Shakespeare's Globe

The model was made from details found from historical etchings and prints of the original Globe Theatre. This required quite a bit of research as there were actually three Globe Theatre buildings, and inaccuracies abound. This model represents the Globe as it probably looked around the time that Shakespeare's plays were presented there (1599-1608).-Paper Toys.

Shakespeare's Globe is one the sights of London that I saw as a floated by on a boat. It is an interesting looking building, but to be honest Shakespeare's plays have never been my favorite. There is a little too much Old English for me, I tend to get lost in the soliloquies.

I like this little paper model of The Globe, it reminds me of those 3D jigsaw puzzles that were all the rage a few years back. It does take a bit of skill with a pair of scissors and a careful hand with the folding.

Bill Bryson wrote an excellent little book about Shakespeare, which talked about how little we actually know about the man. There are not plans or images for the actual theater that Shakespeare's plays were preformed during Shakespeare's time. No one knows how Shakespeare spelled his name, not even, it would seem, William Shakespeare himself. And it seems that William Shakespeare would have disappeared like all the other playwrights of his time had not a couple of gentlemen decided to publish a book of his plays. This has lead to all manner of debate about who wrote the Shakespeare plays and if Shakespeare was just a brand name like Warner Brothers. Good old Will is a source of infinite debate and argument.

As always, things are going on in the current incarnation of the Globe Theatre. Shakespeare’s Globe Exhibition and Theatre Tour will be open throughout the Autumn half-term (26 –30 October) and is a perfect destination for families wishing to discover more about Shakespeare and the London in which he lived and worked. During half-term regular live demonstrations such as swordfighting and costume dressings will give families a stimulating introduction to one of the world’s most iconic working theatres.

Open throughout the year, Shakespeare’s Globe Exhibition and Theatre Tour is housed beneath the reconstructed Globe Theatre on Bankside. The exhibition explores the remarkable story of the Globe, and brings Shakespeare’s world to life using modern technology and traditional crafts with a range of interactive displays and live demonstrations exploring costume, music and special effects.

Also included with the exhibition ticket is a tour of the Globe Theatre that will bring the extraordinary home of Shakespeare’s theatre to life. The Guide-storytellers will take you on a fascinating half-hour tour of the auditorium, vividly recreating colourful stories of the 1599 Globe and the reconstruction process in the 1990s, and of how the wooden ‘O’ works today as an imaginative and experimental space.

Shakespeare’s Globe Exhibition: Open all year round
Venue: Shakespeare’s Globe Exhibition and Theatre Tour, SE1
Opening Times: 10am – 5pm (Last theatre tour is at 5pm)
Tickets: Adults £10.50; Children (aged 5 – 15) £6.50; Students (with valid ID) £8.50; Family (up to 2
adults and 3 children) £28

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London to Scotland in 2 Hours

The route of a high speed rail link between London and Scotland has been unveiled by Network Rail. The proposed £34bn line will run from central London, via Birmingham, Manchester, Warrington, Liverpool and Preston to Glasgow and Edinburgh and could slash the journey time between London and Scotland to a little over 2 hours. But don’t expect it any time soon… the high-speed line hasn’t been given the go-ahead just yet and, even if it does happen, it will be 10 years in the making. Read more at The Telegraph.

My own humble experiences traveling between London and Edinburgh took about 8 hours, so a high speed train would be a nice alternative. Of course, the reason I rode the bus was that it was cheap. The Wife and I stumbled off a British Airways flight that last about 9 hours, rode the Gatwick Express to Victoria Station and then hopped on a bus for the 8 hour trek to Scotland. We went to Scotland to see Loch Ness and had a grand time, even though we did not spot Nessy.

I love the sci fi look of high speed trains, and I have always had a personal preference for the ones that use MagLev. There is that whole Disneyland feel to them and I like the idea of zipping along at 200 miles per hour.

The bus ride up to Scotland was pretty nice, we had most of the bus to ourselves and the view out the windows was amazing. Lots of yellow flowers we were told was rapeseed and lots of villages with lovely high streets. We were dead tired, but it was still not a bad trip.

Since we had scheduled something for every minute of the trip, we decided to take the last bus out of Scotland-which was at midnight. This would get back into London around 8 a.m. We sat in a Pub and waited for our bus to arrive, with The Wife looking out the window. As the time grew near and the Pub was about to close anyway, we headed out to have a look at the bus parking area. There were two or three buses sitting there, that we could not see from the Pub just across the parking lot. So we ran up to the one for London.

We handed the man our bags, which he promptly tossed into the storage area and told us to get on board quickly. We did. The bus was full-save for two seats. We asked a nice man to move so we could sit together. Then we sat there for a few minutes while less fortunate travelers went up and down the aisle looking in vain for somewhere to sit.

The trip back to London offered little chance for rest and nothing to see in the darkness. We stopped at about 3 in the morning at a gas station with a KFC, which was closed. I will never forgive the bus line and KFC for getting our hopes up. We did find a couple of sandwiches, but that was not the same.

So I would like to think that traveling by high speed rail would be a little more organized. That's what I'd like to think anyway. Of course, then I wouldn't have this story of the midnight not so express to London.

Black Pudding in London

Black pudding or blood pudding is a type of sausage made by cooking blood with a filler until it is thick enough to congeal when cooled.-Wikipedia

I'm reading the wonderfully fun book Eat My Globe- it's about one man's quest to eat the best of everything, everywhere. I love the idea there. Right off the bat our hero goes for the good stuff of the UK, one of which he considers to be Black Pudding. I have to admit that this is something that I have not tried, though I have heard of it. Like Spotted Dick and Clotted Cream, Blood Pudding is not a name that inspires confidence in an outsider.

According to Simon Majumdar, the best black pudding is from The Bury Black Pudding Company. Seems a lot of people agree with him on this point, if only everyone could agree on what exactly a Bury Black Pudding is. Black pudding is one of those items where cheap and horrible versions abound-but still have the words Bury Black Pudding on the label. Seems there are a couple of other good brands floating around-Chadwick’s Original Black Puddings and The Real Lancashire Black Pudding Company.

I also like the idea of eating a black pudding as part of the Full English Breakfast at The Bleeding Heart Tavern. Great name that. It seems that good black pudding can be found at Borough Market SE1. Any excuse to head to one of London's best markets. Black pudding is definitely on my list of things to try next to I find myself in London.

The Chance of A Lifetime

Well, maybe that is a slight exaggeration, or maybe not. I'm not as young as I once was. Among the countless things that I still want to do in the days that are left to me is spend a bit more time in London and do Voice Over work there. As we all know, no one from America moves to London seeking acting work, everyone from London moves to America to get a job. But one of my old Blog Buddies does voice over work and she invited me to London do a bit of Voice Over.

Well, this is the kind of thing that you can base a movie on-the poor sap's one chance at greatness, or at least mediocrity. This was some time ago, last year, in fact. I have had many months to save and plan a trip back that glorious place I so like to think about-London. But the rest of my life, well, it has not gone well at all. So there is no money, and barring something extraordinary happening, there will be no trip to London this October for me. However, it was so very nice of her to offer this chance to me.

I am still doing a few of the voice exercises and I think my voice is better than it was. But I have not put in any serious study of late. I have too many irons in the fire, as always. Ah but the idea of London and working, even doing background voices, would be amazingly cool. Of course, my London thoughts go beyond the work and into seeing those sights I missed last time and using my nifty digital camera that I did not have on the last trip. Blogging from London, well, the mind boggles.

If I still have any readers here-Hello! I plan on writing a few more posts over the next few weeks. But my plans seldom go as I expect.

Anyone who would like to donate to the Send Me To London Fund feel free.

Joe Queenan's London

The great cities of the world are best thought of in terms of flora and fauna. San Francisco is a hyacinth, Rio de Janeiro a bromeliad, Cario a flowering cactus, Detroit a burning bush. London, by contrast, most closely resembles a Venus Flytrap.-Joe Queenan

I just finished reading Queenan Country, about writer Joe Queenan's travels around Great Britain and why he likes the people of Great Britain while, at the same time, insulting them at every turn. Queenan's Country is filled with such sites as The Second Smallest Cathedral in England and The Worse Musical of All Time. He also prattles on rather a lot about Tribute Bands, which I have to admit, have always been a bit of a mystery to me as well. Elvis impersonators, sure why not, but fifty year old nobodys pretending their the 20 year old Beatles? I've never really liked that.

Anyway-Joe Queenan spends a bit of his book in London, mainly talking about how much he hates the likes of Elton John, Paul McCartney, and Andrew Lloyd Weber, but occasionally mention actual sites in the great city. So I thought I would look a few of them up and see what I could find out about them.

The Widow's Son-This curiously named pub has a sad story. In a cottage on this site lived a widow, her only son a sailor. He was due to return home on Good Friday and asked his mother to bake him some hot-cross-buns. Sadly, he never returned. Nevertheless every Good Friday his mother had a new bun waiting. Each year a new bun was added to ones she had kept from previous years. Sounds like my kind of place, old and kind of creepy.
Animal Burger

The Tea Hut on Blackheath-Since the l950s the hut has been used by passing motorists, lorry drivers, cabbies, locals, suburban clubbers on their way home from town, courting couples and motorbike and classic-car enthusiasts alike, the latter on Tuesday and Thursday nights only. It's open 24 hours a day, and serves Builders' Tea and the kind of hamburgers Ben Elton once talked of, made of hooves, snouts and eyelashes but heavenly when you've had 10 pints of Old Peculiar down the hill in a Lewisham boozer.

Eel & Pie Shop in Peckham-Didn't find anything with a quick Google and it is possible that this shop has gone the way of all good things, if you consider eels and pies good things. I'm sure you can still shops selling these odd sounding bits of business if you tried.

Canary Wharf-Canary Wharf is a thriving space and vibrant business district-at leas according to their website. I'm not sure that Joe had redevelopment in mind though, I'm guessing he liked it the way it was the last time he saw it, and who knows when that was. Seem to be a lot of tall building in London's Docklands these days. Not that there's anything wrong with that. . .

Battersea Park-Any place that has a museum on the grounds called The Pump House Gallery desevers at least a smal side trip. My own memories of Battersea Park are mainly my surprise at seeing the Peace Pagoda, I like the whole idea of a Buddhist shrine in the middle of an English garden. There are also lots of plants and animals as one might expect in a large city park.

Elephant & Castle-Elephant and Castle has always been an important traffic junction and was once known as “the Piccadilly of South London”. Another place that a lot of cool stuff seems to be happening. Food and Drink, Entertainment, Dancing, Shopping and old buildings to look at, who could ask for anything more? Of course, to me it looks kind of scary on the map, TWO round abouts that close together-oh the humanity.

Southwark Cathedral-The Church of England, what a great sound that has to it. They say there has been a church on this site since AD 606, got love those Brits, always have to remind us that while we study history they lived history. But that's alright, I love old churches just as I love all old buildings. Of course, it's hard to take them seriously after watching shows like The Vicar of Dibly all these years.

The West End-which is funny as Joe Queenan hates musicals in all forms and fashions, yet seems to go out of his way to attend them. Me thinks he doth protest too much. London's West End is London's Theater District, where all the misicals that Joes loves to hate are playing. But there's all kinds of other cool stuff in the area, China Town with Lee Ho Fooks, Mayfair, and Soho, all the places any well dressed American Werewolf would want to be seen.

And that wraps up my little mini London Tour by way of Things Joe Queenan Likes in London.

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Red Dwarf Return to Earth

Channel Dave recently brought the intrepid crew of Red Dwarf to Earth, our Earth, it would seem. Our heroes, such as they are, discover a giant quid living in a water tank and naturally going diving to confront the monster. They pass out after being attacked and when they wake up there is a new hologram with a Russian accent telling everyone what to do.

The three segments of the story flash by pretty quickly, with a few laughs, but mostly running on pure nostalgia. It's good to see the guys again, there is something heartwarming about that solid British belief that no one ever changes-at least, no one in a sitcom ever changes.

With ample plugs for Dave Tv, Red Dwarf Return to Earth was fun, but seemed to be trying a bit too hard. I liked that whole little sequence where they were gunned down in Bladerunner style, but I'm afraid I never saw any Bladerunner influence on Red Dwarf. Maybe Alien, and perhaps the Marx Brothers, but not Bladerunner. The bit with the names engraved on the bullets was classic.

They all look a bit older, as should be expected, and the Cat seemed a little past his James Brown days. The rating were good, but I have never understood how the ratings work in Britain anyway. When shows can have a full season of 6 episodes, it seems odd that anything is ever canceled. So the rumors are now flying that maybe Bob Grant will rejoin Doug Naylor for one more series. We can always hope.

Dr Who Planet of The Dead

I'm gonna miss David Tennant playing Doctor Who. He has all that snap and pizazz and has a lot of great expressions. That's why I always loved Tom Baker-he was kind of a nutty Dr Who, but he was my first Doctor. In The Planet of The Dead The Doctor mention the Giant Robot to the current commander of UNIT, which was the first Dr Who episode with Tom Baker.

Anyway. Planet of The Dead starts our with a Pink Panther/Mission Impossible style cat burglary, hanging from a thin rope and stealing the item in question from above. Since this is the preferred method of priceless item theft you'd think the people running security would know to put those lasers on the top of the artifact as well.

One thing leads to another and our crook finds her way to a bus where The Doctor catches a ride and they end up on another planet. Just another day on London Double Decker. The Thief is the same actress who played the Bionic Woman in the horrid and thankfully brief remake. She was stunning in Doctor Who and I'm a bit sad she didn't hang around as his latest Companion.

I am still mildly surprised by the special effects of the New Doctor Who, well, not all that new any more, but still. The Monsters in Planet of The Dead looked really good, for pure CGI flying stingray kind of things. The Fly Men did hearken back to the good old days when Doctor Who costumes were little more than fancy dress outfits. I would have liked the trans-dimensional bus to have been a Route Master, but hey, you can't have everything.

There was danger and perils and we're all going to die moments-just like all Dr Who episodes. It was very good. There was also a woman who could see the future who warned The Doctor that The End Was Near. Well, we all know that, but it is still fun to have a bit of foreshadowing of the Doctor's demise.

UNIT is back and I loved the super genius, slightly an idiot scientist who helped the Doctor solve the wormwhole problems. His specialty seemed to be naming units of measurements after himself and his family. The Doctor saves the day and all is well. The Planet of The Dead was a fun show.