10 January 2010
9 January 2010
My first week of school.
I survived my first week of school in London, and in hindsight it has been quite an enjoyable one.
On the second day of school some burglars came into the school at broad daylight [via scaffolding/roofs/window into the study centre] and nicked some computers. Not laptops, but proper big computers. Ironic bit is that I was in class in the room next door, we heard some noise, but probably all thought it was the construction people who are working in the school. The problem with those language schools as well is that anyone can walk in and out, cause the students change all the time, in Oxford they've had problems too, with trespassers coming into the cafeteria and nicking wallets.
Apparently, in this school homework is a rarity, which is annoying, because this way we have to do writings and stuff in 20 minutes time on the computers in school. Like 2 days ago we had 20 minutes to make a powerpoint presentation, complete with pictures, information, graphics, and afterwards we had to present it.
We also did a report, in a way I was not used to, we got all the information in correct sentences, we just had to put it in order and type it out. In Oxford we had to make up our own information, by doing a survey during our lunch time, then make the report ourselves, and later do a second draft as well. All this has been usefull though, because when I got my (corrected) report sent back this week it said: 'this is the best report in the class - well done'. Thank you Charles for your frantic love of homework.
I've kept myself busy after school as well; I visited the great National Portrait Gallery, including the 'From the Beatles to Bowie: the 60s exposed' exhibition, which featured some nice pictures by David Bailey.
I also went to the Houses of Parliament with a friend, and briefly attended some debates in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. It was difficult to follow as these things usually are, especially if you don't know what the issue is about. I feel very sad I couldn't go to the first Prime Minister's Question Time of the year:
British politics is fuckin brilliant, it's pure comedy gold. Maybe I should go back some other time.
I saw 'hottest band for 2010' Delphic live (for free! thanks Linda, for letting me be your +1), didn't really listen to it properly before, but it was actually quite good live.
Yesterday I visited Portobello Market, great stuff there up in Notting Hill, bought a lovely dress, and I'm surely going back up there sometime.
That's it for the schoolweek, this weekend I'm trapped in Kingsbury, as they've decided to close all the nearest subway stations. Not that I was really planning on doing anything, I'm too tired to be bothered going out.
On the second day of school some burglars came into the school at broad daylight [via scaffolding/roofs/window into the study centre] and nicked some computers. Not laptops, but proper big computers. Ironic bit is that I was in class in the room next door, we heard some noise, but probably all thought it was the construction people who are working in the school. The problem with those language schools as well is that anyone can walk in and out, cause the students change all the time, in Oxford they've had problems too, with trespassers coming into the cafeteria and nicking wallets.
Apparently, in this school homework is a rarity, which is annoying, because this way we have to do writings and stuff in 20 minutes time on the computers in school. Like 2 days ago we had 20 minutes to make a powerpoint presentation, complete with pictures, information, graphics, and afterwards we had to present it.
We also did a report, in a way I was not used to, we got all the information in correct sentences, we just had to put it in order and type it out. In Oxford we had to make up our own information, by doing a survey during our lunch time, then make the report ourselves, and later do a second draft as well. All this has been usefull though, because when I got my (corrected) report sent back this week it said: 'this is the best report in the class - well done'. Thank you Charles for your frantic love of homework.
I've kept myself busy after school as well; I visited the great National Portrait Gallery, including the 'From the Beatles to Bowie: the 60s exposed' exhibition, which featured some nice pictures by David Bailey.
I also went to the Houses of Parliament with a friend, and briefly attended some debates in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. It was difficult to follow as these things usually are, especially if you don't know what the issue is about. I feel very sad I couldn't go to the first Prime Minister's Question Time of the year:
British politics is fuckin brilliant, it's pure comedy gold. Maybe I should go back some other time.
I saw 'hottest band for 2010' Delphic live (for free! thanks Linda, for letting me be your +1), didn't really listen to it properly before, but it was actually quite good live.
Yesterday I visited Portobello Market, great stuff there up in Notting Hill, bought a lovely dress, and I'm surely going back up there sometime.
That's it for the schoolweek, this weekend I'm trapped in Kingsbury, as they've decided to close all the nearest subway stations. Not that I was really planning on doing anything, I'm too tired to be bothered going out.
5 January 2010
My shit year so far...
It's been a shitty year (literally and metaphorically) so far. I came back to London the 30th of december. I became ill on New Years Eve, so couldn't really enjoy the Mumford & Sons NYE party much (they were great though). Crashed at a friends house in Camden [I just realized that over the past 3 weeks, I've slept in 5 different beds, which is nearly a record] and continued to be ill for the next couple a days, spending most of my time on the toilet.
And ofcourse when I came home the first of January, my student oyster card had arrived... just after I had put 10 pounds on my other oyster card. great.
I was feeling a bit better on Sunday, so I decided to go to the centre. Unfortanutely I was shown another bright side of the beauty that is British public transport... First I had to wait about half an hour at Kenton station before a subway arrived, which is ridiculously long, especially in tube terms. Then the tube didn't go between Stonebridge Park and Queens Park, so everyone had to go on a 'replacement service' bus to Queens Park. After 10 minutes, the bus broke down. Everyone had to get off and go on another bus. A replacement bus for the replacement bus, oh the irony.
After half an hour we finally got to Queens Park. At first there weren't any tubes going from there aswell, and we were supposed to take an Overground train to Euston. I waited 20 minutes in the freezing cold for that damn train, and when everyone got on, some London Underground people came in and said the tubes were going after all, so again; everyone got off and got on the tube...
Only then I realized I'd have to go trough this hell all over again if I wanted to go back home. On the way back, the tubes did go to Queens Park straight away, however, not without stopping several times without actually being at a tube station. There was also some psycho on the tube, who thought it would be fun to smoke some cigarettes inside the carriage.
Then, from the bus at Queens Park untill outside Kenton station I was followed around by some Paki psycho, who kept on smiling at me and following me. Seriously, why do these fuckin lunatics always come after me?
Yesterday was my first day of school in London. I had set my alarm clock to 05.30, but woke up at 07.15... the exact time I was supposed to leave the house for school. So back to no shower, no breakfast, just straight to school.
Half of the people in my General English class were absent, as eventually only 7 of the supposedly 14 people were in class. My teacher, Ross, is a pretty uptight guy, with a Welsh accent and he doesn't look students in the eye, which at first made me believe he was blind. The class was rather boring, and it reminded me of my Business English lessons in Oxford, because the 'job interview roleplaying' seemed rather familiar.
The IELTS elective class was quite low level, but the teacher was pretty cool. Proper facial hair and all. Find him a bit awkward though.
After school I went for lunch with some nice Korean girls and later on we went to a pub with a shitload of other 'new' students. I had a hard time trying to convince a 19 year old Brazilian that the drinking age in Britain is 18 and not 21, and I had the most awful pint of fake Guinness ever.
So that's it for the new year so far. Let's hope it gets better.
And ofcourse when I came home the first of January, my student oyster card had arrived... just after I had put 10 pounds on my other oyster card. great.
I was feeling a bit better on Sunday, so I decided to go to the centre. Unfortanutely I was shown another bright side of the beauty that is British public transport... First I had to wait about half an hour at Kenton station before a subway arrived, which is ridiculously long, especially in tube terms. Then the tube didn't go between Stonebridge Park and Queens Park, so everyone had to go on a 'replacement service' bus to Queens Park. After 10 minutes, the bus broke down. Everyone had to get off and go on another bus. A replacement bus for the replacement bus, oh the irony.
After half an hour we finally got to Queens Park. At first there weren't any tubes going from there aswell, and we were supposed to take an Overground train to Euston. I waited 20 minutes in the freezing cold for that damn train, and when everyone got on, some London Underground people came in and said the tubes were going after all, so again; everyone got off and got on the tube...
Only then I realized I'd have to go trough this hell all over again if I wanted to go back home. On the way back, the tubes did go to Queens Park straight away, however, not without stopping several times without actually being at a tube station. There was also some psycho on the tube, who thought it would be fun to smoke some cigarettes inside the carriage.
Then, from the bus at Queens Park untill outside Kenton station I was followed around by some Paki psycho, who kept on smiling at me and following me. Seriously, why do these fuckin lunatics always come after me?
Yesterday was my first day of school in London. I had set my alarm clock to 05.30, but woke up at 07.15... the exact time I was supposed to leave the house for school. So back to no shower, no breakfast, just straight to school.
Half of the people in my General English class were absent, as eventually only 7 of the supposedly 14 people were in class. My teacher, Ross, is a pretty uptight guy, with a Welsh accent and he doesn't look students in the eye, which at first made me believe he was blind. The class was rather boring, and it reminded me of my Business English lessons in Oxford, because the 'job interview roleplaying' seemed rather familiar.
The IELTS elective class was quite low level, but the teacher was pretty cool. Proper facial hair and all. Find him a bit awkward though.
After school I went for lunch with some nice Korean girls and later on we went to a pub with a shitload of other 'new' students. I had a hard time trying to convince a 19 year old Brazilian that the drinking age in Britain is 18 and not 21, and I had the most awful pint of fake Guinness ever.
So that's it for the new year so far. Let's hope it gets better.
1 January 2010
My year in lists: music edition
Ok here is my album list of 2009. Don't know if I'm ever going to be bored enough to put up motivation, we'll see.
Please note that it's just my humble and tasteless opinion, so it's hardly of any value.
Top ten favourite albums of the year
01. Bear In Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth
02. The Antlers - Hospice
03. The XX - The XX
04. HEALTH - Get Color
05. Video Nasties - On All Fours
06. The Horrors - Primary Colours
07. Japandroids - Post-Nothing
08. Girls - Album
09. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
10. Micachu - Jewellery
There was no space in the list for them, but I liked their albums this year as well: Fools Gold, Dananananannaykroyd, The Maccabees, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sunset Rubdown, Kings Of Convenience, Real Estate, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Mumford & Sons, Animal Collective, Patrick Wolf, Cold Cave, Jarvis Cocker, Atlas Sound, Wavves, Franz Ferdinand, The Big Pink, Slow Club, Woods, A Place To Bury Strangers, JJ.
Albums to look forward to in 2010
01. Foals - TBA
02. Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
03. The National - TBA
04. Wolf Parade - TBA
05. Mystery Jets - TBA
06. Arcade Fire - TBA
07. Crystal Castels - TBA
08. The Kills - TBA
09. Panda Bear - TBA
10. Xiu Xiu - Dear God I Hate Myself
And also the following, but I already had the chance to listen to them:
Los Campesinos! - Romance Is Boring
Beach House - Teen Dream
Surfer Blood - Astrocoast
Midlake - The Courage Of Others
and for the rest i'll just have to wait and see/hear :)
Please note that it's just my humble and tasteless opinion, so it's hardly of any value.
Top ten favourite albums of the year
01. Bear In Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth
02. The Antlers - Hospice
03. The XX - The XX
04. HEALTH - Get Color
05. Video Nasties - On All Fours
06. The Horrors - Primary Colours
07. Japandroids - Post-Nothing
08. Girls - Album
09. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
10. Micachu - Jewellery
There was no space in the list for them, but I liked their albums this year as well: Fools Gold, Dananananannaykroyd, The Maccabees, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sunset Rubdown, Kings Of Convenience, Real Estate, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Mumford & Sons, Animal Collective, Patrick Wolf, Cold Cave, Jarvis Cocker, Atlas Sound, Wavves, Franz Ferdinand, The Big Pink, Slow Club, Woods, A Place To Bury Strangers, JJ.
Albums to look forward to in 2010
01. Foals - TBA
02. Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
03. The National - TBA
04. Wolf Parade - TBA
05. Mystery Jets - TBA
06. Arcade Fire - TBA
07. Crystal Castels - TBA
08. The Kills - TBA
09. Panda Bear - TBA
10. Xiu Xiu - Dear God I Hate Myself
And also the following, but I already had the chance to listen to them:
Los Campesinos! - Romance Is Boring
Beach House - Teen Dream
Surfer Blood - Astrocoast
Midlake - The Courage Of Others
and for the rest i'll just have to wait and see/hear :)
30 December 2009
My year in lists: movie edition
Ever since the Ten Commandments, people have loved lists. At every end of the year you'll see them appear - whether it's movies or music - critics, bloggers and other people on the web putting up their top tens of the year. Or top 5 if you're Rob Gordon. Or top 25s, or whatever...
I love lists aswell, and because the year is almost finished, it's about time I put up mine. I'll start with my favourite movies of the year. Please note: it's just a list of movies I've seen in the cinema this year, some of these were released in 2008in American cinemas and some of them haven't been released yet in Dutch cinemas. It's just that I've seen most of them in Dutch cinemas and a few in English cinemas, so it's a bit mixed when it comes to official years of release.
Keep in mind that I haven't had the chance to see the following movies:
Das WeiBe Band, Doubt, Revolutionairy Road, Synecdoche New York, Bright Star, Let The Right One In, Antichrist, Whatever Works, Moon, Gran Tarino, The Limits Of Control, Ponyo At The Cliff At The Sea
01. Milk
Sean Penn well deserved his Oscar for his portrayal of the late Harvey Milk, the gay rights activist turned politician. Set in the 60s, we witness a story of hope and a fight for equality for the homosexual citizens of San Francisco and the rest of the United States. While Harvey becomes a Messiah figure for the gay community and gains more and more success in his battle against inequality, and fights for a place in the City Hall, his private life is ruined by his ignorance towards his lover(s) due to his focus on politics and the cause he’s fighting for. Also, in the still conservative country and politics that is the USA in the sixties, not everyone appreciates this flamboyant man shaking hands with the mayor....
Milk is one of those movies where everything seems perfect: the acting, the story, the script, and just the way it looks. Amazing achievements by Gus van Sant, Dustin Lance Black and ofcourse Sean Penn.
Also very good supporting roles with James Franco as the housewife, Dan Brolin as the arch nemesis, Emile Hirsch as the young Cleve Jones and Diego Luna as the unstable lover.
02. A Serious Man
The latest Coen Brothers films is incredibly different from everything they’ve ever done. You’d expect a typical Coens crime-gone-wrong comedy, but no crime is involved whatsoever; no murder, no kidnapping, no idiotic criminals. Nonetheless, A Serious Man is an amazing movie, questioning the motives of religion, faith, misfortune, mortality, guilt and family, and tributing, while at the same time non-insultingly mocking, Judaism.
Set in the late 60s, it tells the story of Jewish professor Larry Gopnik, ‘trying to be a serious man’ but instead finding his life falling apart: his wife suddenly wants a divorce so she can marry his best friend, he has problems at work, with a student trying to bribe him, and with possibly not getting a promotion, his son is high on weed during his bar mitzvah and his daughter is saving up money for a nosejob. While constantly claiming ‘But I didn’t do anything’, Larry tries to find out why he is being punished, by speaking to several rabbis. However, none of them seem to be able to provide him with helpful answers.
‘A Serious Man’ is still typical Coens, with the funny caricatures and dark humor, but not what you’d expect from them, it’s a whole new opened door for them and I can’t wait to see what they’re going to do next.
03. An Education
The uncomforting coming of age of 16 year old Jenny (great acting by Carey Mulligan), an intellectual rebel from the 60s, looking for a way out of her ‘boring’ teenage school life. After she gets swept off her feet by the charming, much older David (Peter Sarsgaard), she finds herself at a crossroads in her life: is she going to choose for Oxford University to study and be bored, or will she decide to go to David’s ‘University of Life’, and have fun? How grown up she may think she is, her naivety makes her bound to end up being hurt. Nonetheless, this is what makes her stronger, as these things always do.
04. Up
Up is one of those films that is build on the ‘Le Petit Prince’ motive: it’s actually for the kids, but adults can enjoy and learn from it too. Pixar has been doing very well with these kind of movies, and Up is the next chapter in their book of touching, animated stories. The story Up tells us, is the one of an old man, dreaming of going on a great adventure to Paradise Falls ever since he was a child. He and his wife never had the chance to go, and after she dies, the old man becomes a bitter and moody. One day he decides to go on the adventure after all, and he flies away with his house stuck to a gazillion balloons. Add a fat scoutsboy, some talking dogs , a rare bird and an evil villain, and you’ll get an abstract, extremely funny story that makes you feel warm inside.
05. Precious
Some people seem to find all the bad things there are in the world coming their way. 'Precious' tells the shocking and heartbreaking story of an obese, illiterate 16-year old black girl trying to cope with the physical, mental and sexual abuse she faces in her household, and the fact that she’s pregnant for the second time... by her father. A light at the end of this dark tunnel seems to be the chance to learn how to read and write in an ‘alternative’ school. Great supporting roles by Lenny Kravitz as a male nurse and Mariah Carey (she looks like chimpanzee without make-up) as a social worker.
06. Gomorra
Compared to the brutal reality of Gomorra, the Godfather seems a romantic fairytale. Set in Napoli, Italy we see several stories of its inhabitants, who – no matter how young or old, or from which social class – are all involved in the war that is corruption. Based on the book by Roberto Saviano, who has been under police protection ever since the release of his book.
07. The Reader
08. Il Divo
09. Los Abrazos Rotos
10. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Looking forward to see in the new year:
I love lists aswell, and because the year is almost finished, it's about time I put up mine. I'll start with my favourite movies of the year. Please note: it's just a list of movies I've seen in the cinema this year, some of these were released in 2008in American cinemas and some of them haven't been released yet in Dutch cinemas. It's just that I've seen most of them in Dutch cinemas and a few in English cinemas, so it's a bit mixed when it comes to official years of release.
Keep in mind that I haven't had the chance to see the following movies:
Das WeiBe Band, Doubt, Revolutionairy Road, Synecdoche New York, Bright Star, Let The Right One In, Antichrist, Whatever Works, Moon, Gran Tarino, The Limits Of Control, Ponyo At The Cliff At The Sea
01. Milk
Sean Penn well deserved his Oscar for his portrayal of the late Harvey Milk, the gay rights activist turned politician. Set in the 60s, we witness a story of hope and a fight for equality for the homosexual citizens of San Francisco and the rest of the United States. While Harvey becomes a Messiah figure for the gay community and gains more and more success in his battle against inequality, and fights for a place in the City Hall, his private life is ruined by his ignorance towards his lover(s) due to his focus on politics and the cause he’s fighting for. Also, in the still conservative country and politics that is the USA in the sixties, not everyone appreciates this flamboyant man shaking hands with the mayor....
Milk is one of those movies where everything seems perfect: the acting, the story, the script, and just the way it looks. Amazing achievements by Gus van Sant, Dustin Lance Black and ofcourse Sean Penn.
Also very good supporting roles with James Franco as the housewife, Dan Brolin as the arch nemesis, Emile Hirsch as the young Cleve Jones and Diego Luna as the unstable lover.
02. A Serious Man
The latest Coen Brothers films is incredibly different from everything they’ve ever done. You’d expect a typical Coens crime-gone-wrong comedy, but no crime is involved whatsoever; no murder, no kidnapping, no idiotic criminals. Nonetheless, A Serious Man is an amazing movie, questioning the motives of religion, faith, misfortune, mortality, guilt and family, and tributing, while at the same time non-insultingly mocking, Judaism.
Set in the late 60s, it tells the story of Jewish professor Larry Gopnik, ‘trying to be a serious man’ but instead finding his life falling apart: his wife suddenly wants a divorce so she can marry his best friend, he has problems at work, with a student trying to bribe him, and with possibly not getting a promotion, his son is high on weed during his bar mitzvah and his daughter is saving up money for a nosejob. While constantly claiming ‘But I didn’t do anything’, Larry tries to find out why he is being punished, by speaking to several rabbis. However, none of them seem to be able to provide him with helpful answers.
‘A Serious Man’ is still typical Coens, with the funny caricatures and dark humor, but not what you’d expect from them, it’s a whole new opened door for them and I can’t wait to see what they’re going to do next.
03. An Education
The uncomforting coming of age of 16 year old Jenny (great acting by Carey Mulligan), an intellectual rebel from the 60s, looking for a way out of her ‘boring’ teenage school life. After she gets swept off her feet by the charming, much older David (Peter Sarsgaard), she finds herself at a crossroads in her life: is she going to choose for Oxford University to study and be bored, or will she decide to go to David’s ‘University of Life’, and have fun? How grown up she may think she is, her naivety makes her bound to end up being hurt. Nonetheless, this is what makes her stronger, as these things always do.
04. Up
Up is one of those films that is build on the ‘Le Petit Prince’ motive: it’s actually for the kids, but adults can enjoy and learn from it too. Pixar has been doing very well with these kind of movies, and Up is the next chapter in their book of touching, animated stories. The story Up tells us, is the one of an old man, dreaming of going on a great adventure to Paradise Falls ever since he was a child. He and his wife never had the chance to go, and after she dies, the old man becomes a bitter and moody. One day he decides to go on the adventure after all, and he flies away with his house stuck to a gazillion balloons. Add a fat scoutsboy, some talking dogs , a rare bird and an evil villain, and you’ll get an abstract, extremely funny story that makes you feel warm inside.
05. Precious
Some people seem to find all the bad things there are in the world coming their way. 'Precious' tells the shocking and heartbreaking story of an obese, illiterate 16-year old black girl trying to cope with the physical, mental and sexual abuse she faces in her household, and the fact that she’s pregnant for the second time... by her father. A light at the end of this dark tunnel seems to be the chance to learn how to read and write in an ‘alternative’ school. Great supporting roles by Lenny Kravitz as a male nurse and Mariah Carey (she looks like chimpanzee without make-up) as a social worker.
06. Gomorra
Compared to the brutal reality of Gomorra, the Godfather seems a romantic fairytale. Set in Napoli, Italy we see several stories of its inhabitants, who – no matter how young or old, or from which social class – are all involved in the war that is corruption. Based on the book by Roberto Saviano, who has been under police protection ever since the release of his book.
07. The Reader
08. Il Divo
09. Los Abrazos Rotos
10. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Looking forward to see in the new year:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
