Someone Left The Flood Lights On: November 2006

"No, Pinky, a mouse and a dolphin can't fall in love...except in a Disney film."

So far, it's been a good weekend.

Started it off on Thursday with the finishing of my Strategic Management paper (rejoice!) and a crazy Thanksgiving party. 35 Americans in a different country making food for each other and watching American football while all the Brits ask questions. What, 7 point scores? First downs? Hailmary's that actually have nopthing to do with church? Yeah, wrap your head around that.

We got in a few good Thanksgiving jokes too. Example:

Brit: "So what's the whole meaning of Thanksgiving?"
American: "Well, basically, you guys religiously persecuted us, so we sailed across the ocean to find a new place to exercise freedom of worship."
Brit: *blink blink* Oh.

Friday was pretty cool also. Went out to Weatherspoon's with Deidra, Sarah, Sophie, Steph, and Krystal and had some great food. Apparently, an elderly man asked Krystal if I was in charge of them. That was a good laugh.

After Weatherspoon's, we came back and had exorbitant amounts of ice cream in Steph's kitchen. Also, we rented A Knight's Tale and 28 Days Later and stayed up until about 4 watching them.

Saturday was a sleeping in kind of day, since it rained a lot. Josiah's parents are over here for a few days so I hung out with them and we went to dinner at Bella Italia, where I had the most delicious Linguine Rustica with chicken and tomatoes. We also split a dessert called the Godfather, which was a chocolate brownie covered in vanilla ice cream and whipped cream and chocolate chips (I see that gleam in your eye, Mom...and Troy). After Bella Italia, Josiah and I stopped at the Hog's for a quick pint.

So far today, there has been church and a quick trip out to take photos of Cheltenham. Also, I bought a really oldschool looking collection of the poetry of John Keats, which I am really excited about.

Oh, and Messiah College are now the NCAA Division 3 Men's Soccer National Champions for the third year in a row. I think a "Boo" and a "Yah" are called for.

I can't believe how much I'll miss this place.

--Brandon

"Everyone in the van can't stand me just because I fell off the stage."

"Are you watching closely?"

Everyone who is reading this, go and see The Prestige....now. It is one of the greatest films I have ever seen. I love Chris Nolan movies.

So the weekend turned out way better than I hoped. Friday went different. Instead of the movie, we went to see Paige play at The Frog and the Fiddle. Pretty awesome and the other acts were pleasant surprises too. Most of them anyway.

SAturday was the big trip to Stratford Upon Avon (Shakespeare's home) and Warwick Castle (finally a proper castle!) Well, except for Edinburgh Castle; that place was just amazing.

YOu must see these pictures, We looked at the armor and swords and dirks and helms. We saw the dungeon and the torture equipment. Matt and RoseMarie got all dressed up in Midieval garb. Also, we walked on the ramparts and towers and saw some amazing views all around us; we even stayed out long enough for sunset.

Sunday was a little more lowkey. I had a Management paper to start, but I ended up out shopping with Sarah and then out exploring Cheltenham with Sarah and Krystal. Good day indeed.

Other good things that happened were ordering the Lovedrug EP and finding out that I can order Malazan books from Amazon Canada for cheaper than Canadians.

And Messiah is in the Final Four for the third year straight.

--Brandon

"I got a story that's almost finished. All I need is someone to tell it to."

You're gonna love this.

Watch this video and laugh:

Enjoy!

"I will not say: do not weep. For not all tears are an evil"

You've got to find my body in the Mecca conquest.

At last, I get abit of a break after spending a week and a half researching and writing papers.

Big plans for the weekend. Tonight, it's the The Prestige with Sarah, Krystal, and Naomi. Should be a good film and I get to laugh at all the Brits wasting pounds on Casino Royale. Hehehe...

Also, I'm getting Doug to record Paige's show tonight at the Frog and the Fiddle. Maybe after, we'll put it up on the ol' Youtube. And tomorrow, it's the group trip to Stratford and Warwick Castle for some old-fashioned British fun (there could be tea...and beer).

Heard the new Damien Rice record the other day from Welsh Sarah. Sounds good, which means you chould check it out.

And while you're at it, listen "When The Levee Breaks" from Led Zeppelin. It's good, too.

More exciting things in the future.

--Brandon

"When the levee breaks, you'll have no place to stay."

And some more...

I took a photograph of you..."

Here's those Scotland pictures:

"Just give her the walkie, Danny!"

I will definitely miss watching Lost for the next 13 weeks.

What an episode! My favorite part is that it's definitely good to be a Jack fan now. All the haters can be quiet. Also they can shift their hating to Kate, who can't make up her mind worth a flying fart.

I'm watchin' it again with Doug tonight. Can't wait to see his reaction.

In other news, pretty much 90% of the Americans are all gone on vacations across Europe, and I am here writing two papers. Yes, I'll be spending the next 5 days learning all I can about the separate roles of women and men in Orthodox Judaism and about Plato's theory of universal ethics. But I'm excited about it (why didn't we touch on any of this in Faith Christian High School?).

Rachael came to visit my flat today, just to see if I knew where Doug was. 15 minutes later, we had planned a trip in December to celebrate the Christmas season in London. Basically, this consist of shopping at Harrod's and eating lunch with her friends and family. Should be good fun, especially considering that, in my experience, London is quite conducive to fun.

I've found a new pasttime...embedding youtube videos in my blog. Here's one I thought was cool.

Actually this is a Google vid. Some of most likely will have seen it.

You know who you are.

--Brandon

"This station is non-operational."

"You say you want a revolution..."

So, the weekend turned out to be more mellow than I anticipated. I spent more time being a little sick than I thought. However, I did get to do plenty of fun things.

You all know what I did on Friday, so I'll skip that. On to Saturday. I slept in until noon (that felt so nice!)and then hung around reading House of Chains (that's the mages and wizards book, just FYI for all you History Church peeps). Then at about 6, Sarah, Naomi, Steph, Sophie, Krystal, British Sarah, and I caught a bus over to the racecourse tocatch some fireworks for Guy Fawkes night.

What a sight! The Brits know how to put on a fireworks show. And apparently they have no compunction with celebrating a day when someone tried to blow up Parliament. Not something you'd celebrate in the States so much. But fireworks are still cool, and I have the pictures to prove it.

After the 'works, we walked home in the now frigid English evening air, bought a couple of chocolate cakes from One-Stop, and finished Saturday off with a game of Scum and hot chocolate. Twas fun.

Sunday, I missed church because I felt like poo. Thank goodness for History Church podcasts tho. And RBC downloads. I passed Sunday by hanging out in my room and watching football, which proved more exciting then I thought.

I'd like to take this moment to thank three people for making my weekend enjoyable: Troy Vincent, Nick Novak, and Sean Taylor. Thanks for showing me that I should never stop watching a game with 6 seconds to go.

Oh and thanks to whichever Cowboy got the facemasking call.

More pictures on the way.

--Brandon

"Please dismantle all these phantom limbs
it's the evidence of humans as ornaments."

A blast from the past.

So, Patrick's birthday and some great food at the local Pizza Hut kicked off our weekend with a bang. Also, some Monsters Inc. made for a good night too. I still can't believe that Laura and Pat hadn't seen it.

I woke up today at about noon, after reading the Malazan series until late. I then scoured youtube for some quality videos that Naomi had recommended to me. Here's one of them: