Looks like another blog entry for all of you with nothing better to do than keep up with my mundane life. Per usual, our art class visited another museum, this time the Tate Gallery. This was a most invigorating experience for me as I had the privilege to see works by some of my favorite artists such as Picasso, Dali, Braques, and Andy Warhol. However, we not only viewed brilliant works by the aforementioned artists, but also had the opportunity to learn about various movements in art such as Dadaism. Thus we discussed found object art, and talked about Duchamp’s famous urinal. Personally, I was just really pissed off that they called it art and became very flushed with anger.
For some strange reason, I seem to attract the sketchiest sort of folks no matter where I go. Just last week after exiting a pub, a group of us were ambushed by a professor at one of the local universities and two of his friends, one of which wanted to take us to a “late night bar.” I was skeptical of his legitimacy, and luckily we managed to wriggle out of his diabolical trap. So I was ecstatic about getting away from the hooligans whom I apparently draw towards me with some unknown power. A group of five of us (Amy, Diana, James, Will, and me, late to be joined by Heather), decided to get away from the overpopulation and pollution of the city and head into the lush green country to a town called Ambleside. That started the bus ride from hell. It started before we left the station. I am sitting in a seat thinking, please don’t let that profusely sweating, shaking uncontrollably guy come sit next to me. There are plenty of open seats. Well, sure enough he makes a b-line right for me. And his stench followed him; something like a rotten tuna sandwich soaked in gin and covered in a fine coating of cigarette ashes. To make matters worse, he kept running to the bathroom on the bus every ten minutes. I soon discovered that he was smoking cigarettes and drinking whiskey in the loo. The entire encounter was quite surreal. There was a wreck which caused our bus to sit stationary for over two hours, during which guy sitting next to me asks if the wreck was caused by “the cannabis.” Guy across the aisle then replies that he has driven drunk and high and that cannabis does not impair one’s driving capabilities. Guy next to me counters that George Michael crashed his car a few weeks ago because of “the cannabis,” states that he once smoked “the cannabis” over a long weekend, and defends drunk driving. Moe sits uncomfortably on the bus, staring out the window and listening to the entire Roots discography while wishing he were not on the bus.
Despite the bizarre lorry ride, it was well worth it. Ambleside was gorgeous. Our first morning there, we were barraged by rainbows for a few hours. This held our group up for a while, as we chased the rainbows getting numerous pictures. Unfortunately, none of us found a leprechaun, a pot of gold, or a bowl of Lucky Charms for that matter. First we tackled the Fairfield Horseshoe. Rolling valleys, vibrant greens, whipping winds, and 70 mile an hour winds greeted us at various stages of the journey, not to mention sheep and goats. And their respective waste products which were unavoidably stepped on. On the descent from the 2900 foot summit, where we experienced the 70 mph crosswinds, I ran into two more absurdities. The first I mistakenly identified as a pile of rocks, only to discover that it was a sheep carcass, mangled and with cracked ribs showing, only seconds before my boot would have made contact with the body. Then from below I heard shouting and looked down only to discover a man walking around with a large stick and supposedly yelling at a dog. However no dog was in sight. Oh no, here we go again, I thought. Eventually I did see the dog, herding sheep. It ran past and then got distracted by my presence. I pointed and the dog ran off-maybe I have a future in shepherding?
Hike number two was around the Langdale Pikes. This view was spectacular, and numerous Lord of the Rings references were made. During both hikes I kept thinking that it was no wonder William Wordsworth composed so many beautiful lines in the area where we went hiking. The landscape was breathtaking. Unfortunately, I was unable to actually compose any poetry in my moleskins while on the hikes due to the intense winds and excessive moisture.
Later on at the hostel, we noticed a large group of people walking around wearing red lanyards and name tags. While sitting in the lobby, one of the aforementioned group members sat down and struck up a conversation with us. Eventually we learned that he was with a group from Cambridge. Someone said, “oh, Moe’s sister is going to Cambridge and is here this weekend. Do you know anyone with the last name Long?” The said Cambridge student replied that he did, and that she was talkative. That’s my sis I thought. Sure enough, with help from James, Amy, Will, Diana and Heather my sister comes running up to me in the lobby of a hostel in Ambleside. Statistically the chances that we would be staying in the same hostel in England the same weekend are rather low. Luckily I will see her soon, as we are going to see Henry IV Part 1 next week, and then going punting sometime. For those of you who don’t know what is punting is I guess you’ll just have to wait for that blog entry…
The ride back was rather uneventful, aside from Nathaniel, the young boy next to me singing about having “the whole seat” to himself, except that now he has to share it. He also had the whole world, except for all the people, and he had the whole Barclay’s Bank, and the whole Victoria Station-our destination. Guess it is time for another week of adventures. Class this week, and then traveling on the weekend. Thank you for reading and following the blog…

Peace,
Moe

Hullo chaps! Now that I finally have my internet connection up and running, I thought I’d share my life in London so far. I am living in downtown London right by the British Museum. That means that I can go and see artifacts from Egypt, Greece, and various other places which Britain has at one time possessed. As part of our initiation to London, we had a bus tour of the city. Our tour guide, Suze, was not very politically correct, but quite entertaining. For instance, she commented that the “…[middle] easterners are bringing in all their nice cars, like Lamborghinis, Range Rovers, and that sort.” Disclaimer: Please note that Suze does not represent the UNC school system, Robertson Scholars Program, or my personal worldview. We also attended “King Henry IV Pt. II” at the Globe Theater. I had the privilege of seeing part one at the Globe in July on the way back from Sierra Leone. If you happen to be in London anytime soon, I highly recommend that you attend a performance of either of these plays. The actor portraying Falstaff was incredible. Who knows, he may even be in a blockbuster film in the near future. After all, Tommy Lee Jones was in the audience at the Globe Theater when we were there this week. Maybe he was scouting the actors in the performance, or possibly he just wanted to see me. Or he could have just been on vacation.
On Tuesday we started classes. The art course I am taking never meets in a classroom. Among the art pieces we viewed, one was on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. A plinth is basically a large stone pillar on which statues usually reside. According to Wikipedia, the plinth was originally supposed to hold a statue of William IV except there were apparently insufficient funds for the endeavor. Thus, after residing empty for a while, a decision was made to allow artists to put up their own works. Right now a ship in a bottle is on top created by Yinka Shonibare, the first black artist to have a piece displayed. The ship celebrates the naval Battle of Trafalgar (for which the square gets its name). Interestingly the part Nigerian artist also references slavery by using a traditional West African cloth for the sails. After a glance at the sails, I was immediately reminded of the sheets we used in Sierra Leone in various hotels. Luckily the accommodations here in England are much cleaner than those hotels. During this informative art class I was informed that the statue of George Washington here in Trafalgar Square is actually on soil imported from Virginia. Well, that has been the first few days so far. The weather has been rainy, cloudy and cold. In fact it may snow next week. I bet my wonderful sister is so thrilled about the chilly weather she has to look forward to for a whole year…now I know why the Brits frequent pubs so often.