A Few Fun Things

Ahh.. one week to go before final exams; almost there. I'm taking a small breather before going into this final period; at which point I'll be somewhat focused.

However before I find myself in THAT wonderful place, a quick reflection on the past couple of months. Since getting back from Spain life has been pretty good- the weather has been sunny more often than not (although still a surprising amount of rain), and the training for the marathon has been fairly successful :) I hit 17 miles in 2:20 last Saturday; currently nursing a slightly inflamed knee, but I think I'll be alright for Davos in July. Apparently it's the highest Marathon in Europe.. their version of one of our famous alpine runs. I'm very much looking forward to it.

I've started looking into what work is going to be like when I get back.. more of the same tutoring, surfing, and yoga, but I think that after a year here I'm going to be looking for other jobs rather quickly. I have my heart set on finding some cool consulting position with an environmental/sustainability firm. That's perhaps a bit mainstream in this political environment, but if I look at the philosophy I've been studying and that way I've been trying to live my life, I think sustainability consulting may be right up my alley. Mostly I'm looking forward to being back in Cali though- it will be nice to see the family, wake up to the sun, hit the beach, and cruise around orange county tutoring young people. I'm waxing nostalgic for being back and re-connecting with the homeland (heh, and waxing my board) before starting some other cool journey. That and I'm itching to pay back these student loans (sheesh!).

I'm not sure how soon I'll write again- most likely after exams are complete. I feel a bit Lance Armstrong-ish right now. Fighting uphill; moving slowly and decisively forward.

But first:

I was headed home sometime in late April on a Friday night, and emerged from my local vege buffet shop to find HUNDREDS of cyclists clogging up the street! I asked one of them what was going on and she told me a monthly meeting called CRITICAL MASS that has been going on in London for 15 years. Apparently the group is international- there's a critical mass in New York, and I'm sure other cities as well.

So Many Cyclists! How odd...

This guy was cool- he had a loudspeaker on a chasis behind his cycle
and so we were cruising around London stopping traffic to the strangest
techno/rasta beats I've ever heard. I don't know where this guy got his mix,
but it was a singular musical (and kinesthetic) experience.

So I, as you would expect, decided I had to join in on the fun. The only problem was I had no bicycle, as my previous one was destroyed in a road accident in February. I have since Critical Mass purchased another much faster and cooler bike that I may have to keep and ship back to Los Angeles, but this is another story. At the moment I met up with Critical Mass, all I had was my skateboard. I grabbed it and joined the party, and I must say the experience of cruising through London streets to tech music with hundreds of cyclists was.. well, singular.

Action Shot from the Skateboard

The group would cruise a few kilometers and then stop at some intersection where
a cyclist had recently died (unfortunately this happens a lot in London- usually people
are run over by trucks (lorries) that have huge blind spots. Busses get us sometimes too).
We would completely block the intersection, stopping all traffic, and then people who knew
whoever had been killed would say a few words in memory, and invariably the group
would start moving again. It was a touching experience, and I felt, especially after being
hit by a car myself, like I was part of the community.

One final shot- this one fella had a custom job with a huge canopy and a banner for
critical mass on it. I kept trying to get a picture but cyclists would get in the way;
this is my best shot.

Anyways Critical Mass was an incredible and random experience. I skated around with those people all through Central/South London, and even got a tow or two from cyclists who wanted to help me keep up when cruising down tower bridge. I'll never forget the experience of being able to surf London streets like that on my longboard-- I literally had the entire street to myself a lot of the time, depending on how many cyclists were near.

Aand that's not all folks:

Sometime before revising hit me hard one of my good aikido buddies, Nodari, came through London and asked whether I'd like to join him for a tour of the British Museum. Apparently the museum is a five minute walk from the LSE, but I'd NEVER NOTICED. Funny how it takes a visitor to wake you up to such things. Anyways I took an afternoon off and joined him- what follows are some fun photos of random artifacts, including the infamous Rosetta Stone. Pictures follow- Cheers :)

Once you enter the British Museum, this is the main foyer inside.

I love this architecture. The ceiling is some kind of opaque glass composite,
so if it's sunny the effect of the crossed shadows on the walls is rather trippy.
Here it is: The Rosetta Stone. There were always a good 20 people taking pictures of it,
but I managed to get this shot off somewhere inbetween.

Cool Babylonian 5-legged lions (So you get correct perspective from front + side)

Egyptian Heiroglyphs. A lot of people were sitting around
drawing sketches of the original carvings.

I can't remember exactly what culture, but pre-Greek.. Anyways the bird-god
was rather cool looking. There were many different carvings of this figure.
Centaur vs. Man- one of the many carvings from the roof of the Parthenon.
This is really cool: Apparently the Parthenon wasn't all white; it is believed that a
strip of colored paneling, recreated above, ran along the outside of the building.
Such designs were de moda at the time.
No trip to the British Museum is complete without seeing awesome Japanese
Buddha statues (these made from ivory, I believe)
A confucian buddha (Chinese origin)
And a more classical Tibetan (I believe) Buddha.
This was a really cool many-armed statue of Shiva.
The Sri-Lankan version was rather... well.. impressive.
(I know I'm being a geek, but it's funny that this culture worshipped
over 2,000 years ago the same female form that America does today.. no other
statues came close to the modern standard except the Sri Lankan ones.
I'm wondering why exactly the Sri Lankans chose to honor Shiva in this manner,
but anything else I write here will sound bigoted).
This is my absolute favorite piece. It's a piece of ceramic-ware done by an artist
who lives in Japan and is considered a living national treasure. I would love to
have one of these. (Artist: Tokuda Yasokichi)
Babylonian Lions smiling on the way out.

To be honest we were only able to tour about half of the museum- it's enormous! I hope very much to go back and explore the other half sometime soon; the sheer size and scope of what you can view is staggering; a valid substantiation of the strength of the old British Empire.

There have been a few other random/ noteworthy experiences in the past few weeks, but these will have to wait for the next post. I hope all are well, healthy, and happy-- best of luck in the next few weeks, and keep on truckin!