hold
12. Holster
13. Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay
14. Carried Away
- Encore Break -
15. Stem
16. I Should Have Been Watching You*
17. We Don't Mind*
I got crappy little videos with my digital camera of the songs with asterisks(*) beside them, but they're too big to put on the site here...I'll try and find some other space to post them from however
I met one other Canadian (from out west) and an American (from Illinois). Everyone else seemed to be British. Except for the opener, who was Australian. His name is Toby Burke and he was pretty good too. I picked up one of his discs, "Winsome Lonesome" - If you're a Hayden fan then I'd encourage to try and find some of Toby's stuff. After the show, I was walking along the seafront road when a 27 year-old French man named Vincent saw my Nalgene hanging from my backpack and asked if he and his girlfriend could have a drink. I told him that it was only water, but that he was welcome to it. He gave some to his Spanish girlfriend, Patricia and thanked me. We walked along together for a little while longer and then they invited me out for a drink, so we went to some swanky bar on the waterfront with a huge line-up, but Patricia knew the guy working the door, so we got in right away. Inside were very fashionable people, listening to trendy, underground dance music....oh, and then there was me. Vincent and Patricia were very nice however, and we had a great long discussion about religion and politics and the world. I had quite the international evening!
I should mention that I was sitting in the front row right up against the stage, and probably could have reached out and grabbed his shoe at any time during the performance. These pictures are not zoomed in one bit! Also, I know that some of them are a bit blurry, but I kinda like the artsy feel it gives them...
- Hayden Live at the Hanbury Ballroom, Brighton England, Oct. 6/04
- Hayden 02
- Hayden 03
- Hayden 04
- Hayden 05
- Hayden 06
- Hayden 07
- Hayden 08
- My Brand New, Autographed Poster
Friday, October 01, 2004
Saturday Oct. 02/04
I was waiting for a cross-town train in the London underground, when it struck me that I've been waiting since birth to find a love that would look and sound like a movie....well maybe not, but I was waiting for a cross-town train the London Underground today!
A Chronological Timetable of my Adventure To and From Cambridge:07:01 (GMT) - My alarm goes off
07:17 - Paul picks me up and drives me to Cowden Station (label 1. on the map)
07:29 - My train leaves Cowden
07:54 - I switch trains at Oxted Station (label 2. on the map)
08:32 - I arrive at London Victoria (label 3.), and switch to the London Underground, taking the Victoria Line to King's Cross (label 4.)
09:15 - I get off the underground at King's Cross and switch to my train to Cambridge (label 5.)
10:05 - I arrive at Cambridge station and find that all the taxi's are taken. I consult my map as well as the posted one and decide to walk, as I'm told the station is only about a 15 minute walk from the building that my course is in
11:02 - After getting lost and asking for directions TWICE, I manage to find the course and walk in, an hour late. The course is great however, and I meet another youth worker named Anthony (pronounced an-to-nee since he's english) who's in his 40's and from Tunbridge Wells. We exchange ideas and contact info, and he offers to give me a ride next time
16:03 - The course ends and I decide that rather than get lost again, I will take the bus shuttle to the train station in order to catch my 16:45 train
16:35 - I arrive at the bus station and find that the shuttle is packed to the brim and cannot take any more passengers. Me and another girl are told we have to wait for the next shuttle. This means I miss the 16:45. I think to myself that I probably shouldn't have spent so much time looking around HMV...
17:32 - I take the shuttle to the Cambridge station and hop on a train back to King's Cross
18:37 - This train is not an express, unlike the one to Cambridge, and it makes several stops on the way back. I arrive at King's Cross and take the tube back to Vicoria
19:23 - I am sitting on the train headed to East Grinstead, when suddenly I see a ton of security/medical personnel run past on the platform to my left. Over the next couple minutes, more people in uniforms run past, as well as a golf cart-turned-ambulance. An announcement is made to the whole Victoria station that an 'incident' has occured and that platforms 12-15 are closed until further notice. Additionally, I overhear a conversation between another passenger and an official who said that the driver of our train was a witness to whatever happened, so our train wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon. I'm told to take the next train to East Grinstead, the 19:53, from platform 18.
19:53 - Our train to East Grinstead leaves London Victoria
20:17 - An argument that occurs in our car (albeit the other half, so I didn't see any of it) escalates and becomes physical, so someone pulls the emergency stop cord which causes the train to come to a screeching halt in the middle of nowhere. The conductor and various security personnel proceed back and forth through our car to sort it all out
20:54 - The train starts moving again, however it is still a long way to Oxted, and the last connecting train to Cowden leaves at 21:04. We do not make it in time, so I decide to stay on until East Grinstead (label 6.) Even though this is technically illegal since my ticket says "Cowden," I figure that given the extreme circumstances, I could persuade anyone who hassles me about it
21:43 - My train arrives at East Grinstead station, and I call Hananja to come pick me up
22:32 - I return to Hartfield.
Did I mention that I was supposed to be back for Harvest Supper at 7:30pm (19:30)? Harvest Supper is this big community event that's organized by the church and happens in the village hall every year around this time. After I missed the shuttle to Cambridge station however, I pretty much wrote it off. It was all right anyhow, after doing a lot of walking around Cambridge and taking in information from my course, I was tired and not exactly looking forward to an evening full of more people. And while the train story may sound like an ordeal, it was an adventure, and I had some great fun with the people who were stuck in the same car. I wouldn't change a thing if I had to do it all over again to be honest. Also as a footnote, let me just say that Cambridge is beautiful...too beautiful for my small camera to contain. That being said, it's not exactly like I had a lot of time to take pictures...maybe next time I go (in a month or two) I'll see if I can spend an extra day and grab some shots for you folks. I will only be able to provide you with a glimpse of how wonderful it is, unfortunately. In other news, I'm moving on Monday and hopefully staying there for a longer stretch of time (a month or two). That means I should have a more permanent phone number for people who are interested in hearing my voice (rather than just reading this drivel). Speaking of drivel, I'll end it here.
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Friday Oct. 01/04
Random update:
Roots is on tonight...7:30pm - 9:00pm (so about 2:30 - 4:00 for you folks at home) at the church/rectory. I'm gonna try and get them to think/talk about the whole idea of 'faith.' I'm introducing the subject with a clip from the movie Contact. I'm using the scene where Jodie Foster and Matthew McConahdufdjkrehwhatever are at the party in Washington and they go out on to the balcony and talk about their belief in God and Occam's Razor and all that good stuff (it's chapter 21 on the DVD for anyone who's keen...) The kids tend to be a bit quiet and shy when it comes to bible/christian stuff, but I'm hoping the use of Hollywood actors might draw them out a little bit. In a related note, here's a flyer I designed for the month of October today. I'm quite proud of it!
In a totally unrelated note, I found this on the Internet the other day and thought it was quite humourous! Just wanted to share the wealth.
Ugh, I still haven't planned anything for Sunday school yet, and tomorrow I'm off to Cambridge -- which will be exciting, but which also means that the day is a write off -- and then I'm going to the annual Harvest Supper in the village hall. I gotta go to bed early tonight too cuz my first of three trains to Cambridge leaves the station at 7:30 in the morning. Maybe I can get some work done on the train (it's 2 1/2 hours each way). Well that's it for now...I'm off to dinner and then Roots. Hope you're all doing well!
Roots is on tonight...7:30pm - 9:00pm (so about 2:30 - 4:00 for you folks at home) at the church/rectory. I'm gonna try and get them to think/talk about the whole idea of 'faith.' I'm introducing the subject with a clip from the movie Contact. I'm using the scene where Jodie Foster and Matthew McConahdufdjkrehwhatever are at the party in Washington and they go out on to the balcony and talk about their belief in God and Occam's Razor and all that good stuff (it's chapter 21 on the DVD for anyone who's keen...) The kids tend to be a bit quiet and shy when it comes to bible/christian stuff, but I'm hoping the use of Hollywood actors might draw them out a little bit. In a related note, here's a flyer I designed for the month of October today. I'm quite proud of it!
In a totally unrelated note, I found this on the Internet the other day and thought it was quite humourous! Just wanted to share the wealth.
Ugh, I still haven't planned anything for Sunday school yet, and tomorrow I'm off to Cambridge -- which will be exciting, but which also means that the day is a write off -- and then I'm going to the annual Harvest Supper in the village hall. I gotta go to bed early tonight too cuz my first of three trains to Cambridge leaves the station at 7:30 in the morning. Maybe I can get some work done on the train (it's 2 1/2 hours each way). Well that's it for now...I'm off to dinner and then Roots. Hope you're all doing well!
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Wednesday Sept. 29/04
Went into East Grinstead today and took some pictures (posted below). It was nice and historic, but not very big...I certainly don't have any strong desire to return any time soon. I went to my course yesterday in Eastbourne, but didn't have any time to snap pictures. I'll write more about that sometime later...maybe. Not much else to say...tomorrow is the Harvest service for the school, then Roots (the name of the youth group, which is based on the name of the magazine that the Church of England puts out with ideas for leading events for kids/youth) on Friday night. On Saturday I'm off to a different, one-shot course in Cambridge, then Sunday is the harvest service at the church, and Sunday club (Sunday school) for me to lead...it's mostly the same kids from Roots, with just a couple younger ones. Anyhow, I'll try and get some pics of Cambridge this weekend, assuming the weather is nice (which is a fairly lofty assumption, actually). Here's East Grinstead:
01 - 02 - 03 - 04 - 05 - 06 - 07 - 08
Here are some pictures of me that I took in my room, in case you miss my mug: 01 - 02 - 03
Lastly, you're damn right that this is a car with three wheels! Good ol' Peugeot...
01 - 02 - 03 - 04 - 05 - 06 - 07 - 08
Here are some pictures of me that I took in my room, in case you miss my mug: 01 - 02 - 03
Lastly, you're damn right that this is a car with three wheels! Good ol' Peugeot...
Saturday, September 25, 2004
Sunday Sept. 26/04
It never ends around here! Today it was off to the sea for a taste of Brighton! And this time I've included a picture of myself there, just in case you all thought I was hiding somewhere in Ontario and paying someone to tour England and take pictures for me. Mind you, you have to have been to Brighton to know that it's a genuine photo...and with the way that digital image editing has advanced, even that's no guarantee. But I digress. I said I only got a taste for Brighton because the reason we were there was the Trade Justice March in front of the Labour Party Conference Headquarters. The Labour Party Conference is an event which is similar to the Democrat & Republican National Conventions which recently occured in the US. The Labour Party is currently the ruling party of the UK, and while they're also supposedly the most left-wing of the 3 big UK parties, they fully supported and contributed to the US invasion of Iraq (well, at least some party members did, including their leader Tony Blair... apparently Iraq is a very divisive issue within the party). I'm told that the next federal election is in May, so the purpose of this event (as I understand it, at least) was to sort of rally the party members together, and get them all back on the same page. However, as interesting as UK politics are, that's not really why I was there. The march itself was in support of Trade Justice, which means trading fairly and sustainably with countries who are less affluent then we are in the Western world; and its an issue that I believe all the First World nations need to address. One analogy that was used by a lady I was with to explain the current system was this: imagine a deer and a giraffe competing for the leaves at the top of the tree branches. Who's going to win? The giraffe of course. In fact, the deer is not even going to get anything unless the giraffe helps it in some fashion. This is the current economic situation for many countries trying trade globally, and while the systems are certainly complex and there's no simple answer, it's not fair that we should prosper while others suffer for no reason other than the fact of where we all happened to be born. But enough ranting from me. The march was organized by Christian Aid, an awesome agency here in the UK. It was cleared with the police ahead of time, and well executed by all in charge. We had "ballots on the beach," whereby we all filled out a card, "voting" for trade justice, and then put them in big glass boxes which were spaced along the road we were marching on. We also had 2 minutes of silence to acknowledge those in other countries who feel that they have no voice, and then made lots of noise outside the Bright Conference Centre to get the attention of the politicians inside.
I went with a group of 3 old ladies from our church, and it was a blast! There were people of all ages, colours and sizes there. I never did hear a final count of how many people showed up, but I'm sure the Christian Aid site will tell you (I haven't checked cuz I have limited Internet access). After the march, we went to a local Quaker meeting hall for some fair trade food and drink, and then off to a non-denominational service at another church, then sadly, home. It was great tho! In all, we were only in Brighton for 6 or 7 hours, so I definitely need to go back and spend some time looking around (Hayden is playing there on the night of Thursday October 7th, so I might try and skip down there for that...) Anyway, enjoy the pictures to the right, and await my next update with fierce anticipation ;)
I went with a group of 3 old ladies from our church, and it was a blast! There were people of all ages, colours and sizes there. I never did hear a final count of how many people showed up, but I'm sure the Christian Aid site will tell you (I haven't checked cuz I have limited Internet access). After the march, we went to a local Quaker meeting hall for some fair trade food and drink, and then off to a non-denominational service at another church, then sadly, home. It was great tho! In all, we were only in Brighton for 6 or 7 hours, so I definitely need to go back and spend some time looking around (Hayden is playing there on the night of Thursday October 7th, so I might try and skip down there for that...) Anyway, enjoy the pictures to the right, and await my next update with fierce anticipation ;)
Here's pictures of me at the Brighton pier, as well as the old pier that collapsed, and a couple other random shots of the city, grafitti, and the sky:
Here's a ton of shots from the march. Someone got up onto some local scaffolding and hung the sign in picture 7. At first I thought it was a shame that they misspelled it, but then I realized that it was probably a play on words, as the simple act of switching those two letters includes "Liar" in his name. Pictures 11 & 12 are of the front of the march on its way back.
And these are pics of the police guarding/scowling at/supervising the demonstration. Everyone in bright green is a cop. Picture 3 is of all the police vans ready to haul us away, and pictures 5 & 6 show that apparently we were important enough to get helicopter supervision! Of course the march was peaceful and none of this was necessary (mind you, security for the Labour Party Conference would be strong whether or not we were there).
These are the dudes whose attention we wanted to get! Tony Blair was in the building, tho I don't think he was on the balcony...
Lastly, as a bonus for Matty, Sherry, Sar, HJ and anyone else who was at Phat Factory this summer, I got some pics of the public skate park in Brighton down on the beach, near where we were protesting! A girl came around asking for donations to keep it running because apparently the city gave money to build it, but refuses to run/maintain it. Big surprise! Anyways, it certainly isn't as good as our's was, but I still donated a pound because I believe in the principle of it. Skate on, youth of Brighton!
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Thursday Sept. 23/04
Went with the minister for lunch at the neighbouring Buddhists' house today, who then got me drunk before the children's service at 2pm. That's all I'm gonna say about that, write me for more details ;)
Anyway, here is the "Holy $#*! I can't believe I'm living in Europe!!" collection. Most of these shots are from Tunbridge Wells, but a few are from the surrounding area. The UK is beautiful, as particularly evidenced in picture 6...
(I'm also fairly positive that they guy in picture 5 ISN'T peeing, although I'm not 100% - I didn't really see him until after I took the picture)
01 - 02 - 03 - 04 - 05 - 06 - 07 - 08 - 09 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17
And here are a few shots of my new place:
This is a shot of the outside. And here you can see where it is in relation to my old place (once again using this map as a reference). This is what my room looked like before I moved in, and this is a shot of a garden in the backyard.
Anyway, here is the "Holy $#*! I can't believe I'm living in Europe!!" collection. Most of these shots are from Tunbridge Wells, but a few are from the surrounding area. The UK is beautiful, as particularly evidenced in picture 6...
(I'm also fairly positive that they guy in picture 5 ISN'T peeing, although I'm not 100% - I didn't really see him until after I took the picture)
01 - 02 - 03 - 04 - 05 - 06 - 07 - 08 - 09 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17
And here are a few shots of my new place:
This is a shot of the outside. And here you can see where it is in relation to my old place (once again using this map as a reference). This is what my room looked like before I moved in, and this is a shot of a garden in the backyard.
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