Update since last Friday

On Saturday I went to Kempton Park racecourse, which was pretty cool. I had enough trouble just getting there, though, as a few train stations were down for some reason and I had to run around for an hour and a half trying to find the right station to get me to the course.

Luckily, I got there in time, and the first race was delayed anyways so I didn't miss anything out. I did bet on a few horses, but the only time I won I received £4.80 for a £2 bet, and my earnings were spent on beer. Horse racing isn't the most appealing thing to me, but then again I don't know much about it and don't have much money to throw around like a lot of people at the race track. Plus, the only excitement comes within the last 30 seconds, because that's the only time you can see the horses up close and know who's actually winning. I'd rather gamble on something I have better control over, like poker.

Sunday I went to the British Library, where I saw some old bibles, some Mozart manuscripts and some handwritten Beatles lyrics, which was pretty cool. The exhibition side of the library was smaller than I thought, but worth going to anyways. I also revisited the British Museum and walked around the Temple (of Da Vinci code fame), but there wasn't much open inside.

I just interviewed this morning with the production company mentioned before that does corporate video. It's a small operation, but it looks like I'd be able to get right in and do some hands-on video work. They mostly produce internal company videos, and they do things for Nokia and Transport for London. I'm not as skeptical of it as I was going into the interview, and the head honcho did work for the BBC for 18 years or so, so I can talk to him about the broadcast experience.

But I do have another interview at 1:00 with Flame TV, which produces documentaries for various channels. I was leaning towards this when I heard about the opportunity, but luckily this interview will let me know what they have to offer me.

I still feel a little bad about leaving the newspaper, and some people at the office want to keep me there, but I know I'm making the right decision because I want to know as much about TV and video production as I can before I go back to (most likely) being a news producer at NBC15. It may not be news, but it's practical stuff I should know about.

I got another quirky historical sports assignment in finding out that this one stadium use to run cheetahs against greyhounds back in the 1950s. Cheetahs! Finding little historical nuggets seems to be my patch now, which is alright by me being a history major and all.

Looo is coming from Paris this weekend, so I'm excited and we should have a good time. I'll probably be visiting the rest of the continent for a week when I'm done at the end of April, but I haven't decided whether I want to go alone or with a friend or maybe on a vacation tour company.

My time is almost up, but I'm feeling better about my situation right now and should be able to make my decision tonight about what I want to go into.

Photo links

I found a way around having to e-mail everyone every time I post new pictures. If you click on the following links, you will be brought to several of my albums (If I've e-mailed you within the last few days you already have these links). I'll continue to e-mail those whose e-mail addresses I have, but for those whose address I don't have, you're now able to better see what I've been up to:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=zsnak7k.6q6lhjs&x=0&y=u0016x
A trip to Edinburgh, and later the BBC

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=zsnak7k.oz8h1xk&x=0&y=-eg0h0n
Basically everything else I've done the last 2 months. The first page is deceiving: You DON'T have to log in; there's an option near the bottom that says "View photos without signing in"

I'll still e-mail my current list of people every time I amass a new set of photos, but I'm glad I found a way to share them all in case I forget anyone.

New photos

Hey, now that I've finally uploaded all my photos, I'm putting my favourites here. Send me an e-mail at scottpwilliams@yahoo.com if I haven't already sent you a link to my entire album.

Top left is Durham Cathedral, followed by Edinburgh Castle in the blizzard. The it's the quiz show at the BBC, a view from Edinburgh Castle and then the Tower Bridge in London

Busy weekend

Yesterday I went to the BBC, and though sadly I wasn't able to get a job there, I did tour the television centre with a few other interns. It was a really nice place and the tour guides were good as well. I did pretty well in the category of history, as I correctly guessed when the BBC was established (1922, a total guess), and I was the only one, even though there were other young Brits in the group, that correctly guessed what happened in 1953 that made it the first time more Brits tuned into TV rather than radio. It was Queen Elizabeth's coronation, of course. One guy even said "moon landing," but I'll let that slide because he wasn't American. I've really picked up a lot of English history in the two months I've spent here, which I obviously enjoy, being a history major and all. I'm very close to being able to name all the monarchs in successive order, at least since Henry VIII, to add to my presidents list.

I also got to see part of the BBC newsroom and one of the studios where they tape all kinds of shows, and at the end of the tour they have an interactive television set where volunteers can take part in a 30-second newscast or be a contestant on a mini quiz show. Naturally, I volunteered to read the news like the good little broadcast journalist that I am.

We also went into one dressing room and learned how spoiled Jennifer Lopez is. She actually had to fly in two of her own white couches because the ones they had there weren't up to her standards. Plus, she is the only person besides the queen to be driven up directly to the studio entrance, because she didn't want to walk 40 meters to the door like everyone else.


Today I am going to Kempton Park, which is the racecourse that I did my historical feature on in the paper. They gave me two free tickets to the reopening of the course, which is the least they could do for giving them good publicity. I now see that I get a two-page spread in next week's sports section of all (except one small article) my writing, which is really cool.


I've gotten one offer from a production company to intern there. It's a company that makes corporate videos, campaign videos and video news releases. I'm a little cautious about taking on this one, just because I feel like I'm selling out to the 'other side,' i.e. PR. But then again, I'm not really selling out because they're not paying me, I'm working there for just a month, and really this is just a means to an end that might help me with the skills I want to use in regular journalism. Apparently there are lots of former broadcast journalists working there. My internship program director said there are a few other companies interested, so I am going to wait to see what they have to offer before I make my decision.

In other news...

Last weekend I fulfilled a lifelong dream: I walked the same ground the Beatles did at Abbey Road, and I now have photographic proof of my accomplishment. Woo hoo! That's me with Abbey Road studios in the background. I feel all warm and tingly inside.

Standing at the crossroads

After an emotional (at least on my side) talk with my editor, I decided to pursue a different internship for the month that I have left here. The newspaper just didn't seem to fit me right, although I'm really glad I came here because it gave me a sense of what news is like over here and it reinforced my decision to go into broadcast. My editor agreed that since I'm almost guaranteed a broadcast news producer job when I get back, it makes sense to find something that will help me towards that. She's been really helpful and encouraging throughout this internship.

Broadcast jobs are so tough to get here though because there are so few outlets and they're highly competitive. I contacted the BBC today about a placement and they replied that there are certain restrictions for non-EEA citizens blah blah blah it takes three months to process applications blah blah blah - basically I'm not getting in there anytime soon.

My internship program director is trying to find me a new placement, and she gave me a short list of placements that sound alright. My editor encouraged me to contact some companies myself, although I feel a bit sketch working under the nose of someone I paid to find me an internship. The best bets seem to be the independent production companies that make documentaries and other TV programs, and I think I would enjoy working in that environment. After taking the Comm Arts media production course last fall I've been thinking more and more about making documentaries, and the Brits are full of great documentary programs.

I do feel bad leaving now, especially after the sports editor praised me for my work on a big historical feature I did on a local race track. I get a whole page devoted to my work in next week's paper, which is exciting. But at the same time I feel what I'm doing is right, and my editor said I should put my own needs over the needs of everyone else because this experience is all about what I want to do with my life. I'll definitely miss my coworkers, but at least I'll still have the chance to meet up with them on the weekends.

War-themed Saturday

Now that I'm uploading pictures, I just realized how many places I went over the weekend.I decided that Saturday would be a war-themed day.

I started the morning off by visiting the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum, which is where winston Churchill and the war cabinet gave underground orders during the Blitz in the earlier part of World War II. It was a really cool place, as they preserved a lot of the offices as well as sleeping and dining quarters. The photos will explain better, but the rooms housed mannequins made to look like Churchill and his staff still at work. The adjacent Churchill Museum dedicated solely to you-know-who just opened last year, and I was really impressed by the interactivity of it. It gave me a greater respect of the man, not just as a war leader, but as a great writer and orator. I almost bought a CD of his great speeches, but then thought better of it and realized I could probably download them if I really wanted to keep them.

After a quick stop at heavily-gated Downing Street and a quick bite at a pub, I was off to the Imperial War Museum, another nice free museum that London offers. The main area houses old tanks, guns and planes, while the basement has a really good account of World War I and II, complete with loads of artifacts. The best parts were the Trench experience, where you walk through a World War I trench with mannequins, and the Blitz experience, which tries to
replicate a bomb attack on London under the Blitz.

The museum also houses a Human Rights violations wing and a Holocaust museum. The museum here is smaller than than the one in Washington D.C., but it was just as powerful I think.

Spending a day at these museums and talking to elderly people around London have made me realize how easy we have it today, not just our generation but in America in general. It's easy to forget as Americans that everyone over here was on the front lines of the war, not just those who fought. Women and children had to sleep underground during the Blitz, when so many lives were lost and so much had to be rebuilt. At the same time, some people over here (*cough*
French *cough*) easily forget how the brave men and women of America saved their arses and prevented everyone from speaking German.

Worky lurky

I haven't really updated much from my work experience lately, so I thought I'd comment a little on that.

Things are going well at work, although it was a little tough getting back into the groove of things after taking a long weekend off. I'm working on a historical feature on a nearby horse track, which is nice because I'll have a whole page of my writings to myself. The only bad thing is no one who works for the actual racecourse has any sense of history whatsoever. The only thing they could give me were certain historical articles written in 1978, which were helpful, but still it would be nice to actually talk to someone who knows a lot of the history of the course. I did talk to someone from the local history society, who also gave me a few good things about the course itself, but he didn't really know much about racing. So now I'm on the hunt for someone who was at the course 40 years ago and knows a lot about racing, and the only person I can find is one of the sports guys in our office. I don't know how fair it is to interview him since I work with him, but he's pretty much my only shot.

I also have come to find that I've put a lot of pressure on myself to perform, even though I know I can't possibly write the same amount of articles as the regular reporters because A) They've been here much longer (not just Hounslow but the UK in general), and B) They are the first points of contact for stories. I think I've been craving more meaningful stories, and it's hard to get meaningful stories when you don't know much about the area. Thankfully they are starting to give me more feature pieces, which should allow me to show my talents better. I think in terms of day-to-day newspaper reporting this probably isn't for me, but I sort of knew that already. It sort of makes me wonder why I'm still here, but I know that this is helping me become more comfortable with reporting and building my portfolio if I wanted to go into print. I also really enjoy my coworkers: they're really helpful, and if it weren't for them I probably wouldn't be having any fun in the office.

One of the things I've noticed while working here is that I like to work with technology and I like being able to teach others. I think I've always come from a position of knowledge, which always gave me a certain confidence, and I think my confidence was cut down coming over here because I'm no longer at an advantage point of knowledge. Now that I've been here for awhile that knowledge has built up, but it's hard sometimes for me to admit that I don't know about something, and I'd rather "Google it" than ask someone for help. That has certain implications for journalism too, because sometimes you have to admit to the person that you're interviewing that you don't understand them or don't know much about the subject. That's been hard for me to do, and it affects the questions that I ask, but I've been able to use the excuse that I'm American. At the same time, if you do know a lot about the subject you can get a better understanding of what questions to ask.

I'm excited that I get to tour the BBC this Friday. Maybe I can slip my resume to the receptionist while I'm there.

Happy Birthday to me

Hey all,

Thanks for the birthday wishes. I kept the celebrating pretty low key this year, which is probably good because I was able to catch up on sleep. I did have a nice birthday dinner of chili con carne made by my host mother.

I do miss you all back home and regret that I can't be with you all to celebrate, but I'll be sure to celebrate once I get back to the states.

Lovely (and bloody cold) Edinburgh

Having been to Edinburgh, I now know why Scots have so much pride. The town is absolutely GORGEOUS, the views from the hills are stunning, and the old town character is so much better preserved than London. It was also bloody cold while we were there, but it was worth enduring the cold wind and blowing snow to see all the sights.

Saturday morning started off with a hitch, in that I was running a little late for our train. Luckily with our 4-day BritRail passes we could take the next train in half an hour, and it turned out that throughout the whole trip we didn't need reservations. This was very helpful, because our plans were ever-changing.

From this trip I've learned a valuable lesson: Make a plan, then rip that plan to shreds and make sure you have enough backup plans to make your time worthwhile. Our original plan was to arrive at Edinburgh around 1, tour the city and stay overnight, then take a daytrip to Newcastle and Durham (in northern England) and head back to Edinburgh that night to sort of sample the nightlife. When we got to Edinburgh, we realized there were too many things to do there and all the touristy things seemed to shut down around 5.

Once we made it to our hotel, we knew we had to go to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where the Queen stays when she visits Scotland, because that wouldn't be open the next day. By the time we were finished there, it was too late to make any worthwhile visits of any other tourist attraction, and so we decided we'd visit Edinburgh Castle the next day along with some other sites. We walked around the city quite a bit, snapping photos and taking in the beauty of the area. I had my first hand-drawn Scotch Ale at a pub, and then we walked around some more. The "High Street" or "Royal Mile" that stretches between Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse is one long pedestrian street of quirky shops, tourist attractions and pubs that would put State Street to shame. I was amazed at how many of the shops were independently owned, except of course for Starbucks. The Old Town used to be the lower-class area of the city, but it's gained new life as a tourist spot and luckily a lot of small businesses seem to thrive from that.

After eating at a little greasy-spoon cafe, Kristin and I were dead tired and ended up going to sleep around 8. It didn't help that we each had gotten one hour of sleep from our clubbing experience the night before.

Sunday morning awoke with a blizzard, and after a hearty free breakfast from our hotel, we set about to tour Edinburgh Castle, only to find that it was closed for the day because of the weather. Luckily there were enough things to do nearby, including a visit to the Camera Obscura and Optical Illusions museum and a tour of the Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre. At the whisky centre we each got a free glass and a sample of whisky while learning about the history and making of both single malt and blended whisky. I even learned the traditional scotch whisky toast, which spelled phoenetically is "Sul-ahn-je-var"

Our next stop was the Real Mary King's Close, which was a close (long, narrow stairway that leads from the bottom of the hill to the top and had shops and people living in flats) that was built over by the City Chambers. The entire tour was underground, taking us back to the time of the plague and teaching a lot about everyday Scottish history in the 17th and 18th century. Our guide was really good, and one of the things I learned was that every night at 10 pm people would shout "gardy loo" (bad French for "Look out for the water") and throw their waste from a bucket out the window, which would trickle down to the lake at the bottom of the close. Sounds fun, eh?

We decided we wanted to see Durham Castle that day, and so after the close tour we hopped on a train to Durham. By the time we got there, it was 4:30 and the castle closed at 5pm. The lady at the information desk said that we probably wouldn't make it in time if we walked. "Unless we ran," I said, and we trekked the slippery hills and narrow streets to get to the cathedral about 12 minutes before closing.

The cathedral is HUGE, and I'd never seen a church dominate a city's skyline like that before. There's also a castle nearby, which is now home to a university. Once we were done in the cathedral, there really wasn't much else to do in Durham because everything had closed, and most of the other things to do there are more summer-y. So we took the train back to Edinburgh, sore feet and all.

We finally made it inside the castle the next day, and though it was cold again the sun did manage to peek through. Our tour guide was great, and at one moment pointed at a strip of land with a little tower on it just beyond a body of water and said, "No this is not France, and that is not the Eiffel Tower, as someone asked me before. People have also asked me if that's Ireland, and I said, 'No, you're getting closer but that's on the other side of Great Britain.' And one person actually asked me if that was North America." He then made some funny comment that I can't repeat here because I can't remember, but you'll have to trust me it was good.

As we made our way to see the Scottish crown jewels, I got a phone call from a few friends visiting in France saying they were in London for the day. Wanting to meet up with them before they took off that night, Kristin and I hurried our castle tour and rushed to get to the next train back to London. Unfortunately we didn't get back in time to meet up, but from what they told me they had a good time in London and I can say the same thing about Edinburgh.

Kristin and I completed the night with a dinner at a nice Indian restaurant, and we said our goodbyes (I won't get into any mushy details) as she had to fly back the next morning.

All I have to say is this weekend trip made me appreciate what I have here and what I have access to in Britain, and I look forward to exploring more of the country and hopefully more of the continent.

Long and fun weekend

Where to begin... I guess I'll go chronologically.

Kristin flew in with her friends Ashley and Kevin on Wednesday, and after a rain-soaked tour of the city they met up with me at Piccadilly Circus that night. Of course we were glad to see each other, and we ate at a little 'caff' (sort of the cockney term for a greasy-spoon cafe) and walked around Soho and Chinatown.

The next night Kristin and I saw Guys and Dolls at Piccadilly Theatre courtesy of my internship program, and it took me back to the days of the musicals that my family (especially my sister) partook in. It was Kristin's first time seeing the musical, though I remembered a lot of the old standards like "Luck be a Lady" and "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat." The choreography was great, and I reminisced about playing in the pit orchestra. It was a pretty enjoyable show, and I was impressed with the quick set changes.

Friday was a full day: Kristin and I went to Windsor Castle, just catching the tail end of the changing of the guard. It was a marvelous place, and some of rooms have stunning color schemes and well-preserved art. After that we took the train back to Hounslow so Kristin could meet some of my coworkers. Upon hearing that we were headed to Kew Botanical Gardens, the sports editor groaned and complained that Kew was "boring as f***." I thought it was a nice place though, but the cold rain and wind didn't help my experience. Luckily there were enough indoor greenhouses to warm up in and see some nice plants. Kristin was proud to show off her UW Horticulture Club knowledge, and there was even a badger den where humans can crawl around like badgers!

Kristin then met my host family and we ate my favourite meal that Zoya makes (the Ukranian name escapes me, but it's basically stuffed shells with beef or lamb, rice and tomato). That night we met up with Ashley and Kevin to go clubbin'. Unfortunately we were a little too late to get into a club that had a really famous DJ, and we wandered around until one promotions guy got two of us into his club for free and then two of us for 10 pounds each. It wasn't a techno place like Ashley and Kevin were hoping for, but Kristin and I had a good time while we were there.

My trip to Edinburgh will take a whole 'nother post to lay out, and I'm running out of time, so until then, Adieu.

"One for the blog"

Something happen yesterday in the office that was so shocking/funny that one editor said, "Here's one for your blog." No names will be used to protect the dignity of the people involved:

It was nearing the end of the day, and one of the veteran sports guys was looking through my copy of Time Out magazine and just generally chatting it up with people nearby.

Another intern, who just started last week, was frustratingly typing away at a sticky keyboard that had two keys semi-detached. She turned to the sports guy and asked, "Are you doing anything at the moment?"

"No, I'm done for the day," he replied.

"Then could you grab me an ice cream bar from across the street?"

Immediately he snapped back: "Why don't you go **** yourself, my dear?"

The office was in shock, not just of the reply but that this intern would have asked such a question to someone much higher up the ladder.

"But I asked nicely!" she said.


I must say I felt a litte sorry for her, especially after a few people were recounting the incident and having a long laugh about it. The response may have been harsh, but seriously, who asks a question like that after only a few days of working in the office? That would be like a waterboy asking Michael Jordan to go get him a towel.

Response to comment

In response to a few questions:

My favorite place I've visited in London so far is probably the British Museum, just because I'm a history buff and this place has artifacts from all over the world dating back to very ancient civilizations. I think I enjoy it just because there's no museum like it in the U.S.

I think overall Bath is the most beautiful place I've been to so far. A few fellow interns made the comment that they wished London was more like Bath, just because a lot of places around London are too modern and remind them of New York City. I think that's true to a certain extent, though it depends on which part of the city you go to. The 'city' proper and Holborn have preserved a lot of the old architecture, including pubs nice looking pubs, but these can be next to some huge modern skyscrapers. I like how proud many Londoners people are of keeping a sense of history with their buildings, but it seems like of the number of people who feel this way is dwindling.

I've not driven a car and don't plan to, just because I don't really have access to one and am fearful about driving on the wrong side of the road. On a related note, I do find the crosswalks helpful as they point in the direction a pedestrian is supposed to look. Drivers are also more likely here to stop for someone on a crosswalk, which is much appreciated.

Accents can be difficult to deal with, but the trick is to know where they're from first and adjust your ears accordingly. My Liverpudlian coworker said he couldn't understand a girl from Philadelphia because he thought her accent was Scottish, but once he realized she was from the U.S. he was able to understand her better. I've been trying out the word "cheers" at the end of telephone conversations, and though I might get a little flak from coworkers, in the end it feels more natural to say that to Brits than "thanks." The hardest accents to deal with come from a Scottish or Irish background. Probably the one person I don't like to deal with works behind the ticket counter at the tube station, because he's really difficult to understand (especially behind glass) and he's very pushy.

The food (and everything else) is expensive here, but I'm lucky to have dinners included in my rent. The stigma on beef I think has disappeared, and although bird flu is a big concern, it wouldn't actually affect anyone who eats poultry, just those who are in close contact with them.

Natural History, Footy and TV

My weekend plans were a little shaken up, partly because of the dang Underground being worked on. Everyone in my part of London had to take the bus, which delayed things quite a bit. I only made it to the Natural History Museum on Saturday, and unfortunately didn't make it all the way through. The nice thing though is that it's free, so I can pop in anytime I want. It sort of redeemed my museum experience considering the let-down of the Science Museum I experienced the weekend before. Not to say the Science Museum was bad, but it wasn't anything I hadn't seen at the Science Museum of Minnesota or the Smithsonian museums.
But I found the Natural History Museum (while huge) to be much better organized at leading people through the exhibits. A giant squid (possibly the largest ever caught) was placed in the museum recently, but the tours to see it were booked all the way to the end of April.

I broke my usual weekend sightseeing routine on Sunday when I played football with a few of my coworkers and their friends (I've been told by my host father that I can't say "coworkers" because it sounds too Dickens-ish. Instead I'm supposed to say "mates from work.). Anyhoo, it was pretty fun, although it took me awhile to get back into the groove of things. I think everyone including me had some sort of soreness or injury afterwards. We probably played about two and a half hours non-stop, though I did get to play goalie for a little while.

I almost forgot to say, I went to church for the first time since I've been in London. I went to an Anglican church from which the Episcopalian Church in America derived. There was a lot of the same liturgy even with the Lutheran Church, but it was a little odd hearing things like "Ull-mighty Goh-d." I was even surprised to find that they had a contemporary band for some of the songs, and the hymnals had a mix of contemporary and traditional songs (but without any notes). I did a little snooping around in the book, and some of the traditional songs' lyrics had been reworked about 10 years ago to better fit the philosophy and theology of the modern church. So "Onward Christian Soldiers" is now "Onward Christian Pilgrims." Communion was by intinction (dipping), but each person had a pastor lay their hand on their shoulder to receive a blessing, which I thought was quite nice. You can also come at the first Sunday of the month to pray individually with the pastors after the service and be anointed with oil.

The BBC on Sunday night had a stunning nature program called Planet Earth that used high powered aerial cameras that could zoom in on an animal from more than a kilometre away.

One of the things that struck me while watching it was a short piece on birds of paradise in the tropics. Because food in the jungle is so abundant, the male birds spend their time cleaning their dens to attract females. When they do attract one, they have an elaborate system of showing off to win the chance to mate. For these birds, the natural selection process isn't necessarily about the survival of the fittest but the survival of the flashiest.

I found that similar to humans in advanced societies: because we don't spend much effort looking for food, we spend our time buying flashy cars and fancy clothes and we doll ourselves up to attract our mates. I guess it's not necessarily a bad thing because we're lucky enough to have that opportunity, but it can also place too much emphasis on material things that only build up our vanity. Maybe I'm sounding too much like the guy who wrote Ecclesiastes, I don't know (look it up, people).

Another great program on TV last night was Facing the Truth, which brings victims and perpretrators of terrorism in Northern Ireland face-to-face. Archbishop Desmond Tutu is the moderator, and it can get really heavy at times, but it's the only program I can think of that tries to heal old wounds and bring a sort of redemption to everyday people. I'm oversimplifying the situation, but in America they'd probably put these people on Jerry Springer and let them go at each others' throats for 'entertainment.'

More pictures

Just to explain the pictures, the spiral-y thing is the staircase inside the Monument which leads to a stunning view of the city. Stonehenge you should know. The man with the large sign was on Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park one Sunday. The people kneeling were peaceful Muslim protestors on Trafalgar Square. And the night shot is of St Paul's Cathedral, the dome of which looks strikingly similar to the Capitol building in D.C.

Pictures

Okay, so I also found out how to post images, so I'll put my favorite ones that I've taken so far and the rest of you can e-mail me to see the full collection. Here's a pretty one of the Houses of Parliament at night.

Comments

Hey all,

I enjoy the comments that people leave on my blog, and now that I've changed the settings, you no longer need to have a blog to post a comment. So comment away and let me know how y'all are doing!

Busy week

The last week has been busy at work, and I think that can be good because I'd rather be forced to work on things continuously than to sit and procrastinate on things due in a few days. I think setting more daily deadlines helps me better than saying "have everything done by next Tuesday." I already had a big day planned yesterday, and a few unexpected things happened and all of the sudden I've got two more stories on my platter. I only hope I don't take on more than I can handle.

I took Monday afternoon off after touring the Houses of Parliament because my cold was really bad. All I really needed was rest, and now my cold is almost gone. The Houses of Parliament were beautiful, though unfortunately they don't allow cameras in there. I felt a moment of prestige when I stood in front of the same table and microphone that Tony Blair stands before, though the Commons and Lords rooms are really cramped when you consider how many people are in Parliament. The tour guide had a similar cold to me and it was hard to hear her sometimes. Luckily one of the interns on the tour works in Parliament and took the tour before, so she basically gave her own tour at the back.

I went to a couple bars with some coworkers last night. Pretty fun, but an important lesson I learned is to not mix several different kinds of ale (along with a glass of wine) in your stomach at one time. Luckily I stopped drinking before anything bad happened, though my coworkers kept on going like clockwork. No bones about it, the Brits can handle their beer.

Today I've got a war-themed day planned: visiting the Cabinet War rooms where Churchill gave orders, and then heading to the Imperial War museum.

Kristin's coming next Wednesday, and I'm very excited to see her. We'll be touring London a little and then heading to Edinburgh and Newcastle for the weekend. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

P.S. Robbie Earl is awesome. So is Brian Elliot (again). Go Badgers!

Photos

I've uploaded and organized my photos to Kodak's Web gallery, and I've sent an e-mail to a lot of you already linking to my photos. I don't know if I can link to them from my blog, but you can just send me an e-mail if you want to see them.

I know there is a way to post pictures directly on the blog, though they're not as high-quality. I might save that for the more interesting shots that I get.