The London Eyeball and other adventures

I never know how to start these blog entries.  Someday I'll come up with something creative.  As you can see my list of British words and phrases is becoming quite lengthy because now I've told many of the people at work that I have a blog where I write phrases I learn, so they try to use and teach me new ones.  It's funny and then at the end of the night when we are all (by 'all' i mean no more than 4 other people at once haha) changing it's like a little review session, they say "Ok so new words for today were...."  It's so cute.  

Anyway yesterday (sunday) was my day off and everybody else's as well!  So there were 10 (!) of us, some of my friends who live in Thoresby house with me and we all decided to go to the London Dungeons and the London Eye.  That's a giant giant ferris wheel for those of you who don't know.  You can see all of london from it!  First were the London Dungeons, which is basically a haunted house that tells all the stories and myths about the "scary" bits of London and it's all...you know, haunted house like.  But I don't know, I wasn't that fond of it.  I mean, it was fun to do with all those friends and everything so I'm glad I went, but it wasn't really my thing.  And when things are live (movies and tv are different, scarier) I'm very critical of the technical aspects and don't really get too scared.  The makeup was unimpressive...just huge clumps of cheap red makeup and sometimes some white.  Obviously they do their own and are not trained on how, which is disappointing, for the fact that it was the price of going to a west end show (about 20 pounds, but we got a deal by getting the London Eye ticket at the same time, so I don't really know).  And of course as soon as I walk into the room with the chairs I see the speakers on the backs and stuff so I know that when it goes dark there's really no one in the room speaking, it's a recording.  And the acting wasn't the greatest of all, although I won't say it was ALL completely terrible...I'd just say that their auditions probably aren't very picky and the scripts were kind of lame, at points I was rolling my eyes.  Hope you enjoyed that little review of the London Dungeons.  

The London Eye review is much more optimistic!!!  Even though I didn't get to see it at sunset like I tried, because we had so many people, everyone was getting tired of waiting so we finally just got on.  It was a GORGEOUS day though so I got some great pictures!  Don't worry, they are soon to be published here.  We went out for dinner at a place called Giraffe and I had great Chicken Schnitzel Kiev and mash and cleaned my plate!!!  (aren't you proud, mom?!  ...It's quite unusual for me)  I haven't really been out to sit down places much at all, so it was a nice change and not terribly expensive.  Then we got some Ice Cream, although at first I thought it was Gelato, based on flavor and look, but it turns out it's texture was more like ice cream.  I forgot how much I missed Stracciatella flavor though!  We came home completely exhausted from our 9 hour tourist day!  It was great fun though!

Today I did some random little errands, flying solo as usual at daytimes since everyone works.  I went back to Samuel French to get a script for my project.  I'm going to do a design for They're Playing Our Song (late 60s setting) and compare it to Hairspray.  What's really ironic is that when I checked it out on the broadway online database it said it first played at the Shaftesbury in London where I work!  And I also went to a bookstore near Tottenham Court Road called Waterstone's and got a little book called the Dublin Encounter, by Lonely Planet because I love my London one and because this weekend (drrrummmroollll)  I'm going to Dublin!!!!  I'm very excited to do some traveling but sad that it means I'll miss working three shows this week  (Friday and Saturday).  It's funny, I just want to work anytime I can.  I kind of wish that we could pick when a class time would work for us because it kind of defeats the purpose that I miss work to go to class, when work is what the class is based on.  Like I almost went to Dublin only on Saturday so that I could work Friday night!  But I'm going with Jamie and Matt, who wanted to leave Friday since they don't work then, so I agreed.  We have our flight and high rated hostel in the centre of the city already booked and I'm excited to see Ireland!  It will be great fun.  I won't have internet though, because I don't want to take my computer, but expect a long post (maybe several) when I return.  I'm also excited to go to Dublin because the show I am Asst. Set Designing at Penn State in the Fall, "A Man of No Importance," takes place in Dublin!  So I'm hoping I can maybe be of help in the research area.  :)  Lots and lots of photos!

And also today I went grocery shopping and felt like I bought a lot, but turns out not really once it's all in the fridge.  Work was great as usual.  Sarah is off now on holiday, but Ros, (short for Rosalind) another DSM is back from holiday in France now and so I met her tonight and she's great.  I am shadowing her on Stage Right this week, which is fun but weird because just as I just about had Stage Left cues and tasks memorized, I switch and learn a whole new plot.  The stage right is must less hectic though so there is actually some downtime and some time (and space) for dancing in the wings.  During the last number, "You Can't Stop the Beat," which of course everyone knows the choreography to, and I pretty much even know it by now, they do the first chorus (dancing in the wings) regular and then the second chorus they pick a theme out of a hat and have to dance the theme.  Today was "stiff joints" so we did the dance pretending like our joints were stiff.  It was hilarious.  The cast must think we're crazy when/if they can see us from onstage.  It was so beautiful outside today but inside the theatre, although I think the audience has air, it was sweltering hot, and my friend Terrell who played Seaweed all last week, had to come off stage during the finale because he was so hot and dehydrated.  Everyone was sweating, including me and I wasn't even doing as much labour as I was used to on Stage Left.  

I'm excited because Ros invited me to come see a show that one of their mates who used to work on Hairspray has a show that's going up and I think I'm gonna go see it for very cheap with them next week which will be fun and also Ros wants to take me shopping in Camden when she found out I don't have company during the day so that was nice of her especially on the first day I met her!  And she takes the tube home and so does one of the dressers, so now I have people to walk to Holborn (the tube stop I take) with, even though we split off there and take different trains.

Time for bed now, I need to start waking up a little earlier than 10:00!!!  I can't get used to this luxury of more than 4 hours a night or I will be dead meat when school starts again!  More later, maybe pictures soon!  

~Sam~