Here it is, 5 days from my last post and I haven't told you guys anything! (Unless you look at facebook, because there are lots of photos up). I've been to Buckingham Palace (quick stop, just for some pictures), Trafalgar Square (very cool), The Victoria and Albert Museum (one of the best, I think), Harrods (Hilariously extravagant and fun), a cruise down the River Thames (lovely), Tower of London (informative and love those tower ravens!), "Ivanov" at the Domner West End (great show!), shopping in Oxford and Piccadilly Circus (SO many people!), saw Big Ben and the Houses of Parliment (huge and fancy!), and took a bus tour of the whole city. Today I'm off to Notting Hill for a bit of wandering before hitting up the National Portrait Gallery and Inigo Jones' "actors church". I may go to St. Paul's Cathedral but I'm not sure I really want to. We'll see what's going on.

Miss you all and London is awesome but it'll be good to get home and catch up on some more sleep!

<3 Nat

London calling....

Yay! I've made it! I'm updating from London (Barnet, London, to be precise, in the Finchley Central neighborhood).
Friday was my last day at RSC. I'll miss it! They were all such good sports and so talented. I'm looking forward to getting back to my work at the Huntington, but walking down Mass. Ave in the morning doesn't compare to saying hello to the ducks along the Avon Canal!

I spent this past weekend saying goodbye to Stratford and visiting Birmingham on what was by far the worst day weather-wise since I arrived. I'm sure Birmingham is very nice on a sunny day but in hurricane-force winds, cold air, and a constant misty rain, it was actually kind of miserable. I did visit a really cool shopping centre to take in some British fashion (ugh I wanted to buy EVERYTHING. They have the cutest clothes here!) and I treked over to the museum, only to find it was closing. Another hour spent wandering in the rain was enough, thanks. It was back to Stratford, where amazingly it was no longer rainy and turned out to be a nice evening. I spent it in bed watching TV, trying to warm up again!!

Today I took a 4pm train out of Stratford, which was re-routed to London Paddington instead of London Marlyebone due to track work, which meant I had to switch trains. Snafu #1. Then I got into Paddington with my GINORMOUS suitcase and lugged up a ramp only to realize the Tube line I wanted was back in the opposite direction, so I doubled back, fighting crowds to get to a staircase that I lugged my bag up and stared in vain at the walls, searching for a way to buy a Tube travelcard. I finally asked someone who said I had to go to the gate, tell them I wanted to go through to buy a ticket (WTF, put some on the other side!) and then go back through and downstairs. Did that and back tracked to my platform, down some stairs, only to realize the line I wanted was closed. UGH! Back upstairs, back through the gate (to the bemused stare of the attendant- you couldn't miss me) and through a very bustling Paddington Station, following signs to the opposite side of the place where I could catch a District and Circle Line train. Went up an elevator, down some stairs (CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK...BANG...here's where the side handle of the suitcase snapped off...shit. Thank goodness it wasn't a more important handle, like the pull one or the one on top!), down two escalators, and onto the platform (FINALLY). Crowded on there with a million other suitcase-laden folks and got off at King's Cross-St. Pancreas station (OMG HARRY POTTER STATION) and had a go at my fourth transfer attempt of the day. Up some more stairs (oof, I packed WAY too much heavy stuff!), down a bunch more stairs (ugh, what's with all these damn stairs) and through a series of tunnels to finally find the Northern Line out to Finchley! AMEN. Thank goodness Christine was there to meet me and help drag me the last mile back to her place (really, like a mile. She's as far from the Tube as my house in Stratford was from RSC...I'm a WALKING MACHINE! WHOOO!)

Luckily, Christine will be working mostly evenings, so tomorrow morning/early afternoon we're going to South Bank area and possibly downtown for a bit of shopping. Yay!

More to come. Pictures of a very rainy Birmingham will be on Facebook soon.

Love,
Nat

RSC! I'll miss thee!

Tomorrow is my last day of work at RSC. This week has FLOWN by and I'm sad to be leaving all of a sudden! I was just getting to know folks better and now I've got to go :( Ah, well, I'm excited about London and I'm going to meet my friend Philippa there on Monday night for a Harry Potter Pub Quiz! YESSSS.

Today I saw the dress rehearsal for "Love's Labours Lost". It is a really spectacularly beautiful show (especially the very last moment). The set is dominated by a huge, very realistic tree that can be climbed and there are shards of colored plexiglass hanging all over like willow leaves. It's very lush and the costumes are incredible. The props looked mighty good too! The show itself is a bit weird....not my favorite Shakespeare...but it was fun to see the stuff all together on stage and there were some good moments of acting and of comedy.

I worked on my dog brain a little more today (it's getting noticibly more realistic...pictures will come when it's done tomorrow afternoon! EWW) and finished up my apple and pear cores/peels. They looked mightly real for a foot or so back. Yay!

That's it, really. Saturday I'll likely pack up my stuff and wander around Stratford. I've sort of exhausted my sight-seeing options for the area (I could take the bus up to a big manor house outside town but I don't know how into that I am). Maybe I'll catch a movie or something. I'll probably end up in a coffee shop for a while or if it's nice, down by the river (I love the River Avon! I'll miss it!)

That's all.
Love,
Nat

Dog brains, dungeons, and gold leaf

Hi again. Sorry it's been a while but I've not felt motivated to update for whatever reason. This past weekend was spent gallivanting around Stratford on Saturday afternoon and heading for Warwick Castle on Sunday. Warwick is a castle that, according to the semi-reliable but informative Wikipedia, was built in 1068 within or adjacent to the Anglo-Saxon buhr of "Warwick" It was used as a fortification until the early 17th century, when Sir Fulke Greville converted it to a country house. It was owned by the Greville family, who became earls of Warwick in 1759, until 1978. From 1088, the castle traditionally belonged to the Earl of Warwick. It held many prisoners including King Edward IV when he was overthrown at one point (only to be restored later). Thanks to my Google search, you can visit the castle yourself, by doing a 360 degree tour here: http://www.our360tour.com/warwick/warwick_castle.htm


It's a really spectacular sight, even with some of the tacky bits that the Tussaud Group has added (the place is run by folks from Madam Tussaud's, so there are wax figures inside and some rather hokey bits, i.e. sound effects and LOTS of toy swords to buy). The castle was voted Britain's Best and the cool bit that the Tussaud Group has added is a working, full scale, authentic trebuchet! They launch it off twice daily. I managed to catch the 4pm launch, where they flung a large ball of fire across a field. I was shocked at how high it went! And it flew a very far distance. This is what the thing looks like:
It is the largest working one in the world! The castle also has most of it's areas open to explore which is really neat. I went down into the dungeons, where you can still see the stratches on the walls from prisoners marking the days spent there. CREEPY. And I climbed over 250 steps up the rampart to get a great view back down on the town of Warwick and the castle grounds. They've even got original 18th century furnishings throughout and some pieces dating back to the Tudor and Medieval periods. The Great Hall is chock full of armor and swords and lots of other amazing pieces of history. They've got a saddle and handkerchief that belonged to Elizabeth I (she visited the castle) and a child-sized set of armor.

I've been busy at the RSC this week. We're in tech so there's been some notes to take care of. I did a lot of gold-leafing, making a lance look a bit more decorative with a broken gold finish. I spray painted baskets to look darker and moldier, and lashed rope to make a carrying strap for one of them. Today I carved foam to look like a dog brain for another show that RSC is doing about philosopher/scientist Thomas Hobbes. It was neat to make, but the research bit was a little gruesome! :-P I also made a LOT of fake Italian money today (but it looks very real...ahh counterfiting! Such fun!)

That's all for now! I miss home a little today but I'm looking forward to seeing this show and to going on to London on Sunday!
<3 Nat

Updates!

Hiya,
Sorry I didn't get to updating anything last night. I was online, but it was a bit later than usual because I went to see "Taming of the Shrew" down at the RSC's Courtyard Theatre. It was a very good production with a really stellar and adorable set that began as a modern seedy motel/nightclub and turned around into an Italian house/manor/etc. They did the bit with Sly and the players at the beginning in modern dress, and Sly is cajoled into playing Petruchio with a streetwalker girl playing Katherine. The players arrive in style, with the back of a truck appearing to come right through the back wall and the back opening to reveal all the actors with little minature Italian buildings that they roll out to make the city! There are stools all around too that look like little archways and parts of buildings. A domed building has it's top taken off like a food chafing dish and reveals a platter of fruit which is then lifted as the rest of the roof drops four ways to make a table!! It was so cute and clever! The production itself was quite cruel in it's playing. A bit of a portrait of abuse, with none of Petruchio's "taming" done in jest. He was beating Kate and his servants the whole show until they're all broken down. However, at the end after Kate's submission to man, the whole play dissolved back into modern day and the players strip Petruchio/Sly of his costume, leaving him standing in only his underwear as they pack the truck back up and Kate climbs in with them, tossing the old Sly clothes out and looking at him in disgust. As the truck door closes, Petruchio/Sly is left clutching his clothes and looks up in horror as the lights pull down on his face and then go out. It was a well-done ending. They stayed true to Shakespeare's writing of the play and it's mysogenistic ideals and making Kate's speech honest and real while not having it all turn out awkwardly sexist at the end by adding that bit in. I liked the actors for the most part (one of the servants being my favorite- he was HILARIOUS. Bravo, Biondello!) and it was a fun and somewhat distrubing night at the theatre! :-P

It's the weekend now! YAY! I could have volunteered to go in on Saturday to work but I am taking the time to hang out, get some laundry done, and possibly go to Warwick Castle for a bit of medieval fun. Next week, tech will be in full swing for "Love's Labours Lost" and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll get to see dress rehearsal 'cause I won't be around for Press Night which is when the company usually gets to go. Christine, no promises on autographs. It looks like I won't get to see Hamlet (it's sold out for the rest of eternity) and I've got the only potential one already promised to Marcus :-P Can't be bugging the man during tech to sign more than one thing! I can get a poster or something though, if you want.

I got to see the costume shop, armory, and millenry (hats) departments yesterday too. They had all the Love's Labours costumes hanging about and they are STUNNING. There are lots of antique fabrics, beadwork, and incredibly intricate layering. I saw David Tennett's doublet up close and it is really incredible. It's all handstiched blue suede, with slashing all over it and a grey-blue silk peeping through, another layer of lining, and then the inner lining of the jacket. So gorgeous. One of the dresses for the girls nearly made me faint. It's an incredible dark sapphire blue with orange/red themed flower embroidery in a large print all over. So so so pretty. Ugh. I wish I could wear it! Armory was neat. They've got some suits of real leather armor with intricate stamping and embossing all over. They also do the boots and shoes there. So cool.

Anyway, I'm off to eat dinner and then maybe head down to the river to read or something. It's a lovely evening and I can sleep in a bit tomorrow! Yay!

Love,
Nat

The late president Kennedy, or why the UK is awesome.

Hi all,
So much to talk about today. Work was much much better today. I'm nearly finished my damn swords (oy! I'm getting sick of them) and it'll all be much more worthwhile when I get to see them on the stage in an RSC production. Tomorrow I'm moving into the crafts room (YESSSS!!!) to work on printing some patterns on fabric for a huge snake puppet. That's more my speed. I did get to do a lot of gold leafing today, which is good practice. I've only done a tiny bit before and today I covered the swords. I also used a router, which angles the edges of wood and gives a nice finish, and I'm glad to not be so fearful of that tool anymore. Unfortunately, I'm still rubbish at the band-saw, but I've honed my sanding/filing skills....I've probably sanded for a total of 3 full hours over the past few days. Whew.

Okay, so some interesting observations...first, on living enviromentally green. Now, in Toronto and I guess in other major cosmopolitan cities outside the US, recycling is prominant. In Toronto they have recycling alongside every trash can on city streets. Among people in homes and businesses in Canada, I haven't noticed anyone recycling more than the average place in the US. Even with all the push for greener living in the States, the average person doesn't do a ton.
The woman I'm staying with does more than her fair share of recycling. She keeps a container by the sink for bits of foil, like from the top of yogurt containers. Every bit of plastic gets rinsed and recycled. The trash bins are TINY in British homes because they recycle so much. They put out one large can of trash (likely not full) and one equally huge can of recycling for the collectors. One woman I spoke to at the RSC composts all her organic waste and recycles almost everything she uses. The only things that go in the trash are tea bags, occasionally bits that can't be separated for recycling (mixed metal and paper containers, etc), and dust/dirt. She sometimes doesn't even put a bin of trash out weekly to get collected and instead can fill both with recycling.

The RSC is just as earth friendly. For being a huge company, they've taken the time to instate recycling in their shops. What shocks me most are the sinks/bathrooms where there is a green bag for recycling paper towels! Think of what kind of change that would make if places in the US did that! I never even thought about the fact that you can recycle paper towels, but of course you can! They also have a huge line of these green bags on one wall of the shop with labels above indicating "Plastic- thin/flexible", "Plastic-hard", "Paper", "Cardboard", "Metal- foils", "Metal- solid", and even "Textiles"!! Every bag is tied and taken weekly to the county recycling centre where it is all renewed. Amazing. The prop shop goes even further by keeping a small bin for organic waste that one lady takes home to compost and use in her garden.

Also, I should note that a huge amount of Brits walk to work, which is not unheard of elsewhere too, but I would say RSC is of equal distance to the place I'm staying then it is to Nobscot, and yet when I worked near there, I drove every day. People would think it strange to drive that far, but will accept a ride if offered. Bikes are popular too.

Anywhoo, that's a bit of green-thinking, with love from the UK.

More observations on culture here....tea. Now, I know the UK loves tea and that Christine loves it too and came back drinking loads but I always figured it was a bit of a stereotype. No, it is not. They are obsessed with tea. I'm drowing in the stuff. I'm lucky I like it, because it's offered to me several times a day, and is part of two mandatory break times at RSC when we all line up at the little machine and pop in tea packets and stand about, sipping and chatting. The moment I walk into the kitchen here at Trish's, I'm offered tea because someone is usually making it. I drink probably 5 cups a day, which is a lot, but nothing compared to some folks here. They really do drink it non-stop. And when it is offered, no one refuses. The designer came by to check out props today and was promptly offered tea, and sipped as he perused the things we've made. You're never offered a drink, or coffee, or water, or anything else....always tea. Funny.

Lastly, I met a really awesome girl named Eve today. She's from Ireland and lives there but she flies into Birmingham and takes the train down to Stratford about once every month or so to spend a few days working at RSC props during the busiest times. She's really friendly and asked if she could tag along for my walk home so she could see the river path into town. We chatted along the way and she told me that in Ireland, they really love Boston, mostly because of the Kennedys. Many Irish know someone in Boston or have visited the place themselves but they aren't interested in the typical things Americans come to see (i.e. stuff related to the American Revolution). They really want to see stuff related to the Kennedys. Eve said that it was back in 1962 when JFK visited Ireland and people STILL talk about it. They also called him "the late president Kennedy," as if he died yesterday. They really love Ted Kennedy too and are sad he's been ill. Funny, huh? Apparently they also celebrate Fourth of July there. Like, they recognize it in honor of America. Pubs will have a special meal or something, and the church will hang a little Fourth of July banner or something and say a prayer for us. I found that a bit odd but touching. I told her that Americans probably couldn't tell her the first thing about Ireland aside from Leprachauns, and possibly that Bono is from there. She (and everyone else here) knows a ton about American. She asked if I was Democrat or Republican. I'm lucky I know a bit about British politics (party names and current and recent P.M.s) but they know a ton. They don't like Sarah Palin ("She's a redneck!" one woman exclamed at lunch) and they feel hopeful about Obama like many of us in the States do. And they hope he'll be beloved like JFK....or at least Ireland does. haha

Love,
Nat

I was thinking to myself yesterday while at the RSC workshop that the people here seem to work awfully slowly/spend hours and hours and hours on the same project. Today, I realized why. Everything they make is like a little precious artisan-crafted jewel that is ready to be in a museum. Now, part of that is because they are in a thrust stage and the audience can be literally only a few feet away from the props (unlike at the Huntington where you've got a good 15 feet or so of "blur room", so little bits don't show. I spent ALL day today working on these wooden swords. I cut one of them out twice, only to mess it up twice and have to re-draw it a third time for the head guy to cut out. I didn't fare as badly on the other but I spent AGES sanding and filing it to perfection (and really, it is still flawed but not terribly so and the way it is decorated, it won't show).

I feel a bit inadequate at times and have to remind myself that I'm just volunteering and anything I do right helps them and anything I fuck up puts them no further behind than they would be if I wasn't around! My boss, John, is really sweet and even when I'm making a total mess of things, he'll say something like "Well, we can't quite use it like that but that's not to say it's your fault. It's the nature of the beast, I'm afraid" or "It's not you, it's just a bit of trial and error, you see?" That's very reassuring to know he's nice about it, even when he probably thinks I'm a bit dim! haha. He did say last week they had a work-experience girl who didn't even know how to operate a paper-cutter (SERIOUSLY.) and so she basically spent her two day visit watching everyone work. I'm glad I'm a bit more useful than that!

I'm CRAVING being moved from the wood/metal area of the shop into the crafts room where they do all the paper props, books, and fabric work. I'm much better at that. Hopefully I'll get to do some gold leafing tomorrow too. Or something! No more wood, please!!

I took the bus from down by the workshops this evening into town centre and then walked down to the Courtyard Theatre. I knew that 'Hamlet' was being performed tonight, which means the place becomes a madhouse (David Tennett, of Doctor Who fame plays the lead), but I didn't realize how early it started. I had hoped to get there before the crowds but I didn't. I'd made the trip, so I wanted to get into the gift shop for a look around, so fighting the bunches of other folks in the tiny shoppe, I picked up a few things (here's looking at you, Amanda, Marcus, and Kirsten!) as well as a t-shirt for myself and then spent a bit of time down by the river, watching the birds. There are lots of swans, who are nice to watch. Their long necks are so funny and they move them about, watching you and expecting food. It reminds me eerily of velocaraptors! They are so used to humans that they'll come right up to water's edge and look at you, waiting for bread. They hissed at a passing kayak but didn't seem to mind me being only feet from them!

That's all for tonight.
Ciao!
<3 Nat
PS- If you read this, post a comment and say hello :-P