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21
Jun 13

Buckingham Palace

We watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace today. The queen was in residence, so we’re basically standing in her driveway. That doesn’t get old, I’m sure.

Also in the driveway is the Victoria Memorial, which was dedicated in 1911 by George V and his first cousin, Wilhelm II of Germany, to their grandmother, Queen Victoria. There is a statue of her in the fountain:

This one is meant to be the Angel of Truth:

This one is meant to be the Angel of Justice:

This one is meant to be the Angel of Charity:

The symbolism of these seems to be lost to Wikipedia, but the top feature is thought to invoke Peace and Victory.

There is a marching band playing at the changing of the guard. They did martial tunes, traditional English songs, a bit of Over There and some Adele.

What you didn’t see in this video is the cavalry. And all cavalry should look like these guys. No one’s storming the gates on them. (Also they got their own police protection, which seemed odd. But this is Britain these days.)

Enjoying one last afternoon tea before we continue our travels.

To the train! To another train! To the airport! To the terminal! To the wrong part of the terminal! To a hike, with luggage, so long that they hang signs that tell you how many more minutes you have to walk!

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18
Jun 13

Westminster Abbey and more

We also saw Westminster Abbey today. Made it just in time for a tour and a beautiful evensong service. I did not take pictures inside — this is the first time I’ve ever abided by that rule — but I did make a recording. You can hear it in the video below:

Had my first ever fish and chips today. Don’t know what took so long. I like fish. I like fries …

We went to this place, which came well recommended. And it was very good.

Finally, here’s what sunset in London looks like:

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15
Jun 13

Our last sea day

We’re on our way back to the States. Here’s the view from our veranda, look at all that deep blue:

There was a giant brunch buffet this morning to mark the end of the cruise. It was an embarrassing amount of food:

They had two chocolate fountains.

And ice sculptures everywhere.

The entertainment tonight was comedian Buzz Sutherland. He’s just been enjoying the cruise with his family and does his standup tonight. Sweet gig. And a great show. Check him out on YouTube.

There is a martini bar on board, notable for being an ice-covered bar. And, apparently, the bartenders are trick drink makers. I walked by just as a guy poured these seven drinks simultaneously out of a clutch of shakers.

I don’t know what the ship record is for this, but that guy was pretty proud of himself:

Finally, here’s the promised video of pianist Jordan Peterson. He’s playing tunes covering about a 50 year range, and he’s worth hearing:

Tomorrow we have to get off the ship.

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31
May 13

Just skip to the music

And on the fifth day of this crud, I have the worst of this crud.

The good news being that, soon, I’ll be on the other side of it. The bad news being that I haven’t slept all week. Though I did find a nap today.

And then I spent most of the day complaining about my head: my head cold, my sinuses, my headaches and all. It just goes on and on.

So some music then, because why not? Earth, Wind & Fire covers on this edition of YouTube Cover Theater. This guy personifies the concept, claiming over 175 million YouTube views of his various videos, Igor Presnyakov covers Let’s Groove Tonight:

Tyler Robinson covers September:

This is crazy good, and sometime soon you’ll be telling people you knew Emily Elbert way back when:

High school jazz bands better be covering EWF. Bass player’s got chops, too:

You get a lot of drum solos and recordings of bass solos and backing tracks when you search for Earth, Wind & Fire covers. But you also get the criminally under-viewed Allen W. Davis:

And then I spent 20 minutes listening to Davis’ other stuff. Fascinating.

Couldn’t pick just one Earth, Wind & Fire song to end with, so here’s the Greatest Hits, Volume 1, off a vinyl transfer, as it should be:

Have a great weekend!

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28
May 13

The blehrgh

I’m coming down with it, whatever the sinus-driven, allergy death mojo of the day is. The Yankee got it last week — she was fine when she got on her bike and then after a short ride she was feeling less than her normal best self. And that continued for several days before her medicine took hold.

Me, I got home from my weekend visit to see grandparents, stood outside for about 10 minutes to rinse the bird souvenirs off of my car and came inside feeling it too. So I’m telling myself these are Tennessee Valley allergens, which means I could flush them out of my system soon now that I’m back on the plain.

Otherwise, I have developed local allergies and that would be no good.

The good news is that this seems mostly confined to the region between the third rib and the nasal cavity. The bad news is that I’d rather have pretty much any other part of me not feeling well.

The upside is that it gave me the opportunity to not only listen to, but live this song:

But, I mowed the lawn today. I trimmed back a tree. I took this picture of Allie:

Did some other things. Felt my head swim. Started taking sinus and allergy pills myself. Life is grand.

Adam came over for dinner, and then we all ventured out to the new Dunkin Donuts. It opened today! And it closed this evening. So they aren’t 24-hours yet, after all.

If they were worn out on the first day, this doesn’t bode well. (I’m sure they’ll be fine.)

Finally, if you ignore the reporter, this is the best story you’ll watch all day: