Drapers and Projects

They had a Superbowl party for the Americans (and the higher-number-than-expected British students that cared) at the campus bar Drapers, and a free box of nachos and a drink came with the cover. I, of course, was cheering for the Packers because 1) I hate the Pittsburgh Penguins, another Pittsburgh sports franchise and 2) Ben Roethlisberger is an accused rapist, and I'm not okay with that. If only the Colts were in it! I would have been so happy... I only ended up staying for half of the game and the half time show because I still had reading to finish for the next day, but it was a lot of fun. Lots of people showed up and we had really good seats. The biggest bummer, however, was there were none of the Superbowl commercials because it was airing through a British network. I had to watch them all online the next day. Instead, we had to watch a British guy who obviously knew nothing about the sport interview the same two former NFL players every time the game was supposed to cut to commercial. It was torture.

My friend Joyce and I watching the game. We sat with a big group cheering for the Packers.

I went to Drapers again the next night because we had a lot of fun there. I went with my friend Emily, with whom I have 3 of my 4 classes. We had a lot of fun, but there were some creepers so we went back to her room to hang out away from them.

Ah! Creepers!

For my architecture class I had to write a paper about a building or structure, and as I put in a previous post, I wrote about the Albert Memorial. My friend Joyce decided to write about the Natural History Museum, and I wanted to tag along because it seemed like both a cool building and a fun place to go touristing. 

An view of one end of the entrance hall. The building was awesome and innovative for its time.

At the museum, they were having an exhibit entitled "Sexual Nature" about the reproductive habits of various animal species, and we went through it because who could pass that up? It was actually very interesting, and a lot of it was similar to stuff I'd learned in my HoScho biology class last year. Most of it wasn't awkward at all... except for the animal porn. It wasn't like animals doing their reproductive processes (those videos were fine), it was a video of this woman dressing up as different animals and describing/demonstrating their reproductive practices. It was the weirdest thing ever and we couldn't watch the videos without laughing. It was tempting, at the end, to purchase our own DVD copies of that magical program in the gift shop, but somehow we managed to resist.

They also played "mood music" throughout the exhibit. Bowchickawowwow.

For a different class, (Text, Art, and Performance in London) I had to make a portfolio analyzing four different "experiences" I'd undergone. One of these, which was required for class, was an audio tour that guided us around part of East London. I went with my friend Emily (see above) since we had the same class. The tour was called "The Missing Voice" and it told a story about a woman walking the streets of London and guided us along the path she walked. It was a bizarre experience, but also very interesting. There were sound effects like cars passing and people talking, which were sometimes hard to distinguish from the noises outside of the recording. Both Emily and I were worried would accidentally get hit by a car or something as we walked around with our headphones in, so it was good we went together. 

The walk began at Whitechapel Library and ended here, Liverpool St. Station. I changed the picture to faded coloring for my portfolio because it felt appropriate for the story told in the recording

Another experience I did for the class was going to an Art Gallery called the White Cube. I chose it because it was free and seemed easily accessible, but I was rather surprised when I walked into the huge gallery space and saw giant paintings of celebrities on the walls. I was expecting high art, and I found myself looking at Taylor Swift and Leo DiCaprio. The exhibit was titled "Most Wanted," and the artist was an American. The purpose, apparently, was to address the commercialization of celebrity as well as to bring low culture into the realm of high culture through formal portraiture.

Though for the most part, I just felt bemused.

In another architectural excursion, we had to meet in Trafalgar Square for a walking tour with the professor, and while we were waiting for him to show up, we were entertained by a large group of FC Barcelona fans cheering and chanting. There was apparently a big game between an English team and Barcelona that day, and they were all rather drunk and very entertaining to watch.

Barcelona fans playing a steel drum and yelling in Spanish.

Sorry if this post seemed kind of random. I'm basically going through my pictures and picking out what I've done in order. I have more that I can add soon, so look for another update in the near future!