Cool...

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I was looking around IMDB for some information about the upcoming movie, The Golden Compass, based off of the book by the same name, and found this picture:

HDMOxford.jpg


I've been there. Walked down that very pathway, with Barbara, Will and Fran, and again later when I went with the Marymount students and on my own during my time in Oxford. I figured I'd recognize some locations from Oxford, but I never really figured that I would have been in some of the areas where they did some filming.
I'm really awaiting this movie - aside from the fact that I've been in Oxford, it's one of my personal favorite books, and one of the best fantasy novels out there. On top of that, I've met Philip Pullman, the author of the trilogy, while in Oxford, which was one of the most memorable experiences while I was out there. Man, I can't wait to see this on the big screen. Hopefully, it'll turn out to be true to the book.

Oxford X 3

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Went to Oxford for the third, and probably last time while I'm here. And, guess what?

I met Philip Pullman. Talked to him and shook his hand. He seems like a nice guy, just very distant.

I was up for a Literary Festival that the Sunday Times had put on in Oxford. Brian Aldiss, who wrote the short story Supertoys Last All Summer Long, one of my favourites, joined him, along with another two people who's names I forget, to talk about Science in Science Fiction. Interesting talk, although the questions weren't the greatest. I got signitures from the both of them.
After the excitement of waiting to see them on the stage, I was a little disapointed with them in person. They were both pleasant, but I guess I was just another fan. Not that I was really anticipating anything different.

Went to the Eagle and Child again, talked with a gentleman from Germany, where we talked about cars and the English Language. That was good. He spoke excellent English, and was there to brush up on it a bit.

Train ride home was uneventful, and I fell asleep. When I returned, I went to STA, and booked a flight to Greece. The way that the flights worked out, I was able to stop over in Munich for a short time. Now, to book a Hostel.

Bliss

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I'm going to see Philip Pullman.

That's right, Philip Pullman, the author who wrote The Golden Compass, Subtle Knife and Amber Spyglass.

Along with him, Brian Aldiss, who's a really amazing Science Fiction writer.

Oxford is running a Literary Festival, and when I was there, I found a pamphlet with the topics and speakers there. Pullman, Aldiss and a couple other authors are doing one on the Science in Science Fiction. So, I just booked a ticket, VERY close to the front row, so I'm getting a good seat for this. I doubt that they'll be doing a signing, but just being there will be plain cool. 25 days from now then.

Went to Bristol yesterday, had a very fun time there. Great city, very clean, small, homely. Had lunch at a very good cafe, walked around a lot. It snowed. Hard. Literally, I've never, ever, seen a snowstorm come up so fast. It was sunny when we went into a building, ten minutes later, we get out and it's coming down extremely hard. Visibility dropped and for about a half hour (We went to the cafe) it just came down. Insane.
Pictures: http://norwich.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2002520&l=9673e&id=70000497

Now, for class.

Latest Trip

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So, I did do a bit of travelling again, this time with the Marymount Students that we're studying with. We were scheduled to go on the trip, all of us in Lexia, but for some reason, Ryan, the project Coordinator, didn't know that and there was a number of last minute phone calls to get me to go. They were happy to have me come along, they were just surprised that we'd thought that we're going on as well. So last minute, I was going along.
Got up at about 8 on friday, showered, and got myself down the road to where we were getting picked up, and by around 9ish, we were off.
It was the first time that I've exited London via roadway. The numerous other times that I've left the city was through trains, and it was really cool to see a new side of the city. It was about a three or so hour ride to our first stop, Blenheim Palace, Winston Churchill's birthplace. Big house, with the family still living there, although we went to a different wing, one open to the public. Very well decorated, and boring. Our guide was interesting, but I really wasn't interested in china and chairs. There was a very cool display on Churchill's life, and of his paintings.
From there, we went on another couple hour ride to reach Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of the playwrite William Shakesphere, which was very cool to see. Nice, small town. All the book stores had huge sections on him, and there are some very old buildings. I didn't actually get to see his house, because of the expenses and time. So we all walked around for a while, went to a pub for dinner. Decent enough food and drinks there.
That evening we went to a play, Women Beware Women, which was long, slow and weird, but interesting, although I was falling asleep at times. I believe that it was put on by the Royal Shakesphere Company, and the actors were very good. We stayed in a bed and breakfast for the night.
The next morning, we got up, and drove over to Oxford, which I've already been to. There was a major protest while we were there, something about animal rights and anti-testing, as well as a pro-testing group that was huge. The police were out in force. I gathered that the anti-testing group had been violent in the past and they were completely surrounded by policemen and police women on foot, horse, motocycle and lorry. We did a tour around the city with a guide, a nice guy named Chris, who took us into one of the colleges and explained a lot of the history and interesting points of the city. We then scattered, and I got a cookie and lunch at a resturaunt. (It was about a 45 minute wait though) but worth it. From there, went around on my own, then stopped by the Eagle and Child again, got a drink, then got the bus and returned home.
Overall, a fun trip.
I've put the pictures that I took online, here: http://norwich.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2002216&l=33832&id=70000497

Walking

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Haven't been up to much in the past couple of days, a couple classes, going to Oxford and Windsor Castle, both of which were pretty interesting. Thursday and Friday I currently have off, which is really nice, able to sleep in a bit and to do whatever.
I walked down to visit the Tate Modern today. We visited during our orientation, where we got tickets through the program to see their exibition on Henri Rousseau, which was pretty interesting, but that's all that we saw. Went to go see the rest of it today. Lots of other pieces of art there, some very cool and very weird stuff.
I realized that there's a reason why I like art: It confuses the hell out of me, and for most of them, make me think about what the artist is trying to say, most of the time. Plus, it's nice to just see some things that look really cool. However, there's only a couple of the paintings in there that I'd seriously consider going back to see. But there are a lot of other interesting things to see there.
Went back home, cooked some dinner, chicken, which actually came out pretty good, and down here to check the mail. Katie, one of the Lexia people, is coming on Saturday, and we're going to Canterbury on Monday.