Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Dear All & Sundry
How are you all? I am well. I am tired, my legs are sore and my feet ache, as beautiful and spectacular as London is, there is no denying its unfathomable size. But like I've said before, buzzing, a true hive of enlightenment. Its just trying to cover its vast size in a day results in a true workout.
I have decided my new favourite activity is walking out of King's Cross picking a direction to walk in and get absolutely, completely unbelievably lost. It is so very therapeutic and suddenly this great city unlocks its secrets to the hidden wanderer. You find alleyways littered with urban art that really tests boundaries and questions conformity, you find a small independant theatre that was built centuries ago standing proud showing some small show that gets little attention but is bulging with talent and promise, you lose yourself in the architecture of artists, drink coffee in masked sandwich bars. Pure magic.
My expedition to London this time around was not so much as a tourist but as a poor student looking for employment and money to live his days spending every pound on absorbing the immense culture around him. So I was handing CV's out. Afterall this is a "working" holiday. But I guess from my consistent point of view you'll have gathered that I am indeed in awe most of the time.
Leicester Square, presents a moment where I actually felt uncomfortable. In fact I spent my moments in this iconic square doing my best to disguise myself as a local Londoner passing through, hence no photos. Why? Well ... it was vulgar and aggressive. First of all photos would be hard to get considering the place is swarming absolutely brimming with tourists traipsing all over the streets with no idea of what they are doing or where they are going, which has opened the floodgates to street vendors selling everything from your grandmother's clothes to tickets for the latest West End production, problem is, it is over-priced and more than likely worth about a 16th of what you pay for and broken or not valid.
They poach on these poor lost souls and it becomes a simmering pot of corruptness rife with mischief and criminal behaviour. I didn't like it. Which is a shame because the gardens are quite pretty, I'm sure the absense of hundreds would be better, the theatres have great productions on and the cinemas are quite magnificent ... yes it seems hard to imagine a cinema can look much different. But they are so much more regal and majestic in this area of London.
On that note. I did indeed have my first West End experience and suitably so it was "We Will Rock You" a very fine production at the Dominion Theatre. This show seems to not age, and I'm more than willing to bet it will be here for a lot longer. The relevance doesn't wear off, the script is malleable enough to alter small parts but keep the whole message of the show intact, and that truly is that studio produced music, which quite frankly needs no talent nor garners any respect from the intellectual, is by far ... crap.
The idea that creative freedom is a necessity for the artist to thrive is such a simply BUT powerful one that it resonates through an audience of children to the elderly, the music is marvelous, I mean it is Queen, and the jokes still pull out the laughter and then milk it for all its worth. Seeing it professionally before and even performing the show myself does not change how great the experience is and how little bit by bit you fall ever so more truly, madly and deeply in love with Queen and their huge impact on the music industry, they were revolutionary. I say no more.
I bought a "Flash Gordon" shirt, you can see it courtesy of photos and for those of you that didn't know, Queen released a new studio album called "Cosmos Rocks" with singer Paul Rogers under the moniker of "Queen + Paul Rogers". It's actually respectable.
This week sees my return to my new great love (sorry ladies) London for a open recruitment day at the Royal Theatre on Drury Lane and meeting friends. One from Perth one from ... NationStates (for those in the know).
Stay Safe & God Speed!
Iskandar.
- comments