Crashing back to Earth…

Argh… despite the glowing optimism I conveyed in my last post, due to the fact that a number of factors in my life were heading towards serious improvement, I wish I could say this week is looking even better.

I got a call Friday afternoon from the real estate agent to let me know that the owner of the apartment we had been approved for had “changed their mind” and given the apartment to a member of their own family. Whether that is due or not, I’m not sure, but either way, I’m still no further out the door of the family home. The search continues…

Regardless, at least one of my goals is continuing strongly. For the last 7 days, I have been able to maintain my “healthly” streak, either dedicating almost an hour each night on an exercise bike, weight training or playing a game of soccer at work. I haven’t lost any weight, but am feeling really good. The next two days are looking good. To make up for games lost due to weather or lack of numbers, the work team has a double header, tomorrow and Wednesday, to finish of the “departmental” soccer competition. We are yet to win a game yet, but hopefully, with a little luck, we’ll be able to pull something off.

My standard picture update… more flowers are gradually making an appearance in our garden, so today’s update comes from the same court-yard the majority of my other recent shots have come from.

I’ve continued my pursuit into the world of the anime/manga/cosplay culture. So far this week, I have taken delivery of 2 more copies of the Fate/Stay Night series of manga, I now have volumes 1, 3, 4 and 5, with volume 2 still on order (I love how Saber is the central character to the TokyoPop series covers…). I have also purchased the first 7 DVDs of the Fullmetal Alchemist series, of which I’ve watched just a few episodes and am looking forward to getting into the series when I have the time.

So far I have just a modest collection of anime/manga, mainly centred around Valkyria Chronicles, Fate/Stay Night and the Ghibli Collection. I don’t think thats a bad way to start, but now that I am more open to pursuing my interest in this culture, hopefully I’ll seek out some good series.

In a related note, if you want to check out the posts I made during my trip to Japan back in August last year, just click: Japan Posts –  I really think that trip opened my eyes to a massive culture packed into just a few Islands, and through that, I discovered the massive, worldwide community that supports it.

Tate Modern + Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre

Yesterday (Wednesday) was set aside for my visit to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, where I saw a performance Troilus and Cressida. But as this didn’t start until 2pm, I thought I’d pay a visit to the Tate Modern, a museum dedicated to modern art.

Whilst the significance of the art was a little lost on me (as most art usually is…) there were some parts of Tate that I found particularly interesting. The building that is home to Tate Modern was once an old power station. As can be seen in the photos, they have maintained significant parts of the old station to give the building a really interesting feel. The entrance opens into the former turbine room, a huge open space that still maintains some equipment from its former life. One of the large combustion chimneys has also been kept to mark the entrance.

Whilst most of the exhibitions were a little too abstract for me to maintain interest, there was one that I was really fascinated with titles No Ghost Just a Shell. A group of artists purchases the rights to a manga character called Ann Lee from a character catalogue from Japan. They then proceeded to develop the character, giving it a life of its own, dedicating a collection to a character initially intended to be used as a filling, background character. They then ceased work, and transferred the characters copyright to the character itself, preventing anyone else from continuing the project or using Ann Lee again. I just found the concept interesting and specially the use of the anime/manga style in art.

A poster for Ann Lee, not one of my own images, but I’m fairly sure I’m not going to get sued by a character for copyright infringement…

Tate Modern from the Millennium footbridge across the Thames.

The Tate turbine room

Moving on and visiting the Globe theatre was a really cool experience! An almost exact replica of the original theatre partly funded by Shakespeare himself to become home to performances of his plays, it makes for a perfect place to present theatre. The play Troilus and Cressida was a pretty intense tragedy set in during the Trojan War, with Archilles, Hector, Paris from Homer’s Iliad all make an appearance. I felt really surreal sitting within the theatre watching Shakespeare, it allows you to appreciate how the performances would have been originally presented.

The actors really deserve to be commended as it started to rain during the performance, and due to the open roof, the stage and actors really were starting to get wet, yet the performance went on! I saw a matinee show yesterday and would really like to go back and watch a night show when I get a chance.

 

The modern Globe Theatre, again, disappointingly, they do not allow photography within the theatre.

I think I’ve finally gotten a handle on the London transportation system. The Tube is a little rougher than the Tokyo Metro system, the Tokyo trains run very smoothly and don’t have a 1 foot drop between the train and platform as some Tube trains due, but the Tube does seem to run more efficiency, particularly when having to make transfers between trains. The Tube only requires walking between platforms, where as the Tokyo Metro often involves switching between above and below ground trains, which you have to pay for separately. The Oyster card works just like the Tokyo Suica card, making travel easy, with trips getting cheaper the more you travel throughout the day (at some points yesterday, I was effectively catching buses for free!).

Speaking of the buses, the London bus system is fantastic! Also compatible with the Oyster card, the buses make shorter trips around the city so easy. They are clean and comfortable, much nicer than the Canberra bus system.

Tate Modern + Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

Yesterday (Wednesday) was set aside for my visit to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, where I saw a performance Troilus and Cressida. But as this didn’t start until 2pm, I thought I’d pay a visit to the Tate Modern, a museum dedicated to modern art.

Whilst the significance of the art was a little lost on me (as most art usually is…) there were some parts of Tate that I found particularly interesting. The building that is home to Tate Modern was once an old power station. As can be seen in the photos, they have maintained significant parts of the old station to give the building a really interesting feel. The entrance opens into the former turbine room, a huge open space that still maintains some equipment from its former life. One of the large combustion chimneys has also been kept to mark the entrance.

Whilst most of the exhibitions were a little too abstract for me to maintain interest, there was one that I was really fascinated with titles No Ghost Just a Shell. A group of artists purchases the rights to a manga character called Ann Lee from a character catalogue from Japan. They then proceeded to develop the character, giving it a life of its own, dedicating a collection to a character initially intended to be used as a filling, background character. They then ceased work, and transferred the characters copyright to the character itself, preventing anyone else from continuing the project or using Ann Lee again. I just found the concept interesting and specially the use of the anime/manga style in art.

A poster for Ann Lee, not one of my own images, but I’m fairly sure I’m not going to get sued by a character for copyright infringement…

Tate Modern from the Millennium footbridge across the Thames.

The Tate turbine room

Moving on and visiting the Globe theatre was a really cool experience! An almost exact replica of the original theatre partly funded by Shakespeare himself to become home to performances of his plays, it makes for a perfect place to present theatre. The play Troilus and Cressida was a pretty intense tragedy set in during the Trojan War, with Archilles, Hector, Paris from Homer’s Iliad all make an appearance. I felt really surreal sitting within the theatre watching Shakespeare, it allows you to appreciate how the performances would have been originally presented.

The actors really deserve to be commended as it started to rain during the performance, and due to the open roof, the stage and actors really were starting to get wet, yet the performance went on! I saw a matinee show yesterday and would really like to go back and watch a night show when I get a chance.

 

The modern Globe Theatre, again, disappointingly, they do not allow photography within the theatre.

I think I’ve finally gotten a handle on the London transportation system. The Tube is a little rougher than the Tokyo Metro system, the Tokyo trains run very smoothly and don’t have a 1 foot drop between the train and platform as some Tube trains due, but the Tube does seem to run more efficiency, particularly when having to make transfers between trains. The Tube only requires walking between platforms, where as the Tokyo Metro often involves switching between above and below ground trains, which you have to pay for separately. The Oyster card works just like the Tokyo Suica card, making travel easy, with trips getting cheaper the more you travel throughout the day (at some points yesterday, I was effectively catching buses for free!).

Speaking of the buses, the London bus system is fantastic! Also compatible with the Oyster card, the buses make shorter trips around the city so easy. They are clean and comfortable, much nicer than the Canberra bus system.