Week(end) in Review

I've had a relatively fair and balanced weekend. And for reasons unbeknownst to me (the term "bank holiday" shrouds the historical origin in secrecy), I've got today off to boot. Suckas!

Even yours truly gets run down by city life every now and then, so this weekend I pulled a bunch of my fellow expat colleagues together for a day trip to the English coast. After a 2 hour train ride through the countryside (of course we nearly missed the train, since that's how I travel these days), we found ourselves perched at the edge of the famous White Cliffs of Dover. After picking up some sustenance at the local farmers' market we embarked on a 10 mile hike along the the coast to a town called Deal. (Lest you be impressed - or surprised - and confuse us with true outdoorsmen, I'll clarify that we city slickers chose a relatively easy path which allowed us to make pub stops in local villages along the way.) The scenery was beautiful, and the weather managed to hold up for nearly the entire trip. An early Christmas miracle! Unfortunately (or fortunately, perhaps) we just missed our train back to London, and wound up spending an extra hour at a pub playing songs on an old jukebox. For some reason I find myself really digging R.E.M.'s "Man on the Moon" these days.

I also saw Inside Man this weekend, which I highly recommend. (Has this movie been out in the U.S. forever?) It's a Spike Lee Joint, and like some of his other recent films (25th Hour comes to mind) manages to come off as both poignant and funny in the way he integrates themes of race and privilege into the storyline. As usual, New York City also plays a key role in things. Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, and even Jodie Foster put in great performances. And they better have, since the theatre I saw this movie at charges over 12 pounds a pop for tickets. Yes, I paid about $22 to see Clive Owen orchestrate an intricate bank heist for a few hours. Well, actually, I paid about $26 if you include my $4 Pepsi. Is that irony?

Because I'm cultured like that, (and I was sort of told I was going...and it was free) I also made time to stop in to the Tate Britain this weekend to check out their Gothic Nightmares exhibit. Henry Fuseli's "The Nightmare" is the exhibit's focal point, which I actually found quite interesting. You'd be surprised by the type of people that show up for a gothic exhibit, too. I saw a lot of black eyeliner and long trench coats. In true form, we were in and out of there in 1 hour - my key museum requirement.

I know what you're thinking. This week(end) in review seems to be missing something. An unwelcome respite from stories about excessive partying, perhaps? Don't worry. I'm just saving up some energy for this month's aptly titled (how, I don't know) "Trip of the Century". The Jesus, Straight Bangin', and even Dishan (get a website, man) are going to descend upon London for Memorial Day weekend. Let the chaos begin!