Stratford Upon Avon (aka hangin' with Shakespeare)

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So right, I was in Stratford upon Avon this weekend, to be henceforth referred to simply as "Stratford" for efficiency's sake. As you may or may not know, Stratford was the boyhood home of William Shakespeare, as well as where he lived in later life. It's also the home of the Royal Shakespeare Company, which performs his plays. Being a non-Englishy sort of person, I was a little apprehensive about this particular trip, simply because I thought it would be lame. I've read some Shakespeare, but typically found it so tasking to interpret and figure out, that I just couldn't handle it. I was incorrect.

We left early Friday morning, and made our way to Stratford via car. What was nice about this weekend is that most of our time was unstructured, in that we were given the opportunity to explore Stratford on our own. We got this ticket that gave us access to 5 Shakespeare houses for 12 pounds. These involved Shakespeare's birthplace, his wife's cottage, his daughter's/wealthy doctor son in law's house, his mom's house, and the ruins of the house Will lived in himself before some pretentious idiot knocked it down so he wouldn't have to pay taxes. I mean, it was cool to see Shakespeare's birthplace, but it wasn't like, a life changing experience, like going on a pilgrammage or anything. Some people might characterize Stratford as such. The town was very nice, and it was decorated brilliantly for Christmas, with lights everywhere. I enjoyed it. Once again, I found myself in Starbucks. But thankfully, thanks to the recently received Starbucks card from my mom, it didn't really cost me $6. It cost my small plastic card $6. But not me.

The highlight of the weekend was definitely the plays. On Friday we saw "Pericles" and on Saturday we saw "The Winter's Tale." Both plays were put on by the same cast, of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Pericles was given this African theme, complete with fancy robes, dictators, and guerillas. A Winter's Tale was set up in this 1940's theme, then switched to a 1960's hippie love fest sort of thing. I don't know, I figured out I liked watching live theatre. It's an expensive hobby to have though, so who knows if it will ever pan out. It did make me want to visit the new Guthrie in Minneapolis. Shakespeare though, man his plays make so much more sense when you actually see them performed, instead of just reading. What a good idea.

In other things, the beard journey is over, after a rather humiliating 24 hours sporting a Shakespeare-esque mustache/soul patch thing. Not a good idea. The 4 guys stayed in a penthouse room in a pretty sweet B&B, which was good. We had probably the lamest conversation ever on Friday night. The Red Hot Chili Peppers were on TV, and we were all trying to impress each other, trying to explain why they remain popular. Problem is, none of us knew what the hell we were talking about, so we were making the lamest, most vague statements you can think of. Whatever I said made no sense whatsoever. I stopped in an Oxfam (the British equivalent of Goodwill) and picked up a Penguin guide to Jazz on record for 4 pounds. Like, a 500 page book that has a review and discology of practically every jazz album by anyone of significance from the first recordings to 1995. I was pleased. And how can I forget Sunday's church service at Holy Trinity. Besides being the home of Shakespeare's grave, it also features a man with perhaps the most stereotypical English accent ever. I honestly could not stop laughing during the prayers and hymns. This guy was right behind me, bellowing in the most outrageous, John Cleese-ish, just plain crazy voice I've ever come across in this country. I wish I could have recorded it, or at least recorded an impression of it. Holy crap, it was so funny. Like I said, I couldn't stop laughing, and kept trying to find ways to try and hide by intensely reading the bulletin, or pretending to cough.

Two weeks from right now, I'm going to be in Chamonix, enjoying the aprés ski after a day on the slopes. Holy crap. I'll be leaving a week from this Thursday. It freaks me out, but I am ready for adventure. The great act of going out by oneself, or in my case, in a group of 4. Unfettered adventure. Thank you Eurail. Anyways, I had my band concert tonight. It went well, fairly well. I screwed up some counting, but I'm not as irritated as I could be, because it's not like I wasn't prepared. I played my solo well. The main wind orchestra, they had their moments, but they played Russian Christmas Music, and I wasn't too impressed. In blogging news, I'm including links to a couple other Luther folks' websites. I would encourage people to check a couple of them out every once in a while. Get a different perspective, you know? Anyways, I have a rough two days coming up, with a big history paper, a history seminar, and a Paideia final. But on Wednesday, I'm going to see Chicago. Good times. Congratulations to Scott and his new 50 inch plasma flatscreen TV. I'm impressed, no joke.