Mini Cam Moments #6 and A London Trip

Brit Boy and I had a great weekend. On Saturday, we relaxed around home and watched movies that evening. Earlier in the afternoon, going into evening, we watched a Dolly Parton special of her performing and telling about her rise to fame. It was very interesting. I love biographies and things like that. It’s so intriguing to learn about peoples’ paths in life. I really enjoyed watching the special.

We rested up a bit and relaxed on Saturday in preparation for our outing on Sunday. We went into London to go to see the Michael Jackson Memorabilia exhibit at the O2, where we would’ve seen him perform back in July. We were quite disappointed like many others that we didn’t get to see him perform, so this was a way to still be a part of things.

At the beginning of January, I was sitting around watching videos on Youtube, and there was an ad that popped up advertising the exhibition and I said to myself, “Oh yeah.” I knew in the back of my mind that the exhibit was going on, but I hadn’t really brought it to the front of my mind and thought about going until then.

So after my “oh yeah” moment, I mentioned the exhibit to Brit Boy and we decided to go. Once we got the tickets, we realized that they were going to be doing work on the tube line that we needed to take to get to the O2 Arena, so we had to figure out another path. Here’s the thing, every time we plan to go to London lately, there is some kind of shutdown or strike. It’s like they know we’re coming. LOL. They love us there ;-)

Anyway, we decided on taking another route and it was a great adventure. We took the train into Paddington as usual and then we hopped onto the tube and took it to the Elephant and Castle stop (I’ve got to research why it’s called that) :-) And then we took the tube to the London Bridge stop.

At this point we walked over to the River Thames to catch a catamaran to the O2 Arena. This was a cool way to travel! We loved it! Here are a couple of short videos of us floating along down the river to our destination.

The first one is when we went under Tower Bridge. You can see my camera and I do one of my things, which is twist the camera to get the action. LOL. So I hope you all don’t get dizzy. The second video was taken when we were at a stop. I thought that the sun shining on the water was just so beautiful. I hope you enjoy them!

Here’s Mini Cam Moments #6 to continue my series ! :-)





We really enjoyed traveling this way and we’ll have to do this again :-) The Michael Jackson exhibit at the O2 was great. We weren’t allowed to take photos, but it was very nice. They charted his early career with his brothers in the Jackson 5 all the way up to him preparing for the concerts in London. They had: several of his outfits, past and present; an early contract from when he was a boy; several awards; plaster replicas of his hands and face that were used for his Ghost mini movie; and various other personal items. The "Ghost" mini movie was quite long, but here's a link to a portion of the film. If you don't have time to watch it all, I totally understand, but if you get a minute please check this out from about 1:25 to 5:00 in this video to see some of his best choreography in my humble opinion. We also saw this white shirt he wears in this piece at the exhibit.

My favorite bits of the exhibit were the handwritten lyrics to one of his greatest hits, “Beat It” and a video that they showed of his influences and how he incorporated them into the style that was all his own. I got the sense even more that his musical genius came from an acute understanding and appreciation of performance history. It is clear to see his homage to James Brown and the Nicholas Brothers and Fred Astaire. He was a true student of performing and an innovator in his own right for sure. I also thoroughly enjoyed the various quotes from him that were scattered about the exhibit.

The thing that gave me a lump in my throat though was a small, unassuming exhibit in the corner of the room. Inside the case there were two plastic containers and a water bottle. These three pieces were from Michael’s children. You see, his children packed him a snack everyday in containers like these while he was in rehearsals for his “This Is It” shows. And I know that people say all manner of things about Michael Jackson, good and bad, but at the end of the day, he was a father to these beautiful children and my heart just broke for them all over again when I saw this simple part of the whole exhibit. A cynic might say that it was put there for effect, but I don’t choose to see it that way at all. To me, this signified love and a part of Michael Jackson that we will never know, but a part of him that his children will carry with them forever. So that’s good enough for me :-)

I came away from the exhibit being very glad that we went. We loved it. The exhibit can never replace the fantastic show that Brit Boy and I could’ve seen, but it was nice to see the exhibit on the very last day on a beautiful Sunday. It was a great weekend :-)

Please check out Brit Boy's take on our day at his blog :-)

Tributes

Brit Boy just wrote a final tribute to Michael Jackson on his blog. As MJ is finally laid to rest tomorrow, I am thinking back to my favorite song of his of all time, which was "Rock With You". It takes me back to my girlhood and reminds me totally of a specific place and time in my life. I hold those memories so dear. He was truly talented and I so regret that we won't be going to his show in London now. Still, Brit Boy and I will be playing his music and dancing to it for the rest of our lives...thanks for the music Michael...now sail onward...and rest in peace.

The Tina Turner Concert

I’ve come back to Earth now, so I can tell you about our trip to London to see Tina Turner. (smile) I have been hyped up for a couple of days now. And today I’m finally able to sit still and write a bit about it.

We took the train into London on Sunday morning. I love the train. It’s so much quicker and it’s just a nice way to travel. You get to see the countryside which I love and there are no traffic jams (smile) We arrived at Paddington Station a bit after noon. Before we left the station, we took a walk into the bookstore/newsstand. It’s always fun to see what they have in there. They have little Paddington Bears. They are so cute.

After our look around, we headed for the tube. We rode over to Victoria Station and had lunch at this great pizza place. I can’t remember the name, but we ate there before and it’s just really good. Our waiter was really nice and we got served very quickly. I love that place.

Then we decided to hop back on the tube and headed for our hotel. We timed it just right because by the time we got there, we were able to check into our room. We rested for a while and then got dressed and headed to the O2 for the concert.

Let me tell you, the Tina Turner concert was AMAZING!!!! Ms. Turner was like a force of nature. I have always loved her, but I was totally blown away at how amazing of a performer she is.

She sang all of her hits and everything else, such as… “What’s Love Got to Do With It”, “The Best”, “Proud Mary”, “Golden Eye”, “Addicted to Love”, “Let’s Stay Together”, “Nutbush City Limits”, “River Deep Mountain High”, “Private Dancer”, “We Don’t Need Another Hero”, and so many more.

She REALLY put on a proper show. She had at least six costume changes and was just beautiful in every outfit from long gowns that broke away to mini dresses that showed off her beautiful timeless legs.

The stage was set up with a catwalk across the back and her band played underneath that and the backup singers stood there too. Ms. Turner’s dancers came out all slinky and fabulous along the catwalk and down the stairs on either side. Then Ms. Tina made her entrance. She walked out on the top of the catwalk and her outline was illuminated by this bright light and then you saw her come into view as she stepped out onto a pedestal and was lowered down to the stage as she sang. My first thought was, wow, she is not afraid of heights. LOL. The height was quite a few feet. What an entrance! (smile)

When she sang “We Don’t Need Another Hero”, she got dressed in her outfit from the Mad Max movie and amazingly she looks very much the same as she did back then. And when she sang “Golden Eye” from the James Bond film, she came out onto the top of the catwalk through the golden eye emblem that twisted open and she stepped through. Brit Boy and I were amazed at the production value of her show. You can tell she comes from a generation of performers who REALLY can put on a show. I love the song “I Don’t Wanna Fight”. She didn’t sing this one, but during this point of the show, they showed a montage of her career as this song played and it went back to her days with Ike right up until today. It really illustrated to me what an amazing survivor she is and I just loved it.

One of my other favorite moments was when she sang “What’s Love Got To Do With It”. She had on her little red dress and her heels and she strutted across that stage like nobody’s business. This was probably my favorite moment. She just owned it. And she just worked it out on "Proud Mary"...wow!!!! (smile) Tina did her thing!

Later in the show, she did another bit where I was amazed at her not fearing heights. The stage had this arm with a catwalk and a basket with railing on the end. So she goes to this basket as she sings and the arm swings out into the audience over everyone’s head. She leaned over the edge several times and I held my breath. LOL. And then I realized that this woman is truly in charge of herself and free. She just goes for it! (smile) I admire her so much and I want to be like that….moving forward and truly, truly enjoying every minute.

Then after her being in the basket, she ran back across the catwalk towards the stage and then back to the basket and was singing and doing this all in 4 inch heels! (smile)

I can say that I was just enthralled by her and just couldn’t get enough of watching this amazing woman. She said early on in the concert that she had a bit of a cold and might not be her full self, but you couldn’t even tell. And this left me wondering, if that wasn’t her 100% performance, then what must that be like because she was full on Tina the whole time it seemed. (smile) She danced along with her dancers and sang full force and she left me winded just watching her. She never looked out of breath. I know I keep saying it, but she was amazing!!!!

Both Brit Boy and I loved the show. And I came away inspired. She reminded me that life is meant to be lived with gusto. There is beauty in being strong and assured and to love what you are doing. I think this is part of her secret. You can tell that performing is her passion. What a wonderful night we had! :-)

Another London Concert Night

Brit Boy and I had another trip into London on Wednesday for our only true addiction….going to concerts. LOL. We went to see Simply Red. They are going to disband sometime next year, after 25 years by that point, so we just had to go and see them do their thing. The lead singer Mick Hucknall, will still record as a solo artist.

We got home Thursday at about 2:30am, so I spent yesterday chilling and we got some rest and relived it in our heads. Now I can share what happened. It’s always thrilling to get a chance to go into London and going to a concert makes it even more fun.

On Wednesday, Brit Boy worked a half day and then he came home around noon. We had a bit of lunch, watched a bit of TV, and then we got all suited up to go out into the cold on the way to a hot time in the city :-) It has been very cold here lately, but then it’s winter isn’t it. Anyway, we took our faithful old coach/bus ride into London. There’s a company that runs trips to London and mostly everywhere around Britain that we usually take. You can either buy your own tickets and then just catch a ride to and from the concert with them or you can get a package deal and they get the tickets and give you the ride. We have done both things, but this time, we took the second option and got our tickets from the coach company. The perk with this is that they usually get you pretty good seats to the concerts. It’s a win win situation.

So we headed into town and parked our car and headed to our pickup point for the coach. When you get to the coach and check in, they give you an envelope with your tickets inside and you hop aboard. This time we got a seat right at the front, so we had full view of where we were headed. This was both thrilling and a bit terrifying. It was really cool to be able to see everything and to feel almost like we were being hurled through the air. The big window was all that was in front of us so it felt almost like flying and this was fun. But it also got a bit hairy at times because our coach driver had a lead foot and tailgated and switch lanes a bit wildly :-) Brit Boy and I both thought a couple of times that we might just be thrown right out of that big, lovely window in front of us and onto the motorway/freeway as the coach driver slammed on the brakes many times. Eeeek!!! Let’s just say, our hearts were in our mouths for about 60% of the trip :-) We survived and felt like kissing the ground when we stepped off the coach. LOL.

On a calmer note, when I peeled my eyes away from what was happening ahead of us, I would glance out the side window and the view was wonderful. You can see so much from that high up. I’ve traveled that road many times to London, but from this vantage point, it was like seeing parts of it for the first time. I saw streams that were hidden in the woods and beautiful country houses that I didn’t know were there.

When we were almost there, the coach stopped for a bathroom and refreshment break at a rest stop. We were given about thirty minutes. Brit Boy and I went and had a cup of coffee. I had a coffee that was chocolate cookie flavored. It was really tasty. Brit Boy had a regular cappuccino. We stopped at this same rest stop on a trip before, and had fun playing with the various carnival-esque machines there. This time we didn’t bother. The machines are right near the entrance and the freezing air was whooshing in each time the doors opened. The time before, it was summer so it was lots of fun, and there were no icicles hanging off of us :-) The time passed quickly and we were all back onto the coach to finish the journey.

About thirty minutes later, we arrived at the O2. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s a cool venue. It is on the Greenwich Peninsula and sits right on the edge of the River Thames. It was formerly known as the Millenium Dome. It sits there beautifully with the lights of Canary Wharf in the background. London is a fun spot at night. It has a groovy vibe.

Brit Boy and I walked along with a spring in our step…we were heading to our favorite thing…music!!!! :-) As we walked along the walkway to the complex, we noticed that they had a small Christmas market. Here’s a photo of the little castle they had set up.



On from that, they had a few stalls set up. We didn’t really linger for very long because it was an icy cold night and the breeze off the river was positively bone chilling. I knew that it was cold because Brit Boy, who is usually always hot, was running towards the building to get away from the cold (smile). Now that’s cold!!! So we scampered on inside.

The O2 was decked out for Christmas. One of my favorite things is the huge light fixture that hangs in the entry area. It is usually white or blue, but this time it had a colorful strobe going on. We walked around the outer ring of the arena, where all of the restaurants and clubs are…great people watching. Everything was even more sparkly than usual with all of the holiday cheer being spread around. They had a snowboarding/sledding area set up and kids from 8 to 80 were having a go at it. I would have loved to, but the line was long. Here’s a photo though with the little chalet to the side. The photo is kinda blurry, but you can get the idea. Brit Boy and I took the photos on his cell phone and it was kind of chilly still, so our hands were shaking a bit. LOL.




They also had special ornamental lights hung around the place. Here’s a pretty sparkly one.




And they were projecting snowflakes onto the roof and it created a great wintry atmosphere. Here’s a look.




Soon it was time to go in for the concert. It was AMAZING!!! I have always liked their music and I always thought that Mick Hucknall had a lovely set of pipes, but I was simply blown away…Brit Boy was too. Wow! You can definitely tell that this group has a powerful connection and a history because they know just how to put out the best performances and take you along for the ride. The musicians are true pros and the backup singers are amazing! They are all so good that it makes the performance seem effortless. But then I guess that that is what truly talented people do :-) And Mick Hucknall….he has a soulful voice that can just send absolute chills down your spine because he is so good, as many of you already know. Dang…he can REALLY SING!!! :-) The song they opened with was “It’s Only Love”…great song! I tell you, I always loved their sound and I always loved Mick’s voice, but seeing them live and hearing his truly divine voice in person is just an experience that I won’t ever forget. The recordings don’t do his voice justice. And I think that he might have had a slight cold, because he coughed once between the songs, but that was that. I guess with a voice like that, not much can shut you down :-)

They performed all of their hits and we loved it, including our favorite, “Holding Back the Years”. It brought tears to my eyes because his voice just soared to the heavens and as I’ve gone through my life, the words of that song just hit me deep. The part of the lyrics where he sings “I’ve wasted all my tears…wasted all those years”, it just means more to me as I go through my life. It makes me think that time waits for no one and sometimes you just have to let go and make room in your heart and you don’t want to look back at the end and see that all you did was mourn and regret your life away. This song helped me a lot when my mom passed away. In the beginning it made me cry of course, but as time went on, it became a salve of sorts and it made me see the greater picture of my life and the broad span of my mom’s life too and her legacy. The great restorative power of music has always been a comfort to me.

Near the middle of the show, Mick sang “You Make Me Feel Brand New” which was originally done by The Stylistics. Mick hit this one out of the park! The range of his voice is amazing and the raw emotion and passion that he puts into each note just sends you soaring with him. Here’s a video I found of him singing this song in concert. This is great, but I think he sang it even better when we saw him at the O2 :-)



The concert was great. Simply Red will be on tour into 2009, so if they come to your town or nearby, I hope you can catch this group before they disband. It’s all just true talent from top to bottom. You will find yourself singing along with every song. There was a great celebratory vibe and they are amazing! :-)

After the concert, we headed back to the coach and strapped ourselves in for the “adventurous” ride home ;-) Let’s just say, thankfully it was dark, so we couldn’t see enough to be scared. LOL. But we survived the trip thankfully and it was worth it in the end because we had a great night! The coach driver took the scenic route through Central London so we got a nice ride through the city, all decked out in its Christmas finery. What a cool night in more ways than one!

The Concert

I’m finally getting a chance to post about the Stevie Wonder concert. Sorry for the delay, it’s been a hectic couple of days for us, but now I’m able to get back here to share. Thanks for coming back to visit. :-)

So we went to the Stevie Wonder concert in London on Thursday night and it was simply the most sublime experience. Stevie Wonder is a living legend and in his case, this description totally fits. I have always loved him for being the peace-loving man that he is and for his playfulness. Many times during his performance he would joke about things. He just has a beautiful spirit. He inspires me. And he is a glorious singer. There is just something in his voice that I can’t describe that just makes you feel good. But you all know about Stevie’s voice…we just love him. :-)

In the lobby area of the O2, there is this light fixture that I just love and I have had a photo of it here before, but this time, it was illuminated. It flashes blue and just glows at night. I love it. Here’s a photo.



We walked around the outer concourse and soaked up the atmosphere of all of the other Stevie Wonder fans. I love this area. It is full of restaurants and is always vibrant when there is something going on at the O2. As I have mentioned before, it is like a little village to a point and it is great for people-watching.

Once they opened the gates to go into the arena, we made our way to the food stands. They have some good food in there. Brit Boy had a hotdog and I had some Chinese food. I had shrimp chow mein. Here’s a photo. It was really tasty.



The concert was great. Stevie had his daughter Aisha there as one of his backup singers. She sang a song on her own too. She is the inspiration for his hit “Isn’t She Lovely”. I remember hearing that she was the inspiration before, but it was just cool to see her in the flesh.

At one point during the concert he said that he had started out touring back in 2006, but he cancelled all of his shows for a while because he was so torn apart by his mother’s passing. He said that he had lost the first love of his life when she died. But then he decided to get back out on the road and make his mother proud, because he knows that she would want him to go on. He said that he realized that she would always be with him and that gives him strength. His mother passed in May 2006, the day after his birthday. He said he found comfort in having spent his birthday with her. So now he is out there again, sharing his gift with the world. :-)

Since the concert was on the anniversary of 9-11, he asked for a moment of silence to remember those who died.

Brit Boy and I were just thrilled to be at the concert. We would sing along and poke each other because we couldn’t believe that we were there. Stevie played a lot of his hits and the crowd just loved it! He just kept launching into songs and I kept saying to myself, “ I forgot that one…wow!” He has just made some great, great music and you just forget that so many favorite songs are by him. It was hard to get a photo in the dark on the camera phone, but here are a couple of blurry photos anyway of all the fun.


My two favorite Stevie Wonder songs are “Lately” and “As”. So when he played the first few notes of “Lately”, I just had a chill down my spine. Oh my gosh! I love, love, love that song and to see Stevie Wonder sing this live was one of the greatest memories of my life now. His voice was just sublime as it rang out around the arena. And I had to squeeze Brit Boy’s hand, because it was just one of those moments where you say, “Can life get any better?” :-) It was a wonderful moment and I tell you, my mind just went elsewhere for those moments. I was floating. I guess you can tell I liked it.

The whole concert was just great and Stevie Wonder and his whole band are just true artists. Stevie even had someone to help him stand on his piano bench at one point in his performance. He is a true performer.

He ended the concert with my other favorite song, “As”. Behind him, during the concert, he had different images on a screen and this just added to the vibe. So when he ended with “As”, the screen said like the song says, he’ll be loving us always. And Stevie, we’ll be loving you too!

Going to See Stevie Wonder

We are heading into London tomorrow to see Stevie Wonder and Brit Boy and I can't wait!! Stevie is Brit Boy's fave singer and I have always loved Stevie too, so we will be singing all the way to the O2. (laugh) I look forward to telling all about it when we get back.

One Year Ago Today

I was just thinking today about where I was one year ago this very day. Brit Boy and I were having a wonderful day. We were in London and were staying the night at the lovely Hotel Novotel in Greenwich. We had decided to stay in London instead of having to travel all the way back home so late. We were in London to see Prince perform at the O2. He was doing a series called "21 Nights in London". He was amazing!!! I have been a Prince fan for so many years and Brit Boy loves him too. He is a part of the soundtrack of our preteen and teenage years. (smile) So we both were on our feet throughout the whole concert and I was singing along with Prince and the other thousands of fans at the top of our lungs.

There were two guys in front of us who were really enjoying it too. The one guy directly in front of me would turn around and point at me and sing along. And I of course had to reciprocate and sing along back at him. Then Brit Boy and I would danced together. So it was a WONDERFUL time!!! I love it when the whole crowd is vibing together and vibing with the artist onstage and it is all just a big party. Those are the moments in life to be enjoyed...when we drop all the other stuff and just let go.

Prince is and always will be my favorite musician. He did not disappoint. When he would launch into yet another hit, it made me realize just how much great stuff he has put out there. And he was so good that time that Brit Boy and I had to keep contributing to our gig addiction and go see him one more time in September as his 21dates were winding down. And Prince didn't really duplicate what he sang the first time. He has been very prolific. It was all worth it to see him one more time. He was great and we had the time of our lives.

King Tut and St Paul

Brit Boy and I have had our bit of Fourth of July today. We just put out our two little American flags on the table. In the interest of fairness, we also have tiny England flags that we put out on St George's Day. (smile) We had cheeseburgers, potato salad, and beans. It was reminiscent of the picnic food that my mom would make for the Fourth of July when I was back home. We would have even more sometimes…hotdogs, ribs, chicken, deviled eggs, and sometimes some homemade ice cream. Then there were usually fireworks in the evening in town. Those were good times. (smile) Anyway, we did our own little version of a picnic and it turned out great. And I have to say, that my potato salad was incredible if I do say so myself. (smile) I got really into it and it turned out great. The secret I think was the bit of dijon mustard that gave it a slight kick. My mom would be proud and my brother Tim would have loved it too. He LOVED potato salad and was known to get up in the wee hours of the morning to make it, because he had a taste for it as he awoke from sleep. (smile)

Just an update, we finally got our broadband sorted out. Basically our old router went kaput and we had to get another one. Doesn’t it seem that there is always something to spend money on? (smile) Oh well, both Brit Boy and I need it for work, so it’s all good. We are just glad that it is working.

So I will pick up now with my story of our trip to London last week. I left off last time with my story of our Wimbledon experience. Well, the next day we headed to the O2 Arena to see the King Tut exhibit and we took a trip to St Paul’s Cathedral.

We started out the day early-ish. Thankfully they fixed our shower, so we could do the cleaning thing. We had tickets to the King Tut exhibit that were for a certain window of entry. Our window was from 10:30-11:00am. We had a bit of a trip on the tube to the O2, but we made it in plenty of time.

The exhibit was interesting and the pieces were intriguing. I did learn quite a bit about King Tutankhamen. Some experts had once thought that he may have had a curvature of his spine, but now they think that he may have not had this at all. But his body was possibly slightly twisted when he was being mummified and prepared for burial.

Here are photos of the outside of the exhibition.





After we came out of the exhibit, we decided that we would have something to eat at the O2 complex since it was getting along to lunch time and we hadn’t eaten. They have lots of restaurants there in the complex, so there was quite a lot to choose from. But as ever, we were trying to eat on a budget. (smile) We settled on eating at Pizza Express which has lovely, authentic, fresh pizza as well as many other tasty things. I wanted to try everything and so did Brit Boy. (smile) We both had two slices of pepperoni pizza, and we shared a big green salad. Brit Boy had a Sprite and I had a Sicilian lemonade and I will just say, it was like being back home. (laugh) I’ve written here before about my search for lemonade. Well, who knew that the southern lemonade that I had back home is a close cousin to Sicilian lemonade. (smile) It was very slightly sweet and tart and just right…smooth.

There is a structure in the lobby area of the O2 that I always find intriguing. It looks like strands of huge pearls suspended. Here is a photo of it.



Once we were back outside again, we headed for the tube station. I had to take a photo of the O2. I love it. It is very unusual looking from the outside. Here is a photo as I walked backwards to the tube station.



Then we headed off to see St Paul’s Cathedral. I have been to London many times now and I have seen a lot of it, but not all of it by any stretch of the imagination. One place neither I, nor Brit Boy had visited, was the cathedral. It was a very breezy day and so as we rounded the corner to the cathedral, I got grit in my eyes that blew up from the street. This seemed to be a recurring theme most days. (laugh) So it was murder on my eye makeup. Anyway, the cathedral is magnificent. They don’t allow photography inside, but I got a photo of the outside. Here it is.



I will just say that the inside is glorious. (smile) Truly divine. Everywhere you look it is just awe-inspiring. The stonework, the carvings, the decoration, the ceilings…just amazing! Visitors are allowed to go up into the rotunda, but you have to brave hundreds of steps. It is so worth the effort. (smile) We walked 257 steps to the Whispering Gallery. When you get up there, there is a railing that you can walk along and look down to the cathedral floor. The cool thing is that you can whisper up there on one side and it can be heard on the other side of the rotunda. It is cool. You are also allowed to go further up to the next level. The view from there is amazing.

When we came back downstairs, they were doing The Lord’s Prayer and invited visitors to join in. So Brit Boy and I participated. After that, we walked around and looked at all of the dedications and such. Over in one corner, there is the American Chapel which is to honor the help of the US during WWII. This caused a bit of a lump in my throat, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, just on a simple level it was good to see cooperation between people for the common good and this memorial was about Britain and America and Brit Boy and I come from across that divide. So I don’t know…it was just deep. But also, my dad was a WWII veteran, and thankfully he made it home. As I have mentioned before, I am the last of a long line of kids and there is a gap between me and the others in years. I was a late comer. (smile) Also, my dad was quite a few years older than my mother, so that is why I have a dad who was a WWII vet and not a grandfather who was one. (smile) So I had a moment there in that chapel.

Then we went down into the tombs of the cathedral. We saw dedications to and tombs of: the Duke of Wellington, William Blake, J.M.W. Turner, Florence Nightingale, Horatio Nelson, Alexander Fleming, and of course…"The Guy They Call Sir", Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of St Paul’s that I mentioned in an earlier post. There were many, many dedications and tombs and I was intrigued by them all, but I had to see Sir Christopher’s. (smile) I live nearby where he was born, so I had to pay my respects. He did beautiful work on the cathedral also. And I thought this was a nice touch that his tomb is right next to a radiator in a corner. I like to think that it’s there to keep him warm. (smile) Well he deserves it for designing such a beautiful place.

When we came back outside, we noticed the Temple Bar. It is a barrier arch that marks the westernmost extent of the City of London. Here is a photo.



After this we took a lengthy walk in search of The Monument, which marks the spot where the Great Fire started. When we eventually found it, it was covered with scaffolding for work to be done.

After that, we were tired and it had been a long day. So we headed for the tube to go back to our hotel. On the short walk from the tube station to our hotel, we stopped at McDonald’s and had a bite to eat.

Later that night, we were lying around in bed watching a bit of television. I got up and looked outside and saw some teenagers in fancy gowns coming to the hotel. Brit Boy and I watched the scene unfold. Apparently they were having their school prom. I did think that it was unusual that they were having their prom on a Wednesday night, but perhaps they had already finished school. I don't know. It didn't go on too late I don't think. It was nice to see the teens having fun. (smile) Proms have been a part of American high school culture for decades and in the last few years they have become more popular here in England. I was surprised to read some things lately in the news media here about some people saying that proms aren't a good tradition because it costs too much and seems to be all about money or having the fancy gowns or fancy cars and such and it is consumerism gone wild. Some media even went so far as to call it a tacky tradition. Well I don’t agree with that at all.

Proms back in the day in America were more low-key and were usually held in high school gyms and not in hotels like they are now. And from what I hear from my older sisters a lot of the time the gowns were homemade or bought cheap. It was just a wonderful rite of passage to signify the end of your high school days. A first formal affair as kids went out into the adult world. So proms were simply fun. Nowadays, kids want proms at hotels and yes they get fancy gowns and tuxedos and limos and all of that, but these newer ways of doing things are just symptoms of our times. It can get over the top sometimes now, but people should look at our world now…it is just different in good ways and bad. Still, I think that I would rather that kids do get dressed up and go to proms, even in limos, if it will keep them from skipping out on school altogether and the prom, in favor of falling down drunk in the street and puking in the gutters like you see on the news. Yeah, the prom nowadays is a bit splashier, but it is a gentle thing compared to a lot of the evil out there. So I say, lighten up to the media, and let the kids have their proms if they want, here and back home. (smile)And at the end of the day, sometimes some things are just to have fun. What is wrong with that? You are only young once.

When Brit Boy and I were watching the kids arriving, we saw this family…a mom, dad, little sister, and teenage girl dressed in a flowing dress. She was lovely. The golden sheen of her dress was set off by her beautiful brown skin. It was so sweet. She didn’t arrive in a limo. Mom and Dad and sis dropped her off. They parked along the street and took a series of photos of the girl, and then of her with various members of her family. It was a sweet scene and is really what the prom and special occasions in our lives are all about…the memories that we make. (smile) I told Brit Boy that it was just like watching kids back home. It was one of those universal moments we all share whether this girl and her family were here or back home in my Georgia town. It is like that saying goes; we are all alike more than we are different sometimes. I'm not saying that everyone has to do what America does, because I believe in cultures having their own thing going,but after all, it's just a fancy dance for teenagers. (smile) I love individuality like the next person, but sometimes there is a tug from within when I see shared experiences reflected between people. I think it is important for Britain to have its traditions and America and everywhere else to have their traditions, but I don’t think it hurts a thing or encroaches on anybody’s turf to see ourselves in each other sometimes. (smile)There is so much bad in the world that we all have to share, so why not share a fun thing. I know it may sound simplistic, but sometimes things are debated too much and it is much ado about nothing.

After all of the photo-taking, the family all hugged…even little sis and big sis and then this lovely young lady’s parents waved her off and she walked into her prom. They will never forget that moment within their family, and neither will I.