Paris (more to come)

 

Even More Pictures...

 

More Pictures from the Parade

 

Various Pictures from the Parade

 

Waiting on Her Royal Highness

 

Program Book

Funny story....there's a crazy old woman in front of us for the Parade, she's telling us she's seen this 30 times and met the Queen 3 times. She's showing us her programme book and we ask how much it costs. She says "2 pounds" so we reply "oh, that's like 4 dollars, we don't really need one". then she asks us if we can buy her another one for her boyfriend! We each give her a pound... 

Making Sure No One Kills the Queen

 

Nobody Special....just the QUEEN of ENGLAND!

 

Long Time No Blog...

So it’s been a while since I’ve blogged, but that’s only because I’ve been sooooo busy. This is why:

I have an internship at Wild. It’s a record promotions company that works with several different big record companies such as Polydor, Island Records, Mercury Records, Def Jam, and some more I can’t think of off the top of my head (mayber Universal or Atlantic?). They get all these major artists new cds way before they come out and mail them to tons of different DJ’s, skate shops, and college press (depending on the artist). They have over 700 different DJ’s on database and they pick which DJ’s they send what to. So when we mail out the new Fall Out Boy single, we don’t mail it to DJ’s who spin at Hip Hop/R&B clubs and when we mail out the new Nelly Furtado single or Kanye West cd we don’t mail it to DJ’s at indie clubs or that do indie radio shows on college radio. The DJ’s are sent reaction sheets along with the new material and they mark down their reaction, clubbers./radio listeners reactions, etc. and send it back to Wild. We take in all the data analyze it and write a report for the record company telling them what people think of the new music, what songs they like, why, what audiences like it more than other audiences, what parts of the UK people are liking it more (Scotland or Wales? Liverpool or London?) , etc.
My first day consisted of doing mail outs- making a couple hundred copies (240 I believe), labeling envelopes, fold reaction sheets to fit in envelopes, and then stuffing the 240 reaction sheets I copied along with the proper cds and return mailer into a large envelope that I attached an address sticker to. I did this all before lunch (which was really late- 1pm). After my hour long lunch break we watched some of the world cup. Then I redid this large 4’x6’ month long calendar dry erase board and watched some more football. The dry erase board paid off because I asked about a band playing and they said “oh no, that’s a different band but we have tickets to tonight’s Angels and Airwaves show at the Astoria. So I got 2 free tickets to go to that. Then I sorted the post (mail). Nothing too complicated so far…Then they showed me how to file stuff…pretty simple. The next day I learned how to write the reports that we send to record companies. They’re pretty simple and straight forward, but you definitely have to use your brain more for those than stuffing mail outs. I’ve found it’s best to mix tasks up. Oh, one more task I forgot about- inventory. All day long couriers and the Royal Mail are bringing in posters, t-shirts, buttons, flyers, and cds in. All of this stuff needs to be stocked and inventoried. I do that too. Not as simple as you think though, it’s color coded by record company on the stock board…lol.

The Angels and Airwaves show me and Chris went to last Tuesday night was quite an experience. Tom DeLonge (the singer from Blink 182) formed a new band with the drummer from the Offspring, the guitarist from Box Car Racer and some other bass player. Needless to say everyone in the audience was young, emo, and judging by all of the black they were wearing in the sweltering heat hated themselves lol. Me and Chris show up to this show in brightly colored Hollister, American Eagle, and Gap clothes not to mention carrying bags from work. So if not sticking out enough we decide to go up front on the floor. The band finally comes on and we realize we’re in the mosh pit lol. So we ended up having a pretty good/funny time. It was incredibly hot though. That day had been really really hot in London and not too many places have air conditioning in London. So we’re in this venue with out air conditioning in a crowd of probably 1200-1500 just dripping with sweat- it was almost sauna like. Lots of people start taking their shirts off and once they start moshing they end up bumping into you and falling into you so needless to say we felt pretty disgusting. We ended up leaving early b/c well 1. the music was horrible and 2. it was ungodly hot. But we did have a great time lol

What else have I done….here’s a quick list of places I’ve been since last blog:
Eaten in China town
National Gallery
London eye
Buckingham Palace
Natural History Museum
Queen’s birthday parade- Trooping the Colour (and yes I saw the queen and the whole royal family)
Notting Hill
Portobello Road market
Trafalgar Square
Piccadilly Circus
Hyde Park (where we walked next to Orlando Bloom)
Probably some more places of interest I can’t remember of the top of my head…

More observations:
All of their signs (minus a couple…) are all in primary colors. Everything is red, blue, or yellow. Just a bit odd….but it does catch your attention really well and it’s easy to read…I think we could learn something from their graphic design…
Everything is soooo expensive….the cheapest place I’ve eaten has been at IKEA (yeah Jenn I went to IKEA- want anything in particular?) The whole exchange rate is killing me. I found a $20 bill I didn’t realize I had and went and exchange it. I got 7.93 pounds back. How sad. The exchange rate isn’t quite 20:7.93 (they took a cut) but it is about 1 pound: $1.89.
Their red lights also do this neat thing of turning yellow and red while it’s red just before it’s about to turn green so people can go ahead and start going and making the most of the green light.

News:
Saw Orland Bloom, even walked right next to him on the sidewalk trying to confirm his authenticity. It was him. He looked like a homeless guy. He was with 2 “normal” people and he had a semi ugly dog with him with a really fancy collar. We knew for sure it was him when he, his friends, and his dog walked into a really fancy restaurant (valet parking out front, ferrari’s and porches parked on the curb) and instead of asking for a table he introduces himself right off the bat and they seat him with his dog! I’m pretty sure you can’t get seated with a large ugly dog if you’re not famous…
My 1.5-2 hour commute to and from work and 45min-1hour commute to central London are killing me. I’ve investigated moving into the CAPA flats in Kensington and it is a possibility. I need to talk to the CCSA a little more.
Me and Chris have been hanging out a lot with some friends we met from CAPA. We’ve got a lot of random ties with them. 1. I knew Melody Haile from Gallatin. 2. One of them, Katie Phillips, works at Wild with Chris and me. 3. They go to Lipscomb 4. It’s kind of random that we met all of them (minus Melody) in London thousands of miles from Nashville where we live 2 miles away on Belmont Blvd.
Sally, my homestay mummy, is great! She cuts up fresh fruit for me every morning (pineapple, strawberries, blue berries, peaches, oranges, bananas, cherries, etc) and she leaves me dinner ate night for when I come home late. She even does my laundry (including ironing!). She’s the exact opposite of living in a dorm at college.

I guess this is all for now. I need to look through my pictures and edit some of them and post them on the website. I think I have some cool ones from the Queen’s birthday (which was awesome!) We had to wake up at 6:20 in order to get there early enough to get good spots. We stood yesterday from 8am-2pm at the ceremony. 12pm-2pm were in the sun. After that we walked to the CAPA flats and Sainsbury’s for lunch. Then went to Notting Hill and walked more miles at a Portobello Road Market. Then me and Chris went to IKEA and probably walked a mile in there. All in all I was up from 6:20 am till 2am yesterday and spent probably 8 hours in the sun and 9-10 hours either standing or worse- walking. Talk to everyone later!

P.S. going to Paris next weekend- so I should get some good pics there!

View from the London Eye

 

Just like that guy at Belmont who practices on top of the garage...

 

China Town

 

The National Gallery

 

Trafalgar Square

 

Pigeon at the Thames

 

The Tube

I've never appreciated deodorant and air condition so much... 

Unexpected Observations/Random weird things:

1. They really do have bad teeth! Not everyone but waaaayy more people than I was expecting.
2. They're crazy about their electricity. Each plug on the wall has a switch right next to it to turn that plug on or off. So if they're not using the TV that's plugged into the wall, besides turning off the TV they turn off the plug. What's worse is when a surge protector (power strip) is plugged into the wall, they turn the button off on the surge protector AND the plug at the wall! If you turn it off at the wall, turning the surge protector off doesn't help any!
3. I've seen more Ferrari's and Bentley's here in one day than I've seen in my whole life in Nashville. Yesterday alone I think I might have seen 9 or 10 Bentley's and probably 5 Ferrari's.
4. They drive incredibly fast and stop at the very last second!
5. Looking right then left is incredibly unnatural.
6. The sun here doesn't set till about 10pm! Until about 9:30 it's just as bright as it was in the morning. (In the morning it rises around 4-I'm told...)
7. They have horrible social skills here. They're all shy and NO ONE speaks on the tube or trains. They all read newspapers or books. The don't ever look you in the eye either. They look down as they pass you.
8. I haven't seen air conditioning on anywhere. But windows and doors stay open all day and a little while into the night.
9. Wireless internet isn't as prevalent here.
10. London is HUGE! About 60milesx40miles. About the size of Gallatin to Brentwood or Franklin as "Nashville".
11. It's incredibly hilly where I live (and a lot of other places). It looks like San Francisco when I look out of my front door.
12. Unfortunately everything is really expensive. My lunch 2 days ago (just a sandwich and fries and 1 beer) cost $15 (US). The exchange rate is almost 2lbs/1 dollar. =(
13. They curse and swear here a TON and no one cares or seems to think anything of it. Little kids go by talking like sailors...they also smoke too.

That's all I can think of for now...But there's more...gotta go get ready to meet Chris.
If you're reading this I probably love you!
garrett

How nice...

 

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

 

Big Ben!

looks kinda photoshopped to me....but it's real... 

I'm Sure I'll Get There...eventually

So I never planned on actually blogging on this blog (only posting sweet pics) but I never planned on spending the night in Chicago last night either, which leads me into the topic at hand! Traveling to London!

So far it's been waiting on London not so much traveling. I think the $7.95 I paid for wireless internet in the Nashville Airport yesterday was the best investment I've made in my life. It works here in Chicago too and should expire when I should be boarding my plane for London.

Anyway so my travels started good in Nashville. My flight was delayed about 50 minutes but I would have had to have waited that long in Chicago to connect to London so it was ok, I got to eat one last (free) meal with my parents (thanks Dad). I go through security with no problems, find my gate and wait. I quickly discover the flights been delayed from 6:45 to 7:30. I talk to the agent and he moves my seat from 17A to 1A so I can be 1st off the plane and have a better chance of making my flight from Chicago to London. I'm sure that would have helped if the flight hadn't been delayed from 7:30 to 8:10, then from 8:10 to 9:30. Then ultimately till 10:30 when we lifted off. By this point the airline had already given me $10 for dinner and paid for a nice hotel room at the Wyndham at O Hare so I wasn't too upset. I'd be on the first flight to London in the morning...

All is well untill when exiting my plane in Chicago they tell me to get my checked bag at Claim 10. I navigate my way to the baggage claim and wait with everyone else from my flight untill it is just me...and 1 gray bag that's now made it's way around the carroussel twice. This bag is not mine. I proceed to go to American Airline's baggage services counter and wait 45 minutes (from 11:30pm-12:15am) in line only to find out that I wasn't supposed to go get my bag in the first place. They keep it checked for my flight the next morning. Well it's good news that they have my bag but it's bad news I wait 45 minutes at 11:30 at night because the flight crew misinformed me about my bags...

By 1:00am I've made it to the Wyndham O Hare and checked in. I even paid $10 for wireless internet I knew I'd only use 15 or 20 minutes. Or so I thought...the internet never ended up working and they refunded my money because the entire hotel's internet was down. At this point (2am) I don't care and just want to sleep till 6am so I can wake up for my 7am airport check in.

Somehow I wake up on time and even catch the airport shuttle on time and get to the airport early! I'm eating breakfast (paid for again by American Airlines) at my gate at 6:59am. Things are looking good. The airplane is there and the jet way is connected to the plane. All is well...untill the agent at the desk informs us that the plane that is supposed to take us to London has been struck by lightening and is out of commission untill further notice...They are looking for another plane to get us to London. I don't see any chance of that happening considering it took them 4.5 hours to get a plane to take us from Nashville to Chicago the day before. Somehow they do pull it off and we're scheduled to depart at 4:30 and arrive in London at 6am. This is good untill about noon when they delay the flight again till 6:30 pm putting us there at 8am. This is still better than spending the night in Chicago again. At the moment I'm scheduled to be out of here at 6:30 but I've been at the food court eating for about an hour now so I'm sure something bad has happened lol. We'll see...

Hopefully I'll eventually meet up with Chris who has been there since about 10 this morning alone lol. Hope he's having fun without me!