Saturday, January 06, 2007
Today I visited another couple of famous London sights. First I went to the Houses of Parliament (Westminster Palace), though I did not do much more than taking a few pictures - obviously making sure to include one of Big Ben.
Following that, I headed over to Westminster Abbey. Since I did not pay the entrance fee for St. Paul yesterday, I decided to splurge the £11 to see this one from the inside. It is an old Gothic church, and the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English monarchs. I enjoyed seeing all the famous tombs and plaques, and I have decided that I want to have a tomb made for myself when I die. Many of the epitaphs were not exactly humble, and that is just what I would like: "He was a tall man with lots of friends and no enemies. Charitable to the end, his only weakness may have been being too humble. His passing will be an eternal loss for mankind". Something like that, just a bit longer.
Following my visit to Westminster Abbey, I headed over the visit Liz in Buckingham Palace. For some reason, she appeared not to be expecting me, so instead I took a stroll in one of her gardens (St James's Park).
After getting tired of birds and grass, I decided to visit the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms. Now, this was an interesting exhibit. It is wonderful that many of the war rooms are in the same condition as when they were abandoned. Seeing the War Room, from where the course of the war was directed, was particularly interesting. Thinking about the Second World War, I noticed on BBC that a German director (Dani Levy, apparently Jewish) has made a comedy about Hitler titled "Mein Fuehrer". This has apparently triggered a lot of debate about whether Germans should be encouraged to laugh about Hitler, though Charlie Chaplin in "The Great Dictator" showed that laughing at Hitler is quite possible. Either way, Dani Levy commented in the TV program that his motivation was to create a politically incorrect movie, and that is good enough for me. I will probably rent the movie when it comes out.
Speaking about politically incorrect movies, today I finally got a chance to see "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan". Although the movie opened a long time ago, it was still showing at a movie theater near Piccadilly Circus. I have been excited about seeing this movie since early this year, so finally getting to see it was fantastic. I read that "Bruno The Movie" is scheduled for release in 2008, so that gives us something to look forward to. Sacha Noam Baron Cohen is a genius.
Following that, I headed over to Westminster Abbey. Since I did not pay the entrance fee for St. Paul yesterday, I decided to splurge the £11 to see this one from the inside. It is an old Gothic church, and the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English monarchs. I enjoyed seeing all the famous tombs and plaques, and I have decided that I want to have a tomb made for myself when I die. Many of the epitaphs were not exactly humble, and that is just what I would like: "He was a tall man with lots of friends and no enemies. Charitable to the end, his only weakness may have been being too humble. His passing will be an eternal loss for mankind". Something like that, just a bit longer.
Following my visit to Westminster Abbey, I headed over the visit Liz in Buckingham Palace. For some reason, she appeared not to be expecting me, so instead I took a stroll in one of her gardens (St James's Park).
After getting tired of birds and grass, I decided to visit the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms. Now, this was an interesting exhibit. It is wonderful that many of the war rooms are in the same condition as when they were abandoned. Seeing the War Room, from where the course of the war was directed, was particularly interesting. Thinking about the Second World War, I noticed on BBC that a German director (Dani Levy, apparently Jewish) has made a comedy about Hitler titled "Mein Fuehrer". This has apparently triggered a lot of debate about whether Germans should be encouraged to laugh about Hitler, though Charlie Chaplin in "The Great Dictator" showed that laughing at Hitler is quite possible. Either way, Dani Levy commented in the TV program that his motivation was to create a politically incorrect movie, and that is good enough for me. I will probably rent the movie when it comes out.
Speaking about politically incorrect movies, today I finally got a chance to see "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan". Although the movie opened a long time ago, it was still showing at a movie theater near Piccadilly Circus. I have been excited about seeing this movie since early this year, so finally getting to see it was fantastic. I read that "Bruno The Movie" is scheduled for release in 2008, so that gives us something to look forward to. Sacha Noam Baron Cohen is a genius.
|
 |
