Due to tonights obscene events, I'm going to work this blog post from tonight until where I left off. I don't want to forget a minute of what ensued and all of its hilarity.
Well, I guess I have to backtrack a little bit. For my Music class we had to attend the Night Shift orchestra concert last night at 10pm. It was an 80ish piece orchestra with an amazing sound. They played 2 pieces: one was the conductors impression of some 25 minute piece (I have the program somewhere I just don't feel like getting it) so he did a bunch of moving around and made the piece 23 minutes. This piece didn't really have a theme and didn't really repeat itself at all; it was very difficult and full of emotion. The orchestra also played a Liszt piece that had a repeating theme throughout the entire song. Both songs were incredibly played. What I liked about the setting of the Night Shift was that although it was in an extravagant music hall with posh hispter people, the setting was completely casual. The conductor had an MC that came out before, in between, and after the songs and the orchestra played bits of the movements to give the audience a feel of what the songs were going to be like. Although at first I found this odd and different, I enjoyed kind of getting a preview of what was coming.
Anyway, after the performance, Ally, Christina, and I were walking to the tube and they mentioned they had tickets to a rap show in Camden for tonight. They had bought the 3 tickets off the rapper for 5 pounds after they made him freestyle rap for them. They told me to come with them. Underground rap show in Camden? I was so there. I got home and told Yasin and she was in as well. This was either going to be really good or really bad. I mean, it wasn't going be no 8 Mile, but come on, we're in London and the Brits can't even dance. I'm sure they can't even rap.
This afternoon I went and met Tom for his lunch hour. We walked around SoHo for an hour. London SoHo is nothing like SoHo in NYC. First of all, we walked down the wrong block and ended up down the gay strip club block that was popping at 1pm. Also, there was a really cool food market going on in the middle of the street with obscure fruits like dragonfruits. It's nice to have somebody who knows the area and can explain things in London terms. We went into this music shop where they had a bunch of ukulele's and one them was a soprano ukulele with a bunch of fruit painted on it. It was slightly epic. In SoHo its in like CD Island type music stores; second hand CD stores and vinyls. It's pretty hip.He also makes for alright company. I guess. On the way home I stopped at Hummus Bros and got the best hummus and falafal I've ever had in my entire life. I also got aloe vera juice. It was beyond delicious.
Which brings me up the 'rap show' Yasin and I get ready and head to the tube. Ally and Christina decide they were going to meet us there. We get to Camden and decide we have no idea where Curtain Rd is. We begin asking the punk/goth locals but they seem to have no idea where it is. We go back into the tube station and ask the attendant but we can't hear him. We turn around and there is an Italian who has his arm around Yasin and I who is pulling out all the terrible pick up lines telling us he knows exactly where Curtain Rd is. He takes my ticket and goes 'oh, this address. This is my house!' We laugh in his face and begin to walk away. He tries to get Yasin's number and Yasin, without hesitation goes, 'funny thing about that is, I don't have a phone'. We just kept walking and laughing. Luckily at that time we spot two police officers. We show them my ticket and they say 'uhhh, you're about 5 miles away. East London? What is this post code?' They don't seem to know where Curtain Rd is either. They show us which tube to go on and what station to get off us. Good thing the police led us to the wrong tube. We FINALLY get to the right station and ask yet ANOTHER local where Curtain Rd is. She tells us its right up the road. About 10 minutes later we arrive at the place where this supposed 'underground rap' show is. This 'underground rap show' better be the revival of Biggie for all the trouble we've gone through. We get to the bouncer and I show him my ticket and he looks confused. He asks me where I got this ticket and when I tell him, he laughs in my face and tells me I got scammed. Apparently, the venue is free every night except New Years Eve. Ha. Ha..
We get inside. Are you surprised there is no rap? Because we're not. Luckily there is live music and the band ended up being pretty decent. They played Johnny Be Good and some good classics so with a cider in us, we had a good time. Ally and Christina show up and they told they owner what happened and got free drinks. The next act up was an acoustic guy, Jimbo, who was great. Picture a British Chris Carraba (for all of you that don't know, that's Dashboard Confessional's lead singer). Finally, the third act ended up being the rap group that sold Ally and Christina the tickets! He came out in this ridiculous purple full body suit to make a scene. The guy could not rap for shit. I could have gone up there and free styled better than him. He was completely out of breath the entire time. While this guy and his MC Hammer is making a hot mess on stage with his 10 other band members, the owner was bitching out his promoter. At this point, the promoter comes over and hands me and Ally a fiver. So, I got to hear live music, a drink, and made 5 pounds? I'll take it. We decide to leave before the tube closes and on the way home decide to take pictures in front of the Buzz Lightyear mural. Normal. Jimbo of course shows up out of nowhere and tells us to 'wet our lips and make love to the camera'. We had clearly found our new British friend. On the tube, we got serenaded by an old dude with a guitar and Jimbo totally harmonized. Why do these things keep happening to us?
Back to the rest of my week, on Wednesday as well my Islam class got to go to the V&A for the Muslim art exhibit. Yasin and I had gone to the V&A ourselves, having a tour guide made the whole exhibit so much more interesting. It gave me a much deeper appreciation for the little details in all the stories that the plates and calligraphy that the art had to tell.
Tuesday Yasin, Gabby and I went to Camden Town to go shopping. Camden Town is absolutely nuts. The market reminded me a lot of Chinatown in NYC, but it is so much better. There is a lot more variety of everything, and the people are so much more friendly. Hipsters and goths are crazy cool here. That night Tom and I went to a comedy club. At first I was worried because I wasn't sure I would understand British humor, but I honestly don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my entire life. 50% of the show was ragging on Americans and Australians, and 10% of the show was sexual humor. We also went out to eat at this really cool Irish pub with a huge tree in the middle of the pub. There was an old couple making out in the corner of the pub. We made up a story for them that they were having an affair because they were crazy creepy. And old. For this date, Tom gets 4/5 stars.
On Monday in my British Life and Cultures class we took a class trip to Parliament. Honestly, this was so boring. What kind of government is this? We were so bored and tired throughout the tour we really didn't get anything out it. It was also of course, raining. After we got back the entire flat came back and napped. That night I had Islam class. Nothing really exciting for Monday night.
Last Sunday Yasin Ryan and I went to Hyde Park and found the Peter Pan statue. That's just about been my week! Looking forward to having a great weekend and posting a lot of pictures. Let's keep having the strange London adventures keep coming.
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