Happy Origin Day!

Today marks the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin publishing his masterpiece The Origin of Species! 

One of these days, I'll have to actually finish reading the whole thing through...




(left) The triptych painting of The Evolution of Darwin: Boy, Traveler, Thinker I painted for this year's Darwin Day Celebration.


... I leave you with a picture (below) I took of the man back in 2006 at the London Natural History Museum, before he was moved.

Darwin and Huxley having lunch with their adoring public!

This was before they moved Darwin to the top of the steps in the Main Hall, replacing Richard Owens.

I wonder where Owens ended up?

(Quick note about Tarantino)

I forgot to mention last post:

What made the screening of Death Proof so unique, was that Quentin Tarantino himself watched the film with us. As the lights went down and the curtain raised, the film's director walked up the isle, shuffled down the middle row, and sat down in the center seat - right in the middle of the theater and in the middle of his fans. I was able (from my seat at the back) to watch the movie and watch Tarantino view his own film. As I said, what a unique experience!

London, yeah!

I am currently in the Montreal Airport on the way home, waiting for my plane. Thank you Montreal for having free wireless. Apologies for being behind in the posts, but I figured I'd better live the adventure and blog about it in the gaps between. I hope you agree.

Last I left off, Greg and I had just arrived in London - city of history and expense. We were wonderfully able to stay with my Aunt and Uncle (thank you!) in London, allowing us to exist in the expensive big city world.

London was a "coming home" of sorts for me - having lived there (England) for the past year. Goodbye euros and hello pounds! London was the last stop for Greg who had never been to England before. My only regret was that I didn't see my cousin Nicky (and Rav) and my newborn niece Mia in those four days. Next time...

We began by diving right into the Thames. We walked the entire length of the river from Westminster Abby, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben to Tower Bridge and back. South and North sides. It was a wonderfully exhausting walk that gave us great views of St. Paul's Cathedral, Tate Modern, London Tower, Shakespeare's Theater and the London Eye (which is so expensive, you had to sell your soul for the high view. We opted to keep our soul and steal a view from the top of the Tate Modern - for free!)

What tour of London isn't complete without a trip to one of my fav places on Earth - the Natural History Museum. Greg was impressed by the dinosaur skeletons and I was impressed by the lack of crushing crowds. Everyone wins! The robotic T-Rex was exceptionally good this time round. Scaring kids...hehe...

After introducing Greg to the 'Pub Life' in England ("Can anyone murder a Guinness?"), we explored Leicester Square and picked up half-price tickets to two "Broadway" shows: Avenue Q and Spamalot. Both beyond spectacular and a very nice change from the norm Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables.

Avenue Q is a small show about life in on a run-down street on the edges of New York, where 20 and 30-somethings search for their purpose while dealing with adult situations. Also, most of the characters are puppets. Imagine Sesame Street all grown up and having lost all it's money. Princeton (puppet) moves into a tenement run by Gary Coleman, falls in love (and other stuff) with Kate Monster (puppet), and lives with other puppets and humans. Trekkie Monster (Cookie Monster without ANY morals) stole the show. Left humming the songs. Highly hilarious!

The next night, we had back row of the top top back balcony nosebleed seats for Monty Python's Spamalot. With the last tickets available, we entered the theater only to be told to talk to this woman. Confused, we go and see her. We are then suddenly upgraded to floor seats with fantastic views! A few minutes later, the curtain rises and the laughs never stop. In fact, I'd have to say that Spamalot (The Search for the Holy Grail movie put to musical) was one of the funniest things I had ever seen, ever. If it comes to Vancouver, SEE IT. Your muscle spasmed face and sore sides will thank you!

And we had one more treat for us before we left. Cousin Dave had alerted me to a special film opening we all attended our last night in London. Death Proof, Quentin Tarantino's new film, was premiere-ing at the theater Dave works at - The Ritzy in Brixton. Not only would we see the film, but Tarantino himself (master of Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill) was there for a question period! One of my film mentors passed me going into the cinema, looked at me and said, "Hey there!"

The film was actually better than I expected (sexy girls getting stalked and killed by Kurt Russel and his killer car) and Tarantino was great. He did not fail to show off his arrogance, child-like giggles and general happy director guy. Very cool!

Goodbye to Greg...
And on to New York for me!

Valencia to Barcelona to London

With the taste of tomatoes slowly leaving my mouth, Greg and I explored Valencia, survived Barcelona, and cooled down in London...

VALENCIA
After the tomatoes, Valencia was a clean and wonderful change. I really enjoyed the city with it's beaches and art galleries and ring of gardens around the city. We found an incredible food market where I took artistic and colourful photos while Greg bought Valencian Oranges. I also took photos of him buying the oranges.

A new and otherworldly place was the Center of Sciences, a collection of huge white futuristic looking buildings sitting in beautiful turquoise water. It housed the IMAX and some other museums, but it is the architecture that stunned me. I'll post pictures of them once I get home as it is the only way to appreciate them.

BARCELONA
Leaving Valencia by train, we arrived in Barcelona - our last stop in Spain. We see a bit of rain while the temperature soars. Because of a complication with the hostel bookings and the fact that we decided not to visit Ibiza, we had two extra nights in Barcelona. Luckily, we were sent to our hostel's sister hostel on the beach. On the beach. Nice. Good things come from mistakes.

So we end up with two nights on the beach and 3 in the city. Barcelona has a beautiful beach with dirty sand and water. We arrive in the morning to a clean beach, but leave in the afternoon to a beach littered with trash. It is the tourists and locals at fault here. Announcements about jellyfish fill the air in muffled tones.

Once in the city, it is all about Gaudi and his amazing architecture - la Pedrea (his apartment building with no right angles), Gaudi's Park (a rambling park on a hill with dripping caves and curvy walls), and la Sagrada Familla (his huge incomplete cathedral.) I had never seen his building before and loved the rooftop sculptures.

After some cheap and spectacular museums (esp. the Museum of Catalynian Art - WOW!), we made our way up Las Ramblas - the pedestrian street lined with living statues, gift shops, and animal stores (anyone wanna buy a chicken?) The idea of a Las Ramblas TV show seeded itself in my mind... Watch this space.

We caught the 10:30pm (which became the 12am) easyJet flight to London Gatwick, which arrived at 1am. It being after midnight, the underground trains were no longer working. Thus we resigned ourselves to sleeping on the cold hard floor of Gatwick's departures check-in area (beside the Virgin Atlantic stall).

Hours (two) later, we were awoke by the Virgin Stewardesses to a crowd of staring passengers, who needed our place to form a queue. Strange overtiredness sets in and somehow we arrive at my Uncle and Aunt's by 8am. We say hi and then crash.

LONDON to come...

O2 Wireless Festival - London

This weekend I partook in another of the traditional English events - the Outdoor Summer Festival. Specifically, the O2 Wireless Festival in Hyde Park, London. In it's second year running, the festival has lined-up quite the musical line-up!


Bands playing over the four days include the Kaiser Chiefs, The White Stripes, the Gotan Project, and Queens of the Stone Age. But I only attended the Saturday, meaning I missed all of the above... but that's alright because Daft Punk headlined Saturday! Daft Punk, LCD Soundsystem, CCS, the Klaxons, Calvin Harris, and Mutemath rocked it out!


And ROCK they did! Daft Punk was amazing - two guys with robot heads began their set with the notes from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and the thumping electro music didn't let up until Around the World finished!

Summer Festivals are curious things. Lazing about with thousands of people, some costumed (saw some amazing cross dressing and stilted Batman and Superman!) Cheepish beer and food kiosks, four stages, carnival rides, and an amazing vibe rule the day. Even the weather cooperated - short stints of rain amongst beautiful sunshine!


I went down to London with Roger, Lewis, Emily, and Zoe and had a great time. I stayed with cousin Dave and saw cousin Naomi this morning. They were getting themselves ready for the King of Festivals: Glastonbury. 10 times bigger than O2 makes it the largest festival in the UK! Someday, I'll hit that one. Someday...

Happy Father's Day to all those fathers out there! (Dad!)

Family Christmas Photos

50 posts! Bond's Blog has been online for over five months and we've reached the 50th post today. I want to use this post to celebrate with photos of the family I have here in England. Many people have been asking to see them, so here we go!

OCTOBER 24th 2006 - SHOWstudio's BAL MASQUE -
While I was in London in October, I stayed with my Uncle and Aunt Tim and Mena (and cousins Yasmeen, Escandar, and Rocheen). Tim and Mena were invited to a Masked Ball by their friend Nick Knight, a famous fashion photographer! Kate Moss was there, along with other fashion celebrities. Click here to check out the Ball Masque! (photos and video)
What I found most amazing were the costumes my Aunt and Uncle wore to the event:

Tim and Mena in full costume!

Mena ringing for a taxi.

Actual SHOWstudio website photo - Mena sneaks in on the left!

Fetching hat, Rav!

My Grandmother, Nigel and Joyce (Dad's other brother and wife) on a visit.
Where are your costumes?

DECEMBER 24th 2006 - NATURE STROLL -
I traveled to Guilford for Christmas this year and stayed with my cousin Nicky and husband Rav. Nicky's sisters (Angie and Lara, and boyfriends Tim and James) and mother Elaine (and husband Richard) were also there. We went for a pre-Christmas Eve stroll in the typical English countryside and I discovered a new technique in photography!

A Walk in the Countryside - with Angie, Nicky, Elaine, Lara, Tim, and Rav.

A path millions have traveled.

Elaine and her girls - Lara, Angie, and Nicky.

New photography style - the Spin Shot!

The Swirly Forest

Spinning Angie!

DECEMBER 25th 2006 - CHRISTMAS DAY -
The aforementioned family awoke Christmas Day to see that Santa had arrived and been very kind to us all! We enjoyed the morning and the wonderful turkey dinner (including a nice vegetarian option!)

Christmas Day at the Lally's

Poor James is confused. Lara's here to help!

Merry Christmas, Tim and Angie!

James and Rav play the Worms Game.
(Too bad there aren't pictures of the Cup Stacking Game!)

Richard vs Turkey. Richard wins!

In the Kitchen - Elaine and Lara!

Thanks for a fantastic first five months and all you comments to these 50 posts. Please keep them coming!

Half-Term Experiences - Part 1

LONDON
Natural History museum
WARNING: INTENSE PALAEONTOLOGICAL DISCUSSION BELOW. Skip to the end, or read on at your own RISK!
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I began the week off by jumping a £13 (return) bus to London-city of lights and fog. And rain as it was turning out. After a 3 hour ride (where we experienced every form of weather), I arrived in London and walked from Victoria Station to the Natural History Museum to find it SWAMPED with 3-9 year olds and their ENTIRE extended family!

This is when I realize the half-term, when all the kids in England have a week off school, was not the best ever time to visit England's most kid-popular attraction...

After pushing my way through the massive queue, I enter the main hall complete with the wondrous Diplodicus skeleton (this dinosaur cast is one of 12 or so that Mr.Carnegie of the Pittsburgh Carnegie Museum of Natural History gave to major cities around the world to promote American palaeontology and share this wonderful dinosaur.)

Richard Owens lords over the museum he designed and built in 1881. Though an important man in palaeontology, Owens often used unscrupulous means at achieving his ends - destroying careers...

The museum holds a wonderful collection of marine reptile fossils, including many of the first fossils ever found by Mary Anning - the young woman who made a living selling fossils she found in Lyme Regis (south coast of England). She found the first ever ichtyosaurus in 1811 and collected the first plesiosaur in 1821:





The Dinosaur Hall has many exciting skeletons, some suspended above the heads of the gawking public:
-Gallumimus-

-Triceratops-

-Allosaurus-

-Baryonyx-

-Albertasaurus- (collected from Alberta, Canada by Charles Sternberg!)

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After 2 hours of prehistory, the museum was closing. I left, happy to get away from the claustrophobic kiddlets, and jumped the tube to Kew Gardens, where my Uncle and Aunt live. I would be staying with them for the next few days.

Goodbye for now from the Natural History Museum in London!