Q&A With The Director/Star Of The Best Movie Ever Made – The Room

Now, I’m genuinely excited about this. I just bought tickets to see Tommy Wiseau (Director) and Greg Sestero (Actor) introduce and do a brief Q&A before the showing of “The Room” in a few weeks at the Prince Charles Cinema. How to describe “The Room”… It’s so bad, literally, everything from the acting to the script, is so bad, that it emerges as one triumphant “YES. This is why humans were given eyes – To watch this film.”. I had the blessed fortune to have seen this movie with Viv, Murphy, Tim, and Ellyn last Christmas break, I think it was. When I discovered that this was going to be in London… I had to be there, no questions asked.

Greg Sestero and Tommy Wiseau in "The Room"

Check out the Prince Charles Cinema here – http://www.princecharlescinema.com/index.php

Here’s the website for The Room. After waching the trailer, only then will you begin to understand the never-ending game of Jenga going on inside of Tommy Wiseau’s head. – http://www.TheRoomMovie.com/

I’ll definitely have to head back to Prince Charles Cinema for some of the events hosted there in the very near future.

Parliament

On Monday, January 30th, the group visited Parliament at the Palace of Westminster, which is the meeting place for both houses of Parliament – The House of Lords and The House of Commons. The Palace of Westminster is a beautiful building located right across from Westminster Abbey, and is literally directly off of the Westminster tube stop on the Jubilee line. The architect of the Palace of Westminster was a man named Charles Barry, who designed the building in a Neo-Gothic style. The Gothic style was reminiscent of the buttresses in the Westminster Abbey. Due to the rules and regulations of Parliament, we were unable to take pictures inside the building. There were these two murals of the Battle of Trafalgar and the Battle of Waterloo, which were beyond impressive. The murals took seven years to complete, because the creator used a technique involving painting on wet plaster, which he could only do during two months of the year, for the conditions weren’t appropriate during the remaining ten months.

While we were in Parliament, our guide briefly touched upon the plot to blow up Parliament in 1605 – For we were in the Prince’s Chamber, where underneath the floor, 36 barrels of gunpowder were discovered. Thank goodness no one mentioned the James McTeigue film “V For Vendetta”… I went into the film determined not to like it because I expected it to be a great deal of Natalie Portman crying and another role Hugo Weaving maybe shouldn’t have done.. However, I begrudgingly enjoyed it. We saw the room where The House of Lords meets (decorated with gold, ornate jewels, and paintings) as well as where The House of Commons meets (much more modest). Overall, it was a fascinating tour, considering groups of our size aren’t normally allowed in while Parliament is still in session (scheduled to be in session at 2:30 PM later that same day).

Faces So Sad – I Can’t Take Them Seriously

Since I was only two or three stops away from Bond Street, I headed in that direction after seeing Parliament to check out what shopping what to be had there (simply a reconnaissance outing). Some great stores out there, and I’ll certainly have to go back, for a more in-depth… Look at how retail affects… My personal finances…

The (Seemingly) Never-Ending Weekend

After class on Friday, I went over to Bethnal Green to meet a friend my Uncle Joe had introduced me to via e-mail a few weeks ago. Annie is a student at the London College of Communication and was generous enough to show myself and two of my friends around Camden for a few hours on Friday afternoon. Camden was absolutely brilliant. Probably one of my favorite places I’ve been so far. The Camden market left me in awe and I can’t wait to go back next weekend and spend some serious time there. The music scene is still going strong in Camden, with bands at every corner handing out flyers for their next show. Definitely going to try to go to a show at the Electric Ballroom (right off of the Camden tube stop) for a show… I think Sleigh Bells is there very, very soon.

I had tickets to travel to Amsterdam with three other students on Friday evening (or so we thought), so we headed back to the flats to hang out until it was time to get on the tube to the train station. Upon returning, I thought I should double check the tickets, seeing as I did not book the tickets, I was still unsure of our travel arrangements. Looking at the tickets, I noticed we had to be at the station in an hour for our first train, instead of three hours like I was told from the other students I was traveling with. So we hurried to the first station to catch our first bus. It didn’t show. After waiting outside for an additional 15 minutes, we simply took the tube to Victoria Station where our next bus was supposed to depart from (probably what we should have done from the get-go…).

Our bus departed from Victoria at 7:00 PM. We found ourselves on a ferry over at 9:00 PM. We were scheduled to arrive in Amsterdam at 8:00 AM on Saturday morning. We got in at 6:00 AM. Unsure of where to go next, we left the station and started walking. By some miracle, we found the central downtown area after about an hour of walking (without any backtracking, mind you). So we’re in town at 7:00 AM. Nothing opens until 9:00 AM. We were homeless for a few hours on Saturday morning… Before the sun was even up… It was around 35 degrees Fahrenheit. We saw most of the city in an hour as walked around aimlessly. We happened upon a grocery store that opened up at 8:00 AM (we found it around 7:56 AM), which we warmed up in for a little bit before we went to a bagel  store, which was just next door, which opened at 8:30 AM.

After an extremely mediocre cup of coffee and a very brief nap with my head down on the table, we headed back out on the streets at approximately 9:00 AM. Now things were starting to open up, and people were out and about on the Saturday morning. It was bone-chilling outside when the wind picked up, and a majority of the restaurant were not open yet. We did some more walking, and were able to grab lunch and sit for a while. After lunch we headed to a movie theatre, on the suggestion from two of my companions who thought that’s where they could close their eyes for at least two hours in a somewhat comfortable chair. I had no problem with this, but I wanted to see a good movie. We went to go see Fincher’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. It was beautiful. I came out of the theatre only angry at myself for having put seeing the film off this long. Everyone was out and about after the movie ended – The streets were PACKED. We grabbed some dinner and took a cab back to Amstel Station (only about a ten minute drive) without much traffic. We got back on our bus at 7:00 PM and began the 7 hour drive back to France where we got back on a ferry and upon docking in the UK, we proceeded on to Victoria station. We got into Victoria, found a bus home, and rolled into the flats around 6:00 AM. I have never been as happy as I was earlier this morning to lay down in my bed and sleep.

Overall verdict: Amsterdam is a beautiful place. But for the amount of traveling we went through to spend less that 12 hours there? Not worth it. We learned the hard way, and from now on (for me at least) we’ll be flying, or spending more than 12 hours in a location and get a hotel room. Kind of bummed that I missed out on College on Friday night. He was playing at a local venue just down the block and it only cost about 6 or 7 pounds to get in. This weekend was a learning experience, and I am glad I was able to visit. Will I head back for an extended weekend? Maybe. Probably not.

What A Week…

I apologize for not getting a post up around mid-week, when I usually mean to, but this past week has been absolutely hectic. So where to start… Probably from the beginning. On Tuesday evening we went to go see the production Jersey Boys. I preferred Jersey Boys over War Horse, which we saw two weeks ago. I simply enjoyed the stage production and  effects in Jersey Boys more than I did War Horse (although they are two entirely different entities). We’ve got a short reprieve from our Tuesday evening plays/musicals next week, however, we’ve got Lion King booked for the 7th of February.

Wednesday was another full day of seeing the sights of city. We saw the Westminster Abbey as well as the War Rooms where Winston Churchill and his War Cabinet would meet during World War II. Westminster Abbey left me speechless. The sheer size of Westminster Abbey, and the structure of this massive, rising ceiling was just stunning. I was unable to take any photographs of the inside of Westminster Abbey due to the rules and regulations. But, I was able to snap a few memorable ones from right outside, and from the small cloisters as well.

The War Rooms/War Cabinet was also very fascinating as well. As we went through the exhibit, we walked the exact hallways Winston Churchill walked. It included not only a walkthrough of the War Cabinet and their responsibilities during World War II, but also a large room focusing on the entire life of Winston Churchill. It was an educational experience, to say the least. However, the feeling that  I was walking the halls (Westminster Abbey included), immersed in such a deep history, was extremely gratifying. After walking through the War Rooms, I walked around St. James park for a bit – Which is one of the larger parks I’ve seen in London.

January 22

Been a pretty low-key past couple of days. Finally made it to one of the most magical places in all of London… Jermyn Street. I would have spent all day there, but my budgetary limitations would surely have haunted me if I had remained there all day. I can assure you it won’t be the last time I visit though. On Friday night, we made our way to the Aquarium club, where apparently it doesn’t get bumpin’ until around 3:00 AM. Unfortunately, a few friends in the group were out of commission before we even left the flats, and we didn’t realize it until we look over and see one of them putting his/her phone in his/her mouth, turning to us, and flashing a big smile, cellular phone and all. We ended up at a pub just down the street and took the night bus home. The night bus has a terrible reputation of bloodshed. I’ve found that my experiences on the night bus has been fairly tame. However, I’ve heard the stories of tears, vomit, and exchanging of fists. I figure it’s only a matter of time.

We headed to Buckingham Palace on Saturday afternoon. As you’d imagine, very crowded, yet nonetheless fascinating to see up close and personal. We took some photos and I made notes of what I want to see when I go back.

Earlier this afternoon I headed to Clapham South were I joined my cousin (who stayed with us in LaGrange for a night or two or the Thanksgiving break) Claire, her husband Cam, Claire’s father Archie, and Archie’s friend Pat. Claire and Cam have a beautiful flat where they’ve lived for… No more than two years. The meal was wonderful and I’m very glad I was able to meet more family. I’ve yet to do so, but once I get Claire’s brother’s contact information, I’ll see if he’ll be interested in meeting up when I am in Amsterdam next weekend. Granted, I’ll only be there from 8:00 AM on Saturday morning until Saturday evening. I’ve also got the first half of my Scotland trip booked. I’ll be heading up to Inverness on the 20th of February, where I’ll spend two days, and then head back down to Edinburgh for another two days, and then head back to London.

London: Week 1

It’s almost difficult to believe I’ve already been in London a full seven days. It feels like we’ve been all over the city, when in reality, we’ve barely scratched the surface. We had beautiful weather on Monday for our four mile walk on the River Thames – Clear, blue skies, with temperatures in the low 40’s. I managed to get to the meeting point about 30 minutes early to walk around the area to get a feel for where we’d be walking, and managed to snap one of several photos to come of Tower Bridge (We met directly on Tower Bridge, facing West towards London Bridge).

Our walk took us along the South side of the Thames, from the London Tower to Saint Paul’s Cathedral, and over the Millennium Bridge (Seen in the beginning of the sixth Harry Potter installment), where we crossed to the North side of the Thames and proceeded. On the North side of the Thames, we passed the London Eye,  The Globe Theater, and eventually crossed over the Westminster Bridge (Some scenes in 28 Days Later), where we found ourselves at Parliament.

Tuesday was a bit more laid back in terms of group tours. I took the Bakerloo line from Kilburn all the way to it’s final stop at Elephant and Castle where I located the music venue, The Ministry of Sound, where some good acts will be later this weekend. Hopping back on Bakerloo, I took the underground back up to Queen’s Park, the last stop before I have to transfer to elevated trains, which my travel Oyster card does not cover. I wandered around (unintentionally) Queen’s Park for about 30-45 minutes before making my way back to Kilburn and the flats. The afternoon was an afternoon well-spent while exploring. Tuesday evening had us at the New London Theater to see the performance of War Horse, which was stunning.

On Wednesday, the 18th, the group took the underground/DLR to Greenwich, which was really fascinating. The “downtown” district there is nowhere near as tourist-oriented as, say, Piccadilly or Covent Gardens, but it was nonetheless enjoyable to walk around. I found a small record store in Greenwich where I was able to pick some excellent music and was clued in on where the hip record stores are located around the city. The one aspect of Greenwich that I found the most interesting was the Royal Observatory, the location of the Prime Meridian as well as the four original clocks developed by John Harrison used to tell time at sea. It’s located up on this massive hill that overlooks the rest of London, the Thames, and Greenwich. I’ll definitely try to get back to Greenwich when I’m able.

Tomorrow and Friday will be pretty standard. We start our Theater 100 course tomorrow, and will continue with our British Life & Culture class as well. It’s getting to be that time where I need to begin doing some research regarding my independent study, because I’ve been  pushing that back for the past few days. The sooner I get my first paper for that out of the way, the better. I hope to get another chance to write once the weekend is over.

LONDON: The First 48 Hours

So I’ve finally got some time to sit down and write. The past 48 hours have been a nonstop whirlwind of new information, and I haven’t felt too overwhelmed (yet) thanks in part to the director of the program as well as the other Ball State students who just want to… Figure everything out too. The Kilburn flats we’re living in are certainly not a room at the Four Seasons, nor are they shanty down on the Thames – They get the job done. Here’s the outside of our flat. We’re in Flat #4, which is the flat furthest back on the right. I’ll get some pictures of the inside up later.

The borough around the flat seems very friendly. According to one of the professors at Westminster College, the borough where our flats are located are in an area of both poverty and wealth. I can’t say I’ve seen where the better-0ff residents live yet, so I’ll have to take his word for now. We’re studying at Westminster College, just three or four tube stops away from the Kilburn flats. We can either get on a bus (10 minute ride), walk (15-20 minutes), or take the underground (20-25 minutes) to get to Westminster College. I’ll be sure to get some pictures of the building up as soon as I can. I normally don’t carry the camera around on a daily basis, but I probably should more often than not. I plan on becoming more familiar with the area this weekend and definitely exploring Piccadilly, Jermyn St., and Old Bond Street, so I’ll be sure to bring the camera along for those adventures.