THE WIRE

Ok, so I've recently become an avid fan of a UK film magazine called Empire.



The last couple times I've gone to London for meetings, I always end up picking up a copy at Euston train station waiting to head back to LP. For many reasons, it's great - interesting articles, funny commentary, excellent coverage of both mainstream and independent film, etc... but what really caught my attention was the article about HBO show, The Wire, in the issue above.

For those unfamiliar with The Wire, it is an excellent crime drama that completely undoes the regular crime show (think Law & Order, CSI, etc. but ten times better and covering one case spanning an entire season). This show is realer than any show I've ever seen in my life and for that, I love it. Even Barack Obama says it's his favorite show. How could you go wrong with that, right? I mean, it's not like he won any votes from moral America for expressing that opinion.

Well, the UK loves The Wire... and not because any television station has picked it up in syndication over here... in fact, I really have no idea how this country became fascinated with this very American based show, but the DVD seasons sell like gangbusters in this country. So much so, Empire devoted a 4-page article interviewing the creator, David Simon. Myself being a sociology/political science major, I love this show. Not because it makes me feel good (because it doesn't) but because it's a real insight into what we as Americans have let urban America become. It doesn't offer any solutions or opinion but rather it serves as a portrayal of the politics behind all major organizations - the police system, political figures, school system, and the systematic flow of money out of communities that really need it. We're talking about culturally engrained issues that would take generations, if we were to address the problems now, to affect positive change. This is saddening and also a reason I chose to move away from devoting my life to issues that would only serve to endlessly frustrate me. It's also fascinating, however... a country built on a cultural and ethnic melting pot that has time and time again proven its inability of addressing issues pertaining to equality. The people that need to be slapped in this world are those who believe every citizen in America has equal opportunity. They don't and it's not because they're systemically kept from receiving an education or entering the work force, but it's because socially and environmentally, there are individuals beginning life at a serious disadvatange and the American government time and time again chooses to ignore these issues. Anyone that seriously devotes time to studying American race relations ultimately has to reach this conclusion and David Simon & co. do a fantastic job of bringing this to light - not only because the writers of this show have devoted their lives to studying these issues through written and insitutional work, but because it makes a point of being truthful.

So, if you have some spare time and haven't already, please watch The Wire. It's affected me deeply, most notably Season 4 I just finished, and brought back to life thoughts about issues I used to both independently study in high school and also academically in college.

And, again, if for nothing else than acknowledging these issues, Barack, you have my vote...

- Chris

Coins

I feel like the States has a nice coin system... you have the penny (a nice bronze to help identify it), then the nickel (little thicker in your pocket), the dime (small, distinguishable), and the big quarter. Just at a glance, you can tell each apart easily.

Well... welcome to the land where coins make zero sense. There are 8 total. Now, I'm about to show you a picture, don't be alarmed...



From top left,
1p (= 1 pence), 2p, 5p, 10p
20p, 50p, 1pound, 2pound

All are different sizes, look, the 2p is larger than 1pound, the 5p smaller than the 2p, the 20p and 1pound about the same size and the 50p and 2pound about the same size!

So, imagine us, TONS of change in our pockets, trying to dig through every day to pay!

Why, England, why??

- Chris

More from the weekend...

Nic didn't post my favorite picture of the weekend so I wanted to throw it up here. We were walking back and the sun was setting (yep, the sun actually came out!). Here, they turn on these building lights and at least for me, it's a really cool experience; makes you realize you're actually in Europe (I mean, forget the accents, small refrigerators, and medicore food... it's all about the building lights, man!).

Not sure if you can really tell in the picture (I had Nic pose!) but you can at least see a street shot of all the cool buildings.



Also, here's another cool shot of the spider light:



Finally, here's me staring up at the spider... intrigued, somewhat frightened because I felt like it could drop on my head at any moment (I don't like spiders):



- Chris

A Beautiful Weekend of Exploration

This weekend, Chris and I decided to explore. We made a list of stuff we wanted to do:

1. Get Waffles 

2. Go shopping for stuff

3. Eat Sushi!

We headed to a place called Qwaff's Waffle House. Instead of getting waffles, I thought I'd try the crepes and they were delicious!!! I was so happy to finally find a great breakfast place. Chris' waffle was a little on the crispier side, but he was still satisfied. And the best part was that it was cheap!

I wasn't feeling so hot (Fresher's Flu someone called it) so we stayed in for awhile and read. I started reading Chuck Palahniuk's "Lullaby" and am almost finished - hoping to finish tonight. Chris started reading Palahniuk's "Rant" that he picked up at the bookstore earlier in the day. I think they are both about serial killers....hmm...does the author have a theme going here?

Around dinner time, we headed out in search of the one Japanese restaurant we Googled called Etsu. We wrote down directions which eventually took us down by the docks. And this is what we found:

The Liver Building (pronounced Lye-ver)

A historic church mixed with newer buildings, a common theme of Liverpool.
A cool looking statue...
And more cool looking buildings (the Liver Building is in the background with the birds on top)....

Finally, after asking a meter guy for directions, we were able to find the restaurant which was a lot closer to our flat than we actually thought. No matter, because it was worth the walk around. It was DELICIOUS!!!! We had edamame, miso soup, udon, sushi....I couldn't believe how much I missed all of it. I felt nourished again. Unfortunately, like most delicious food in this city, it was PRICEY! That's why we're going to make our own sushi etc. (Thanks to my Auntie Kim and Uncle Frank for sending us the AWESOME care package of much needed Asian food!). 

After dinner, we walked back a way we had never gone before and came across something totally random. A gigantic spider of light. 

It was hanging out between some office/apartment buildings. How random would it be to look out your window and see that?! Since the city is the 2008 European Capital of Culture, there are a lot of "artistic" random things around. It's been pretty fun. 

We didn't get a chance to go to the Albert Dock, but hopefully we'll go this coming weekend. There are a couple museums that we'd like to check out along with a ton of restaurants/pubs too.  So far, the docks are one of our favourite places since it reminds us a little of home and San Francisco.

Til next time!

Nic 

xoxoxoxo

My first week of school!

Hey Everyone!! 

Sorry it's taken us awhile to get another blog posted. Chris posted like crazy and I've just been worn out from all of my frustration with the phone/internet company. But, finally, we have internet at home, and I'm able to use it however long I want. It's glorious!

I am finishing up my first week of school and it's been going pretty good so far. I have a few "not as interesting" classes such as Entertainment Law, and Managing Finance....but I know they are important so I'm going to do my best. We've already been given a project (not due until 3 months from now), and we have to produce a show and it can't be as simple as putting on a band...so my group is going to brainstorm and hopefully come up with something super creative. We'll see.

This is outside the main gate of LIPA: 

 

Here are some more interesting pictures of the Paul McCartney Auditorium: 

\This is the stage where we have a few lectures and we also got to see the 2nd and 3rd year dancers perform here during Induction Week! They were damn good!

This is the balcony area...isn't it beautiful?!
This is the outside of the auditorium and the main area of the building:
Here is a close up just because it's cool:

Most of the people in my class are between the ages of 18-20...kind of strange since a few of them were born in 1990!! I mean, damn! That's a different decade! haha. Luckily, they are all surprised when I tell them I am 26. (Thanks for the good genes Mom!) I'm not the oldest though! There are a couple of guys who are both 29. Most of the people are from England, but there is also a person from Dublin, Scotland, Switzerland, 3 from Norway (it's the Norwegian invasion - seriously...there are a TON of them at LIPA), Germany, and then me. Yay for international students! :)

The walk to school is about a half an hour...a little over a mile one way...so my legs are getting strong let me tell you! I like being able to walk everywhere, although it has rained quite a lot already and it sucks to have completely drenched squeaking feet all day long. But, the walk is beautiful no matter how gloomy outside it is and I get to catch up on all sorts of music as well as listen to music from home. Here are a few unique-to-Liverpool things that I get to walk by everyday:

St. Luke's Church which was bombed out during WWII and is now preserved and is kind of like a park/meeting area.
This is the side of St. Luke's:

This is a cathedral right across from my school...it's an Anglican cathedral, but don't remember if it has a specific name...hopefully Chris and I will go inside this weekend and take more pictures!
Anyway, hope you enjoyed seeing more of Liverpool. We plan to head down to the docks this weekend which supposedly has a ton of restaurants, bars, museums, etc. So we'll have more pics to put up soon and probably a lot more information. 

Much love,

Nic

Last thing... British Humor = Awesome

OK OK, I'm in blog mania today, but I have one last post before I call it a day. Nic and I bought these hilarious postcards at our wonderful, free wi-fi place of internetdom called FACT. I doubt you would ever see these in the states... really because I think some parent of a 7 year old might scream out in horror, then some manager would remove them from the store, and the story would end up on a local news channel with the headline "Inappropriate content condoned by local store". Here's one plus for the Brits:










And lastly, my favorite (this one's for you, Crashley & Sarah):



Holy shit! Awesome (or "Brilliant" as they say here)

- Chris

Emergency Exit

So, most of you I'm assuming are familiar with having to sit in an emergency exit on an airplane (I personally like it for the leg room), but there's the responsibility of opening up the hatch in case of emergency, yada yada. Well, on our Virgin train back to Liverpool from London, I saw the craziest emergency exit procedure I've ever seen. I had to take some pictures and share. You tell me if I'm nuts for thinking this is crazy...





Ok, yes, you are reading correctly:
1) You need to break into the little compartment shown above to get the hammer
2) Take the hammer and bang the window in one spot until it breaks a little
3) Using your hammer (or hands), tear open the window and jump out (like the little exit running man you see - side note, does that not look like the DRI circle pit symbol to you? maybe it's just me)

Hmm.

You'd think maybe a piece of glass you could kick out... or a special door... something... anything... might be better than having to take a hammer and break open the glass.

Must be a European thing.

- Chris