Another One Bites the Dust...

Yesterday was a sad, albeit eventful day: I said farewell to two of the lovely friends I’ve made here, AT and TvH.

The morning started early, as I was scheduled to join AT and EN in Soho for some coffee at 11 AM. Since I arrived a bit early though (big shock), I was able to wander around and snag a few photos of the gaybourhood. I’m trying to take a friend from back home’s advice and take photos of all the every day things that seem common now but which I’ll appreciate seeing again in later years. One thing I noticed while doing this is that the Diamond Jubilee decorations are really starting to crop up around London, which I think is awesome! It’s amazing being a part of history!

Diamond Jubilee decorations near Leicester Square

Diamond Jubilee and Pride decorations at Village

Eventually it was time to meet up with AT and EN for real, so I made my way back to the coffee shop. We spent almost two hours, just drinking, chatting about our time abroad, and laughing. It was great fun!

Me, AT, and EN at LJ's Coffee. (Whew, that's a lot of initials!)

Following coffee, we headed over to King’s Cross Station / St Pancras International (with a brief stop at Forbidden Planet to pick-up the second Game of Thrones book) so we could find Platform 9 3/4 of Harry Potter fame. I have to say, I found the interiors of these two stations positively lovely! (Plus I’m a nerd, so I loved seeing the Harry Potter stuff!) 

Off to Hogwarts...

EN and I at St Pancras Inernational

With some time to kill still, the three of us walked next door to the British Library, which is both the UK’s national library and one of the world’s largest in terms of total number of items. Among other things, the library holds one of the only remaining copies of the Magna Carter (which I saw) and, in the middle of the building, is a four-story glass tower containing the King’s Library—65,000 printed volumes along with other pamphlets, manuscripts and maps collected by King George III between 1763 and 1820.

Alas, around 2 PM, it was time to say goodbye to AT. We walked to the Russell Square tube stop and said our farewells. It may well be that one of these days, when EN and I are back in Chicago, we will simply have to take a road-trip to Colorado to visit our friend. (What the hell, it’s only a 16 hour drive!)

EN headed out with AT, so I had about an hour to kill before meeting up for my last hang-out session with TvH, so I took that time to wander around the British Museum for a bit. I wasn’t too fussed about spending so little time there for two reasons: (1) I spent an entire afternoon there with Nic back in 2008 and, (2) I find the fact that so many of their treasures were imported (read: plundered) from other lands highly problematic. Nonetheless, I cannot deny that I enjoy being around such significant items as the Rosetta Stone—plus the Great Court within the museum is one of the most stunning museum spaces I’ve ever seen!

A flawed panoramic shot I tried to take of the Queen Elizabeth II Great Court.

What the Rosetta Stone really reveals is that I'm HOT (in the sweaty sense)!

 Around 3 PM I started heading back toward Soho Square, where I joined TvH for a bit of much-enjoyed sun-tanning, and to say goodbye.

———
 

Technically speaking, this was the second time this week I’ve said goodbye. He was originally supposed to leave the day before, and we had gone out on both Saturday and Tuesday nights to celebrate, but an airline strike of some sort delayed his actual departure. 

You can read about Saturday night here. As for Tuesday night, we went to Village for a drink or two, followed by a private karaoke place called Lucky Voice (it was awesome—the five of us in attendance had a private room for a whole hour), and then to Lupo where we met a group of lovely women from Chicago and New York (and where I had to push-off an overly aggressive Italian who was harassing one of our new female friends. That's right, I'm a bad ass—a big, queer bad ass!).

———
 

Anyway, getting back to yesterday, I feel like it’s been ages since I saw and felt the sun properly, so I loved getting out there and just relaxing under its warming glow. Plus, I had wanted to spend some proper time chillin’ in Soho Square for a while now, but just hadn’t had the opportunity.

I look tan here...but where did it go once I left?

TvH and I spent a good two hours bakin’ (the hair on my arms bleached successfully, but I don’t feel like I’m all that darker). At one point, I even dozed off for about twenty minutes—it was wonderful! Eventually, TvH’s boyfriend joined us and we headed off for a quick nosh before I had to leave for my third engagement of the day. We grabbed our food, headed into Golden Square, and enjoyed one another’s company in the open air for a bit longer.

Finally, I couldn’t delay any longer, and had to say goodbye to TvH as well. This goodbye was a bit hard for me, as TvH was one of the first new friends I made here—we started talking the first week of class, and started hanging out during the second. I have him to thank (along with his boyfriend and all of the other amazing friends I’ve met through them) for the resurgence of my late-night partying ways. I’m so very grateful for all that he and the others have done to make this hermitish soul feel welcomed!

From there I hopped on a bus and began the trek to Hackney, where I was supposed to meet one of my UEL instructors—DS—for a celebratory drink. Though it took ages to get there by bus (the National Rail system frightens me for the ridiculous reason that I’m afraid I’ll wind up trapped somewhere for over an hour while waiting for the next train), the place we met at was quite nice. 

It was called Pub on the Park, and it was just that: a pub overlooking a park.

Pub on the Park--we sat outside, around the back. [NB: This image is not mine!]

We spent about two hours outside, just hanging out and talking about everything from the state of the education system, to our mutual penchant for getting lost, to Chicago taxi drivers and the inaccessibility of London’s southside by public transport. 

Of course, conversation was slightly hindered by my annual bout of laryngitis and the fact that for some reason I turn into a gibbering idiot when I try to talk to DS. I have no idea why this is. She’s bloody brilliant, but I don’t have the same problem around my other incredible mentors from back home—just her and SM, one of my other instructors here. I think it might be because they’re bloody brilliant AND British. The combination may simply be too much amazingness for my mind to process.

So, all in all, it was both an incredibly fun and busy day, but also a very sad one. I’ve said goodbye to two good friends and I don’t know when I’ll realistically see them again, and by sharing a pint with DS I’ve quasi-officially transgressed from present- to former-London-based student.

This experience really is drawing to a close… :-(

Casual Over-Drinks Topics...

There’s not too much to talk about at the moment, but I figured I should do a quick entry just to highlight a couple of things that I’ve done over the last week.

Tuesday night (20 March) I traveled to Leytonstone—birthplace of Sirs Alfred Hitchcock and Derek Jacobi—in order to meet-up with two UEL students, JA and GC, for drinks. The peers in question are both thesis-level Cultural Studies students who occasionally pop into my horrid ‘Culture, Power and Resistance in the Twenty-First Century’ class. One of them (JA) also happens to be the UEL student that came to Columbia last year. We met up at the Red Lion (which I think might be affiliated with the pub I went to with K&M on my second night here), and spent a lovely couple of hours catching up over beer and cider. We chatted about everything from white privilege and racism in Europe, to the failings of abstinence-only education in the U.S., to the attempted privitization of England’s healthcare system. You know, casual over-drinks topics…for Cultural Studies students at least.

Tuesday night wasn’t my only stab at being social this week. Last night (23 March) I happened to catch a Facebook update from another friend, AH, that he was stuck at Victoria Station, waiting for a train to take him back home (which is about an hour away). Now, I’ve ‘known’ AH online for around 13 years—we’ve been part of the same He-Man/She-Ra community since the mid- to late-1990s—but we’ve never actually met before. (Namely because of the ocean which separates us.) So, upon spotting this update, a hurried flurry of messages were exchanged, and plans were made to finally meet up in person while he waited for his rescheduled train. A short while later, and we were finally greeting one another face-to-face.

Me and AH at Victoria Station

Since AH had a couple of hours before his train was scheduled to depart, we nipped over to the Duke of York, a pub not far from the station. This was actually my first experience meeting another He-Fan/She-Raver in person—everyone’s so spread out in the States that it’s hard to do so—and I loved every second of it. It was so surreal: two grown, 30(ish) year-old men—in a dark, noisy bar surrounded by stumbling heterosexuals trying to dance to ‘Hot in Here’ (and the men suggestively removing their suitcoats)—talking about everything from the father/daughter relationship between Hordak and She-Ra, to what kinds of material the Four Horsemen will use to design Scorpia’s tail, to the role of the Filmation series in producing a generation of really swell, inclusivity-minded people. You know, casual over-drinks topics…for He-Fans/She-Ravers at least.

Beyond those two bits of excitement, there’s really not too much else to tell. This week’s kind of flown by (and, honestly, I wish it would slow down)! I’m housesitting for K&M at the moment, and keeping their delightful dog Bowmar company. I’m loving every second of the peace and quiet here. I hadn't realize how stressed out I’d become living in the other house until I came here, but I suddenly find myself very relaxed.

Of course, part of the stress I’m feeling might have more to do with midterms than the constant thumpa-thumpa at my flat. Basically, our entire grade comes down to two grades: our final (60%) and our midterm (40%). Oh, and they do not award 100% over here, the rationale being that if your work warrants 100% then you should already be a teacher. Realistically, the highest score most students earn is about 75%. So, basically, my midterms have to be spot-on if I want to try to maintain my 4.0!

Fortunately, midterm madness is almost over. One of them (‘Realism, Fantasy & Utopia’) was due last week, and the other two are due this week—followed by two glorious weeks of Easter Break (yes, it's called Easter Break here), during which time I hope to visit Scotland!!!! 

And then we go straight into working on our finals, because there's only like 5 weeks left of the actual semester following Easter Break.

Two final things I want to mention, but which don’t really fit anywhere else:

First, yesterday was a gorgeous day! Mind you, this is still London, so of course there was a curtain of smog blanketing the skyline—I have yet to see a day that is both sunny and clear—but I’ll take what I can get! It was simply too nice restrict myself to the indoors all day, so after class I ran to K&M’s house, spent some time with Bowmar, grabbed the laptop, and headed to a coffee shop in Soho. The place was called LJ’s CoffeeHouse, and my choice to go there was pretty random: I simply wanted somewhere that was open-air and had free wifi, and this is where Google directed me. After visiting their website, however, I also became smitten with LJ’s through the following ‘prayer’ posted on their site (and which I can totes relate to):

Caffeine is my shepherd; I shall not doze.
It maketh me to wake in green pastures:
It leadeth me beyond the sleeping masses.
It restoreth my buzz:
It leadeth me in the path of conciousness for its name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of addiction,
I will fear no equal.
For thou art with me, thy sweetness and thy crema they comfort me.
Thou preparest a carafe before me in the presence of my barista:
Thou anointest my day with pep; my mug runneth over.
Surely richness and taste shall follow me all the days of my life:
And I will dwell in the house of LJ's forever.

The service was only decent (though very friendly), but the coffee and the atmosphere as a whole were excellent. The gay Sohoians seemed to come alive, renewed by the sun’s warmth. People were so happy and pleasant, and it all jived perfectly with the mood I was in. (It was not, however, conducive to working—I spent 90% of my time there just chatting with Nic over the interwebs.)

Secondly—and containing spoilers (consider yourself warned)—I was saddened to learn on Thursday night that ‘Eastenders’ had killed off one of my favorite characters, George-Michael-obsessive Heather Trott (Cheryl Fergison). Alongside the Dot, Kim, and Shirley characters, Heather was one of my favorites. And the way in which she died—and the status of her relationships with best-friend Shirley and her murderer at the time—is just too sad. And sadly, it seems as if the U.K. soaps don’t bring back characters from the dead in the way the U.S. soaps do. Ah, well—I’ll miss you, Heather, but at least I can find some of your shenanigans on YouTube still: 

  

Until next time…

"Is it Drunk, Ye Are?"

[Yes, that title's a reference to Darby O'Gill and the Little People. It's still practically St Patricks' Day, so bite me if you disapprove of my obscure 'Irish' references.]

I have definitely been paying homage to my Irish roots this weekend, and I know my liver will be quite happy to return to a state of normality over the next few days. But, an awesome time was had throughout, and I was able to engage in some much-needed catching up with friends…

Friday (16 March) found me meeting up with my friend EN—the other student from Columbia who’s attending UEL—for a late dinner. And I mean late! Initially we had difficulty finding anyplace that was still serving dinner because it was after 10 PM. Finally, on the verge of absolute starvation, we stumbled into a place called Maxwell’s in Covent Garden...what we didn’t catch was the blub about it being the “best American restaurant in London.”

Seriously.

After we caught on—somewhere between seeing the large portrait of ‘Aunt Jemima’ that loomed over my shoulder, and the giant, golden Presidential Seal that was visible over EN’s shoulder—I was forced to ask her why it was that we kept winding up in American cafes? (You may remember from this post that the first time we toured around London together we also wound up in such a setting—quite by accident, I assure you!) We never did come up with an answer.

You can actually catch a glimpse of the 'Aunt Jemima' poster on their website! *SMDH*

At any rate, the food was both okay and reasonably priced. Sadly, the waiter sucked—he was so busy schmoozing with the table behind us about his time in Italy that it took almost 20 minutes (I was timing it) to get his attention so that we could request the check. In the end, we didn’t leave Maxwell’s until about 12:15 AM. That’s right: A.M. Suffice to say, I won’t be rushing back to dine there anytime soon.

Freed from Maxwell’s, we headed to Soho—turns out EN had never been to a gay club before, and I was determined to rectify this grave oversight in funness. (Yeah, I know that's not a real word.) Though EN and I had wristbands to get into G-A-Y Bar from earlier in the night, they were already closed, and so we headed to Village instead. We had enough time for exactly one drink, accompanied by a bartop performance of Aretha Franklin’s ‘Think’ (the 'Blues Brothers' version, one of my favorite songs) as rendered by a queen and some scantily clad men, before Village too shut down. Le sigh. A bit disgusted, we called it a night.

Whereas Friday wound up being an early night (relatively speaking), last night was anything but…but I’ll get to that in a moment.

First things first: my Saturday night started off with a trip to Leicester Square Theatre in order to catch the divine (and problematic) Joan Collins in her one-woman show ‘One Night with Joan.’

Two Sexy Bitches?

It was everything I expected it to be, and more! 

Basically, the gist is that you have an auditorium filled with middle-aged gay men who are hootin’ and hollerin’ as Collins sits back and tells them (us) about her sordid life—everything form her childhood, to first-husband Maxwell Reed’s attempt at selling her to “an Arab sheik for £10,000”, to Marilyn Monroe’s advice about the Casting Couch. In all, no big shocks there, and pretty much what you would expect from such a performance.

But it really was funny in that uber-campy way! Her stories about run-ins with the likes of Joan Crawford (her namesake) and Bette Davis were riotous, and she never once hesitated to make fun of her own acting abilities and/or the roles that she's accepted during her career! (And yes, she did make a dig at Linda Evans/Krystle, and joked about the shoulder pads being so large that the women had to enter rooms sideways.) There were so many names dropped during the show that I was tripping over them as I left. Also, putting her ‘bitch’ reputation on display for the audience, Ms. Collins started heckling a drunken guy in the audience during the second act for the way he laughed—that's right, she heckled an audience member. Fortunately he didn’t seem to mind. 

And how could I talk about the actress behind Alexis Morell-Carrington-Colby-Dexter-Rowan-Colby without addressing her ensemble? Ms. Collins spent the first act in a heavily sequined, black, off-the-shoulders number that was highly reminiscent of the Catwoman costumes from the Adam West era. (NB: This is different from the costume seen in the video and picture above.) And then, for the second act, she switched into a white-and-gold gown that could have come from the Dynasty costume department. Awesome!

As for the theatre itself, it was super-small! My ticket—though it was billed as being off to the side and near the back—was practically in the center and only twelve rows back, owing to the size of the place. I could see everything perfectly, including the little puff of smoke (vapor) coming from Ms. Collins’ cigarette. Also related to the performance space, I have to give major props to the Leicester Square Theatre staff for getting in on the fun: the announcer's voice at the beginning—the one that tells the younger people to silence their cell phones and the older people to unwrap their Wearther’s Candies—concluded with, “[If we catch you taking pictures] our staff has been trained to go the 'full Alexis' on you!” HA!

In the midst of my night with Joan I received a text from TvH asking me if I wanted to “drink like the Irish do?” For some reason, at the time this struck me as a challenge to my Irishness by my German friend, so I replied that I would meet him and his friends at Village following the show. Thus began my St Patricks’ Day shenanigans in earnest…

In total, the seven of us went from Village, to another place with overpriced drinks that we never caught the name of (and which  might have been a club for straights), back to Village, to G-A-Y Late (circa 1:00 AM), and, finally, Heaven (around 3:00 AM). By the time I left Heaven and made it to my bus, the sun was coming up.

Shockingly, I got up before noon and didn’t really feel any negative side-effects. Mind you, I also didn’t try to do anything mentally or physically challenging, opting instead to spend most of the day in bed, watching old episodes of ‘Come Dine with Me.’

Then, a little before 5 PM, I made my way back down to central London for the third time in as many days, this time to meet K&M at a pub called The George. The pub’s roots date back to (at least) the mid-16th-Century, and it has been connected to Shakespeare, Dickens, and even Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. Of course, I simply had to celebrate the history surrounding The George with a couple of Guinnesses (Guinni?)—it would have been rude of me not to. In all seriousness, though, it was great to finally have a chance to catch-up with K&M—they’re such wonderful people, and have been so kind to this lonely American abroad in so many ways.

The George [NB: This is not my photo!]

So, yeah: crazy-long weekend, but one filled with good times and great friends! 

8 Mile (Part II): The Afternoon

Following the ceremony, EN and I made our way down the Mall, passed the Horse Guards Parade, and on to Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster. (EN had yet to capture any photos of either of these places, hence the stop-over—rumor has it, I may have snagged another photo or two myself!)

Clark Kent says: "Boy, the way you blowin' up my phone won't make me leave no faster, put my cape on faster, leave my gays no faster!"

 From there, EN and I crossed the Westminster Bridge, and proceeded to head northeast along the Thames, passing such things as the Millennium Eye and the National Theatre. It was a fun little walk (albeit a touch cold). We shared a cup of roasted peanuts from a street-vendor (couldn't help it--they smelled so good!), and visited an open-air book market stationed under the Waterloo Bridge, before making our way back across the bridge and on to Covent Gardens.

Covent Gardens is a charming little neighborhood! One website described it as follows:

"Covent Garden, London is famous for its shops, street performers, bars, restaurants, theatres and the Royal Opera House. Covent Garden is an Italian-style piazza packed with restaurants, bars and fashionable boutiques. Surrounded by Theatreland, in the heart of London's West End, the area is recognised as the capital's premier entertainment and leisure destination." ~  Covent Garden Life

Now, I wish I could say that we hung around to enjoy the shopping and take in some street-performances or theatre but, alas, my growling stomach protested too loudly. So, we tried to find a reasonably-priced, not-too-busy pub in which to get our chow on. What we instead found was a place on New Row. This place was about the size of mine and Nic’s studio apartment, had ‘Italian’ décor, paintings of Paris on their menu, and items on said-menu that were all prefixed with ‘Texas-.’ It wasn't quite the atmosphere we were looking for, but we settled in out of necessity. (For the record, I had a ‘Texas-Egg Burger’ and an unnamed German lager because they didn’t serve Guinness.)

 It…sufficed.

From Covent Garden we moved into Soho, which is somewhat like the Boystown equivalent in London. It was the middle of the day, though, so there wasn’t much to see or do. But I can say I was there! (And I was there again on Monday—hence yesterday’s hangover and the story for later.)

Brief stopovers in Piccadilly Circus—in certain respects the Time Square of London—and along Regent Street were next. Not too much to say about that bit, though EN and I did work on our ‘Texas oilmen’ personae as a means of gaining access to some of the exclusive, overly-priced stores on Regent Street (e.g., one shop wanted £12,000 for a silver spoon). I mean, seriously, these were the kinds of shops where you couldn’t enter unless someone buzzed you in. Something tells me that no matter how well-perfected our ‘Hello, m’am, we’re wealthy oil men from Texas’ spiels were, they still wouldn’t have allowed EN and I entrance…

Mind the...Gap?

The shops of Regent Street

Most of this time was spent in-transit, walking around. Following our visit to the shops on Regent Street, dusk was nearly upon us...

TO BE CONTINUED...

The (Rambling) Media Edition: Part 4

So, one of my main goals while I’m here is to try and get at the root of why soap operas are so much more popular in the UK than they are in the US. In fact, one of my Cultural Studies peers over here was shocked when I told her that, back home, I am frequently ashamed and embarrassed to admit my love of soaps. In order to do this, however, I should probably start watching some, don’t’cha think?

 

Tonight I sat down and watched two episodes of “Coronation Street” and one episode of “EastEnders.”

 

Let’s start with the former…

 

 

“Coronation Street” (a.k.a. “Corrie”) started in December 1960. This means that, following the cancellation of US America's “As the World Turns,” “Corrie” became the longest running soap currently in production. (Just for giggles, here’s a scene from one of the 50^th Anniversary episodes, which featured an explosion, tram crash, and a viaduct’s destruction—skip to the 59 seconds mark:)

 

 

Now, in doing a bit of preliminary research for this post, I discovered that “Corrie” has actually released (circa) six straight-to-video films. Soaps on DVD format is something that is only just recently being experimented with back home (e.g., a special DVD featuring key holiday episodes from ATWT), so this is definitely something I want to look into a bit more…

 

As far as the episode I watched tonight: I found it to be somewhat cute, for the most part. As I noted on Facebook while chatting with some pals there, right off the bat, there is a difference in class when it comes to characters in US and UK soaps—and, to be fair, other academics, most notably Christine Geraghty and Dorothy Hobson, have already noted this. US soaps are all about the upper echelon fighting over businesses and money, whereas UK soaps seem to be about people trying to survive. 

 

Also—and bear in mind that I need to think this line of thought through a bit more, as well as watch some more episodes—“Coronation Street” (and possibly “EastEnders”) kind of brings with it the casual, easygoing vibe of a pub. Like you want to get cozy with it. Conversely, American soaps are all sparkle and spectacle, and looking for the drama. I don't know, I might completely revise this thought later, but that's the gut-reaction I'm having at the moment. I definitely want to follow-through with the pub atmosphere connection, though…

 

By way of comparison, and also to showcase the ideas I’m discussing above, I want to juxtapose two clips: the first is from yesterday’s episode of “Corrie,” and the other is from my favorite soap back home, “The Young & the Restless”:

 

Now, both of these clips take place in one of the favored watering holes on the show. Of course, you’ll notice the class signifiers right off the bat—the clothing, the atmosphere, and the treatment of the respective bar-keeps. If you’re more familiar with the American brand of soaps, however, you’ll also notice a certain…casual intimacy between the “Corrie” characters. Again, I can’t quite articulate what I’m trying to say yet, but, damn it, there’s something there!

 

Now, let’s get to the other show I watched tonight: “EastEnders.”

 

First things first: I want you to watch these credits:

 

 

Okay, now back up a minute! 

I want to tell you about three serendipitous moments I had while watching this show tonight 

First Moment: my friggin’ school is in the logo! The show’s fictitious setting (the London Borough of Walford) is right across the river from UEL.

 

I marked my campus in red to help you out...

Second Moment: Already in this blog, I’ve mentioned a couple of times my love for the movie “Beautiful Thing.” Well, one of the reasons I love that movie so much is because of the character Leah Russell, played by Tameka Empson:

 

Given that, you can understand my surprise at finding her in “EastEnders,” where she plays the character Kim Fox. (And then my further surprise at learning that Linda Henry, who played the mum in “Beautiful Thing” was also in “EastEnders” at one point!)

 

Leah grew up to have some fierce hair! Growin' up with them gay boys did her good!

 

Third Moment: A few blog entries ago, I posted one of my favorite “French & Saunders” clips:

 

 

 

Obviously, Dawn French was (lovingly) mocking Debbie Allen from "Fame":

 

 

But then, in last night’s “EastEnders,” was Leah—I’m sorry, Kim (Ms Empson) doing this:

 

 

 

 

Ho. Lee. Cow. Worlds. Colliding.

 

At any rate, “EE” started in February 1985, and is centered around the citizens of Albert Square. In Christine Geraghty’s book, Women and Soap Opera: A Study of Prime-Time Soaps,* series creator Julia Smith stated: “We decided to go for a realistic, fairly outspoken type of drama which could encompass stories about homosexuality, rape, unemployment, racial prejudice, etc., in a believable context. Above all, we wanted realism” (p. 16). 

 

Perhaps this sense of realism is the difference I’m looking for? 

 

By the way, if you’re curious, some of my non-US friends on Facebook have described the difference between US and UK soaps as follows:

  NC: “British soaps are all about how horrible life is…American soaps seem to be extremely more glamorous than ours, which are all about poor people scratching a living. people in american soaps always seem to be loaded…While theres definitely a lot of (usually dark) humour in the soaps, they are always dark and depressing. Every christmas day Eastenders has to try to out do itself with something worse happening than the year before it”

AB: “Try Eastenders! Its the Anti USA soap! its gritty and realistic (and they dont stay in the same room in the same conversation for two years!”

TC: “…I think the soaps are very realistic in that they don't attempt to over glam things in their look at working class life. You will find these characters on every street in the UK. The characters have always been super accessable and thats why I think people take them intk their hearts so much. Check out Emerdale it's based on rural/country life and is the alternative choice to Corry or Eastenders. Hollyoaks is the mid teens to.mid twentys soap. All about kids in collegenand Uni. The only tuing I watch regularly is Emerdale.”

 

Once again putting aside the academic stuff for a moment, I want to point out one character from “EastEnders” who caught my attention right away: Dot Cotton, played by 84 year old June Brown. I don’t know too much about her yet—other than her portrayer has an amazing sense in hats…

 

 

—but look forward to learning more about her. Right off the bat, I’d love to do a analysis of this character versus Jeanne Cooper’s Katherine Chancellor character from “The Young & the Restless.”

 

 

Perhaps a good place to start with such a study would be the one-of-its-kind monologue episode wherein Dot relays her life story (which you can watch courtesy of these four clips):

 

 

 

Eastenders - dots story: 31 january 2008 (part 1) 

 

 

Eastenders - dots story: 31 january 2008 (part 2)

 

 

Eastenders - dots story: 31 january 2008 (part 3)

 

 

Eastenders - dots story: 31 january 2008 (part 4)

 

In closing, I want leave you with two final videos—to cleanse the pallet, if you will. 

 

The first comes courtesy of my friend Tally, and hails from “EastEnders”:

 

 

 

The last comes from this week’s “The Young & the Restless”…

 

 

 

And who says soaps aren’t fun?

 

Bye now—

 

* Just a quick note about Dr. Geraghty and her book, Women and Soap Opera: A Study of Prime-Time Soaps: I actually own the book, having acquired it for an earlier Cultural Studies project that I was working on. It’s a really fun read, if you can get your hands on it. Then, later, I had the honor of interviewing Dr. Geraghty for yet another work—she is a really kind person in real life, and had no qualms about helping me. In fact, she even shared with me some of her as-of-then unpublished work.

The Euro Crashes and Socialism's Father Rests

This weekend’s been somewhat of a wash, so there’s really not too much to say. In other words: this will be short.

Most of yesterday was spent writing (draft) essays for various scholarships I’m applying to for the 2012/13 school year, and when I wasn’t doing that, I was helping Nic run lines for his show that opens in about two hours (8PM Central)—break a leg, baby! Later in the evening, however, I joined KG & MM  for "EuroCrash! The Musical," which was written by their landlord. The synopsis is as follows:

“Meet Mark and Gilda—the Hansel and Gretel of Euroland—as they discover the fantasy world of the single currency. Meet Papa Kohl and Madame Mitterrand, the charming couple who hold it all together; meet the Snake, a clanky prototype; Jean-Claude Trichet, the last great eurocrat; the PIIGS, paying for past profligacy; the dark eminence of the mighty Bundesbank; and the wild, exotic currencies of central Europe. All this packed into a pantomime. Vicious rhymes, great music. From the creators of last year’s sell-out Broke Britannia!” ~ "EuroCrash! The Musical" Official Website

 

 

Image Courtesy of "EuroCrash! The Musical" Website

 

Now, I know what you’re thinking: that sounds…interesting. And you would be correct. It was actually quite amusing for the most part, and I walked away with a much better understanding of the euro’s history than I ever had before. The acting was good, and the lyrics to the songs were very cute! Who knew an economic downturn could be so much fun?

Following the show, I joined KG & MM at The Sun Inn for dinner and drinks (the second round; the first being at the show). The food was excellent, as was the atmosphere, but the company and conversation are what put it over the top as wonderful!

The Sun Inn / Image Courtesy of their Website

Somehow, today was even less productive than yesterday. Once again, I helped Nic run lines for a good portion of the day. Then, this evening, K&M went to her cousin’s house for a bit, so I went out for some British Chinese take-out at Xiong Mao. Instead of the stereotypical fortune cookie, however, I received two chicken wings. And no chopsticks. I was confused—either the hostess really, really liked me (hence the wings), or she hated me (hence the lack of a cookie and chopsticks)—so, of course, I took to the Facebook-program-store to state as much. Fortunately, a more worldly friend clarified that the fortune cookies are an American thing, and that the wings were probably because it’s Chinese New Year’s Eve, and then another friend, who lives in Cornwall, said that he’s never known Chinese take-away over here to come with chopsticks. Ah, cultural adjustments… Seriously, these are the types of tidbits that should be in one of those London: From A to Zed books!

At any rate, at home with my take-out, I turned on the telly, and what should I find: “Come Dine with Me.” I swear, that show is like crack and I’m a filthy junky! After noshing away and enjoying this week's batch of participants, I chatted with Nic and the folks for a bit, and then retired to watch BBC iPlayer in bed—which is currently streaming “Doubt,” an AMAZING movie if you haven’t seen it yet!

Well, that’s enough for now. Not sure what’s on the schedule for tomorrow yet—the hunt for housing resumes, and laundry happens. Those two things are definites. Beyond that, though, I may do the Westminster Abbey tour tomorrow.

P.S. to Cultural Studies and Queer Lit friends: I just found out that Karl Marx and Radclyffe Hall are buried in the SAME cemetery, and that it’s not far from here. Who’s going to be a creepy graveyard stalker? This guy!

Karl Marx Memorial (NB: This photo is NOT mine!)

Radclyffe Hall's Memorial (NB: This photo is NOT mine!)