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Spice of Life
While planning my trip, I was amazed to discover that two New York-based singer-songwriters I like were going to be performing in London at the same time I was there. Hammell on Trial was opening for Echo & the Bunnymen after my first day in town (I was way too exhausted to go to that show). I was planning on seeing Lach on May 10th at this place on the right, The Spice of Life (map).
I did, indeed, see Lach perform--I talked with him about friends in common before the show as he smoked his big (and legal) Cuban stogie. He was planning on getting something going with his latest album that he chose to not promote in the USA last fall (its release date was right around September 11th). It's a good disc, though, and worth checking out.
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My friend Paul told me that the IRA once set off an incediary device here.
The day I went here was also the day I had a mini pub-crawl with Paul and his girlfriend and some friends of theirs. I met up with Paul in early afternoon and we traveled on the upper deck of a bus (something I had not yet done--Tube routes seem so much less complicated than the buses). We met up with the others at a pub somewhere, I believe, in the vicinity of the Angel tube stop. Then we went to Filthy McNasty's, a place that Joe Strummer from The Clash had recommended to me when I interviewed him on April 2nd. And then we had a lovely meal at an all-you-can-eat Indian restaurant (at a cost of only £3!).
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Mark Mulcahy
Now that's a fancy ticket!
The night previous to the Lach show (May 9th), I had already gone to Shepherd's Bush to a place called Bush Hall (map) to see Boston musician (and former Miracle Legion frontman) Mark Mulcahy.
Bush Hall was a very nice venue (although the neighborhood was maybe a little dodgy) with red carpeting and some plush seats and ornate decorative work on the ceiling (I'm assuming it's an old music hall)--all the stuff that would never fly at an American venue. Most music audiences in the U.S. would destroy a nice place like that, with cigarette burns or vomiting or good old-fashioned vandalism.
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Another difference between the U.S. and U.K., I felt like a jerk when a got a beer at the bar and didn't tip. The guidebooks had said that you don't tip in London pubs, and I eyeballed other bar patrons to make sure they weren't tipping, but it still felt wrong. Not only does it deprive our lager-pourers their needed income, but you eliminate and entire category of stage patter for musicians: "Hey, don't forget your waitress and bartender!" Brit bar workers, unite! Don't pour another pint of bitters until you get your tips!
Mulcahy's set was terrific, although he didn't do my favorite Miracle Legion song, "Butterflies." What can ya do? Opening for Mulcahy was a Nick Drake-esque Irish singer/songwriter named Paul O'Reilly. I really enjoyed his set as well.
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A Famous Pub
There are many famous pubs in London. This is not really one of them.
However, this Islington watering hole was a locus of activity for dedicated fans of the Arsenal football club--and no, I'm not talking about your American football! While I was in London, Arsenal had just knocked the Yankees-like (lots of wins, lots of money) club Manchester United out of the running for the Premiereship, so the Arsenal boosters were really feeling their oats.
They were selling Arsenal flags and other merchandise here--I thought of buying something as a souvenir, but then I thought better of it. I figured I might as well stay neutral on the subject until I knew the deal. I wouldn't want to wind up in Man. U. territory carrying an Arsenal flag that day, that's for sure.
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British Museum
The British Museum is not unlike the Smithsonian in Washington, DC--a gigantic, far-reaching collection of artifacts from around the world that is open to the public with free admission (although I did pony up the suggested donation).
Perhaps the most famous item in the Museum's collection is the Rosetta Stone, the fragment of stone tablet discovered in 1799 (but dating from 196 B.C.E.) which had the same text written in hieroglyphics, Greek, and
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another Egyptian form of writing called demotic. Since scholars knew Greek, they could decipher the hieroglyphics (which, up until that point, had been a complete mystery) and finally begin to understand the ancient Egyptian language.
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British Museum
My favorite exhibit in the British Museum (at least, out of those that I saw--it's not really possible to take it all in during a single day) was the Parthenon pieces on display.
Why are parts of the Parthenon on display in London, you ask? Well, in the 15th century, the Ottoman Turks had conquered Greece, and by 1687 they were storing gunpowder in the Parthenon. During a seige the powder exploded, leaving the Parthenon in ruins. Around 1800, the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Lord Elgin, began taking
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casts and drawing of Greek monuments (including the Parthenon). Later, he received permission to remove Parthenon pieces from the site, and eventually was able to take them back to England. Back home, Elgin had pecuniary difficulties and sold his collection to the British government.
The above photo is from the west pediment sculpture from the Parthenon (a pediment is the triangular roof-piece supported by columns over the entrance to a structure, like in the British Museum entrance itself in the previous photo). The two headless female figures on the right represent Kore (a.k.a. Persephone) and her mother Demeter. The naked gentleman on the left is Dionysos. Notice how the top of the overall sculpture has a sharply sloping design so that it will fit easily in the left-hand side of the trianglur pediment. It fascinating how carefully even the backs of these figures were sculpted, even though they would be never be seen from the rear in their original position.
See a better picture of the Dionysos figure from the British Museum website here. See a poorly-lit but large photo of Kore/Persephone and Demeter here. See a drawing of how the original pediment was laid out here.
Read more from the British Musuem's website here (as well as further reading here).
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British Museum
Another part of the Parthenon in the British Museum collection are a series of metopes (squares which were set into the outer wall featuring sculptures). The Parthenon originally had 92 such metopes depicting an ongoing hand-to-hand battle between a human from the Greek tribe of Lapith and half-man, half-horse centaur. In Greek mythology, the Lapith king was getting married and the invited centaurs got drunk and attempted to rape the women and steal the bride. The Lapiths fought, and eventually won over, the centaurs. (Greek mythology is history is littered with these very charming stories)
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In the metope shown in my photo, the Centaur has the Lapith in a precarious position. The man seems sure to be on the receiving end of some equestrian kick-boxing moves (naturally, as carved, the Centaur had all his legs). Could this be victory for the Centaur? But, aha! The Lapith has reached down and grasped a stone in his left hand. What will happen? (please keep in mind that they didn't have TV in those days...)
See another metope here (in this one, the Lapith has the upper hand--Go humans! ).
As is always the case with historic artifacts taken out of one nation to another, some are not happy with the Parthenon pieces being kept in England, as this website illustrates (also, see the British Museum's assertion of ownership here).
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A phone box
This is a British phone booth. Enjoy.
Not all British phone booths have an orange and a beer on their floors, however.
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Hotblack Desiato
"We've met, haven't we Zaphod Beeblebrox --- or should I say ... Phil?"
"What!" shouted Ford.
"You'll have to remind me," said Zaphod. "I've a terrible memory for species."
"It was at a party," pursued Arthur.
"Yeah, well I doubt that," said Zaphod.
"Cool it will you Arthur!" demanded Ford.
Arthur would not be deterred. "A party six months ago. On Earth ... England ..."
Zaphod shook his head with a tight-lipped smile.
"London," insisted Arthur, "Islington."
"Oh," said Zaphod with a guilty start, "that party."
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It was because of this exchange from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams that I was amused to find myself in Islington on the morning of May 11th. I was strolling around trying to find a place to eat breakfast when I noticed this real estate agent: Hotblack Desiato.
Fans of the Hitchhiker's Guide radio and TV series know the name Hotblack Desiato as the name of the lead singer for Disaster Area, the loudest rock band in the galaxy (who spent a year dead for tax reasons).
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Uh, some street
Dammit, I wish I was taking better notes. I don't now recall which street this was. I'm fairly certain it's near Piccadilly Circus, though. I'll have to ask my London friends for identification.
Regardless, I know why I took the photo. It's just a street scene that's instantly recognizable as European.
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