Tales from Britannia – IV

Over the last three weeks, I have had a chance to visit many attractions in and around London. Some highlights …

• The Museum of Natural History: A majestic chronicle of life on Earth. Right from huge lifesize skeletons of the early dinosaurs to modern day species that wander on this planet. A rich collection of rocks and mineral specimens. They actually have a Pune connection – two specimens, one from Wagholi and one from Khadakwasla.
• The Tower of London: I am not the kind of person who would enjoy a display of jewellery, but the Crown Jewels mesmerised me. I mean, I have never seen a bigger collection of diamonds and gold in my life. The crux was definitely the Koh-i-Noor diamond. Exquisitely crafted, it literally filled the room with its glory. The Crown Jewels stands testimony to the brilliant craftsmanship and metalwork in medieval Europe.
• St. Paul’s Cathedral : One of the many works of Sir Christopher Wren, St. Paul’s is a magnanimous showcase of the wealth of the British Royalty. The architecture and fine sculpture are eye catching. There are some 600 odd steps to reach the topmost gallery of the cathedral from where you get a breathtaking view of London.
• Lord’s : By far, the best moment of my stay here was the view of Lord’s Cricket Ground from the pavilion. I got a chance to be in that famous gallery in the away dressing room where Sourav Ganguly did a Salman Khan. I saw the brilliant view from inside the Media Centre. Definitely, Lord’s is a must visit for anyone who comes here.

Britain’s got Talent!

Check out this performance from the reality show ‘Britain’s Got Talent’.

 

Equus

Of the many things I have been doing here, this has to be the weirdest. I saw Peter Shaffer’s play Equus at the Richmond Theatre here in London. The play has been a topic of many funny (and pun-ny) jokes among friends and it was nice to experience Alan Strang’s obsession with horses first hand.

“Did you get to see Daniel Radcliffe’s weeny?” was the first question Abhishek asked me when I told him I saw the play. I know many people will have the same query so let me clarify. No, I didn’t see his weeny. Instead I saw Alfie Allen’s weeny because it is he who now plays Alan Strang. Of course, it didn’t matter whose weeny it was because both prospects are equally repulsive from my point of view.

Coming to the actual play, it was in fact a very well made piece of art. The performances were brilliant and the script was both powerful and subtle at the same time. The use of lights and minimal props was a highlight. I felt the nudity could have been avoided, although it was done very artistically. All in all, I did not regret spending twenty four pounds to see it.

Link to plot details : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equus_%28play%29

Woohoo!!!

Manchester United win !

Well, they had to. A perfect finish to a brilliant season …

Phinal Countdown …

A cover of Europe’s Final Countdown

Disclaimer : None of the people playing is me and I have got nothing to do with any of them. Any claims that associate me with any of the band members are purely baseless and are lame attempts at ruining my their reputation.

Tales from Britannia – III

It is now almost a week since I came here and I have been to a few places here and there. Yesterday I went to Trafalgar Square where the great admiral Nelson was standing on top of a tall pillar. I ignored him and went straight into the National Art Gallery beside it. Few things I learnt there …

1. European artists had few subjects to paint. So about 75% of the paintings they made were about Jesus Christ (Jesus!).
2. Even Jesus Christ did not manage to do a variety of stuff in his life so 90% of his paintings are about his birth, death and him leaving his mom.
3. Rembrandt, Monet etc. were just weird sounding names for me, but now I know that they were truly great artists who managed to grow out of painting the Gods.
4. Modern art is bullshit. The National Gallery does not have modern art, but from what I have seen of it, it is just a sad way of painting something you can’t manage.

Planning to go to Greenwich some time soon. Also have to see Lord’s. Another quote to sign off

   ”Cleavage cleavage everywhere not a single one to be had”   

                                                                                 - Kaustubh Bhat

Tales from Britannia – II

People from the censor board should try to get a ban on international travel in place. The amount of cleavage I’ve seen in a day on the streets here is more than perhaps 90% of all the stuff the board has deleted in its entire lifetime !

Tales from Britannia – I

People here follow traffic rules, are corteous to fellow motorists and actually give a crap about road ethics. Now for a guy who has spent his entire life in Pune that’s news !                                         

Another Quote …

From today’s Times of India …

” I felt like a cow.”

- Adam Gilchrist on being auctioned off at the IPL .

Don’t take it personally Adam but you are much better off then the    cow … The poor creature doesn’t have a choice , but you had a choice of not being a part the entire tamasha (read IPL) in the first place.

Bheja Fry ?

If you are a bigshot classical vocalist/musician and its Holi then what do you do?

Simple ! You invite really bad classical singers from all over the country to perform in a concert and create a nice ‘Bheja Fry’ situation. A nice place for all of the biggies to meet up and have a nice hearty laugh at the cost of the poor performers who actually feel that they are being appreciated for their voices.

Apparently this happens every Holi and five worst classical singers from all over the country perform in front of a distinguished audience. All this just to make a mockery of the innocent fellows and have fun.

Talk about sadistic pleasure !