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lillibetAfter a very laid back week, we had another quiet weekend. The big
excitement in our week was that Leah's hard drive got fried, so we got to
see a lot of her while Jason leapt to her rescue. Most of her data was
recovered and a new hard drive installed and she can get on with her
dissertation.
On Wednesday night we walked up to Wood Green and saw Rush Hour 2. It was
fun to watch Jackie Chan's antics, but not otherwise remarkable. I was
exceedingly bummed to discover that the Cineworld has discontinued butter
for popcorn. These wacky Brits don't know a good thing when they see one.
On Thursday evening we went to see the Cirque Eloize ("el-was") performing
their show "Excentricus" at Sadler's Wells theater in Islington. They are
another group of graduates from the National Circus School in Montreal, like
the ones who founded Cirque du Soleil. Much of the aesthetic is quite
similar--no animals, no announcers, live rock music accompaniment--but on a
smaller, less flashy scale. The show had a simple plot, created by the
interactions between the performers as they went about doing their
routines. Creating characters made a connection between performers and
audience, so that the audience was made aware of their routines (simple, but
difficult stunts) as personal achievements. It was a wonderful show.
As the show got out, we rang Leah and she met us a few minutes away at
Tartuffe, the Alsatian place she had introduced to us, where we stuffed
ourselves with their pizza-like tarts. My favorite is probably the dessert
tarte of sweet cheese, apples and cinnamon.
On Saturday we walked up to Wood Green in the afternoon and saw A Knight's
Tale, starring Heath Ledger as a peasant lad who wants more than anything to
be a knight and win the jousting tournaments. It was fun and clever and we
enjoyed it. Afterwards we walked about a mile up Lordship Lane to the
furniture showroom Barbara had asked us to visit in order to verify the
quality of a piece of furniture she's been looking at over the net. I'd
done something to my back on Friday and it was hurting, but I think it was
good to get out and stretch it. The weather was nasty (about 90F, I'd
guess, and sunny), so we were quite tired by the time we made our way back
down Green Lanes, only to find the street closed off by the police for two
blocks, about half a mile north of our house. They weren't letting even
pedestrians through, so we had to detour up the hill and around the
obstruction. Stopping at the convenience store on the way home, we heard
the clerk telling another customer that a Turkish man had been stabbed, but
there's been nothing about it in the news.
Yesterday I thought it would be nice to visit Highgate Cemetery. It's
supposed to be lovely and some interesting people are buried there. It was
a cool, grey day when we set out, but by the time we came out of the tube,
it was pouring. So we turned around and took the tube back to Leicester
Square. We had thoughts of another movie, but nothing was playing at a
convenient time. We spent a happy half hour in Lush, buying a new supply of
bath bombs and other wonderful treats, and then came home.
I made a pasta bake with gnocchi for dinner, as an experiment. It was tasty
enough, but the gnocchi weren't right. It's so hard to find prepared
gnocchi that aren't heavy and soggy. Jason was dubious about gnocchi to
begin with, so I doubt I'll try that again.
So that was our exciting weekend. This week should be somewhat busier, as
we prepare to depart for Italy on Friday. We'll be gone for three weeks.
We hope to have at least some email access, but if you don't hear from me,
don't worry. I'll tell you all about it when we get home.
excitement in our week was that Leah's hard drive got fried, so we got to
see a lot of her while Jason leapt to her rescue. Most of her data was
recovered and a new hard drive installed and she can get on with her
dissertation.
On Wednesday night we walked up to Wood Green and saw Rush Hour 2. It was
fun to watch Jackie Chan's antics, but not otherwise remarkable. I was
exceedingly bummed to discover that the Cineworld has discontinued butter
for popcorn. These wacky Brits don't know a good thing when they see one.
On Thursday evening we went to see the Cirque Eloize ("el-was") performing
their show "Excentricus" at Sadler's Wells theater in Islington. They are
another group of graduates from the National Circus School in Montreal, like
the ones who founded Cirque du Soleil. Much of the aesthetic is quite
similar--no animals, no announcers, live rock music accompaniment--but on a
smaller, less flashy scale. The show had a simple plot, created by the
interactions between the performers as they went about doing their
routines. Creating characters made a connection between performers and
audience, so that the audience was made aware of their routines (simple, but
difficult stunts) as personal achievements. It was a wonderful show.
As the show got out, we rang Leah and she met us a few minutes away at
Tartuffe, the Alsatian place she had introduced to us, where we stuffed
ourselves with their pizza-like tarts. My favorite is probably the dessert
tarte of sweet cheese, apples and cinnamon.
On Saturday we walked up to Wood Green in the afternoon and saw A Knight's
Tale, starring Heath Ledger as a peasant lad who wants more than anything to
be a knight and win the jousting tournaments. It was fun and clever and we
enjoyed it. Afterwards we walked about a mile up Lordship Lane to the
furniture showroom Barbara had asked us to visit in order to verify the
quality of a piece of furniture she's been looking at over the net. I'd
done something to my back on Friday and it was hurting, but I think it was
good to get out and stretch it. The weather was nasty (about 90F, I'd
guess, and sunny), so we were quite tired by the time we made our way back
down Green Lanes, only to find the street closed off by the police for two
blocks, about half a mile north of our house. They weren't letting even
pedestrians through, so we had to detour up the hill and around the
obstruction. Stopping at the convenience store on the way home, we heard
the clerk telling another customer that a Turkish man had been stabbed, but
there's been nothing about it in the news.
Yesterday I thought it would be nice to visit Highgate Cemetery. It's
supposed to be lovely and some interesting people are buried there. It was
a cool, grey day when we set out, but by the time we came out of the tube,
it was pouring. So we turned around and took the tube back to Leicester
Square. We had thoughts of another movie, but nothing was playing at a
convenient time. We spent a happy half hour in Lush, buying a new supply of
bath bombs and other wonderful treats, and then came home.
I made a pasta bake with gnocchi for dinner, as an experiment. It was tasty
enough, but the gnocchi weren't right. It's so hard to find prepared
gnocchi that aren't heavy and soggy. Jason was dubious about gnocchi to
begin with, so I doubt I'll try that again.
So that was our exciting weekend. This week should be somewhat busier, as
we prepare to depart for Italy on Friday. We'll be gone for three weeks.
We hope to have at least some email access, but if you don't hear from me,
don't worry. I'll tell you all about it when we get home.
