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| JUNE 27, 2012 | WEDNESDAY Filled with excitement and anticipation, we board our respective jets for our trip 'over the pond' to jolly old England--be sure to get plenty of sleep if you can, tomorrow will be eventful.  |
JUNE 28, 2012 | THURSDAY  We land in Heathrow and begin our month in London; FIE reps will meet us in the meeting area that you will encounter as you exit immigration and customs; my flight arrives about an hour before yours, so with any luck, I will be there as well to greet you! Additionally, that evening, we will head on out to the Builder's Arms to explore British Pub Culture and enjoy the Euro 2012 match between Italy and Germany (Italy will win!) |
 June 29, 2012 | FRIDAYFIE Orientation Day at Foundation House. Assorted meetings, passport photocopying, meet the staff, etc |
| June 30, 2012 | Saturday MORNING OUTING ...not a cinetrek!  On Saturday morning, I am going out to Primrose Hill using the Northern Line and then out to Camden Market to go shopping (trendy/indy/edge-city type of market). It's not a cinetrek, but it is a good way to get out and see a part of London most tourists never get to; if you are interested, meet me at the turnstiles of the Gloucester Road Station at 9am. (note GLOUCESTER is pronounced like "FOSTER" --> GLOSTER ROAD)  cineTREK 1 We are BUMPING the start time for cineTREK 1 to 2:30pm. Also, we will rendevous just outside the turnstiles of the Gloucester (pronounced GLOWSTER as in NOW) road underground station as we venture out to a screening of THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE. This is a key production in the history of world cinema by Luis Buñuel--while not necessarily an "art film" it may try the patience of students who find Snooki a formidable cultural force in the intellectual domain! 
The movie starts at 3:50, and we are leaving just a wee-bit early to
make sure we get there on time; be sure to buy your ticket beforehand as they do sell out. Where? Here--note
that BFI tickets are like performance theaters in the US in that the
seats are assigned and designated on your tickets. Can you wait to buy the tickets at the theatre? YES, but you run the risk of missing the show. CINETREK 1 is worth 4 cinetreks for attending the movie field trip; it is worth 7 cinetreks if you respond on your blog to one of the following questions: 1. Write a 500 word piece on the differences between American and British movie theaters; be sure to take careful notes on things you witness and experience during the field trip so that your piece is filled with explicit, specific examples. 2. Let us presume for the sake of argument that cinema is a form of political/cultural resistance--that directors, at least directors like Luis Buñuel, make movies in order to indict, strip, attack elements of culture and human nature that rile him up. Presuming all of the above, write 250 to 400 words (a couple of pages, double-spaced typed in Times New Roman 12pt font in a word document) or so about the targets Buñuel attacks in THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE. Be sure to note specific scenes, images, symbols, motifs, etc in your response. "A"-level writing will be carefully proofread and devoid of grammatical and spelling errors--they will also be fun to read; Write Unto Others as you would have them WRITE FOR YOU! This assignment is due to be posted online by midnight Wednesday July 4, 2012 |
| July 1, 2012 | SUNDAYFIE-curated event...10am GUIDED WALKING TOUR OF KENSINGTON  Be sure to wake up on time to meet with Janet, our Blue Badge Guide from Day 1 at Heathrow. FIE-curated event...2pm Guided Coach Tour of London cineTREK 2 London Sports/Pub/Social CultureYou are welcome to join me at the Pembroke Pub at 7pm tonight for the Euro 2012 final football (soccer) match between Italy and Spain--it promises to be quite a match. {do note: it's a pretty long walk and there may not be a place to sit do to the crowds!} What's the cineTREK connection? 2 cineTREKs to anyone who comes, stays awhile (just coming for the first half is fine!), and then posts a blog about the differences between U.S. and U.K. bar culture. remember, cultural anthropologists are like lurkers--t  hey
quietly surveil the scene making note of things that strike them as
peculiar.... the best cultural anthropologist take it one step further
and are particularly sensitive to how their own American enculturation
(in your case, your Californification)
colors your observations, refracts your perceptions. you do not have to
be sports geek to do this assignment; you can do a great job just being
curious about how sports and English culture intersect.The due date to post this cineTREK blog will be FRIDAY, July 6, 2012 at midnight. |
JULY 2 MONDAY, 10am Today, you wake up bright on early and head on out to one of our only classroom meetings for Anth 439/Engl 493--MONDAY, JULY 2, 10am in Foundation House, Alfred Hitchcock Room (just before your 11am with John Makey, same day, same room).  Please make sure to arrive to class a little
before you think you have to. Thanks.... Bring your copies of WAYS OF
SEEING and FREUD FOR BEGINNERS to class. In class, we will talk about London, British visual culture, anthropology, "way(s) of seeing, psychoanlysis and more, more, more... note: Attending class had a 2 cineTREK value today! BLC 11am to 12 noon Class with JOHN MAKEY Vivienne Westwood Room, Foundation House BLC 3pm to 5pm Class with JOHN MAKEY Vivienne Westwood Room, Foundation House  We
MAY, i repeat, MAY, have a cineTREK outing tonight--watch this space
around 3pm for an updated posting; if not, have a great evening...  nope, no cineTREK this evening--catch up on postcards, TV, walks in the park etc... A good place for dinner might be Wagamama's out your door and to the left on High Street Kensington; it's on the park side of the street a couple of doors before you get to Urban Outfitters. And don't forget about Holland Park--a totally different experience than Hyde Park and the Kensington Gardens. |
JULY 3, 2012 | TUESDAY BLC Field trip to the one and only Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (not to be confused with San Diego's "Old Globe" theatre). We will meet at the Gloucester Road Underground turnstiles at 10:45am sharp for the trip out the Globe where we will join John Makey and a member of the education team at the Globe. Remember this is a BLC field trip so attendance is not optional.  & The second part of Monday's outing is still in the planning stage, but right after our BLC trip to the Globe, we may pause to grab a drink and a bite to eat before moving on next door to the utterly fantastic TATE MODERN museum of contemporary art. This promises to be a uniquely blended BLC/ENGL/ANTH/MALAS extravaganza. cineTREK 3  update:
We will all meet at the Gloucester turnstiles at 6pm sharp for the trip
out to CANTINA; do HOLD ON TO your tickets for the show--in fact, after
you are seated print your name onto
your paid ticket stub and give them to me after the show; i am going to
try to see if we can get FIE to subsidize part of youradmission fee. Tired from your day along the Southbank with the Globe and the Tate Modern under your belt? Then there is no way you will want to attend cineTREK 3, the CANTINA Burlesque/Circus Show. Depending on how late the Tate Modern BLC tour goes we may well just stay hanging out on the Southbank--you are free to go home and come back if you wish. The CANTINA show starts at 7:30pm. But how can you miss it? Read some of the promotional material: "A sensational cocktail of glamorous vaudeville and scintillating circus. Enter Cantina and leave your real life at the door as you journey through an incredible world of acrobatics, magic, dance and live music. Cantina features a company of Australia's finest circus artists from Circa, La Clique, Acrobat and Circus Oz. Fresh from tours of Australia and Europe, this is the headline show of the London Wonderground festival's inaugural summer. 'Cantina is the most divinely decadent and disconcerting entertainment in town.' (Daily Telegraph) 'Superb... carnival with a dash of David Lynch.' (Time Out) 'Cantina is clearly the hottest ticket in town.' (London Evening Standard) Now, the other thing is that you must book in advance and the show is not cheap; we were told when there the other day that the cheap seat were £10 but the cheapest I can find online are £15--around $25, so be sure to budget wisely if you want to attend this unique show. This outing is worth 6 cineTREKS (for the expense); it is worth 8 cinetreks if you write a 250 word (about a page double-spaced typed) micro-essay that finishes and explores the following statement: (note you are welcome to mess with the writing template here provided as long as you write something better than the opening I have provided here) Whilst I have already experienced
a wide range of London Visual/Viral culture, I have to say that CANTINA
is different owing to ____________________. Allow me to document some
of its more memorable provocations: _____________(complete the blog
posting with specific details and lively observations.... be as
opinionated as you can be.... write as if you were being paid to write
for a large audience)...
cineTREK writing posting deadline: Sunday, July 8, midnight.
|
| JULY 4, 2012 | WEDNESDAY BLC John Makey 10am-12pm BEATRIX POTTER ROOM, Foundation House {Remember, cineTREKS are optional outings; your BLC class is like a class at SDSU--well a good class at SDSU, at any rate: attendance is crucial to success). FIE-curated event & cineTREK 4!!!! Kundera's Genius: Unbearable Lightness of Being cineTREK CRITERION THEATRE | The 39 Steps As the show starts at 8pm and the West End theatre district gets packed occasionally, let's meet at the Gloucester Road turnstyles at 6:50pm sharp for the ride over to Piccadilly Circus (on the Piccadilly Line, of course).  If you can, screen the Alfred Hitchock movie, The 39 Steps, before the show here. The outing is worth a total of 5 cineTREKS, but you must write about the show to receive your London equivalent of Scooby snacks. What's the prompt? Here you go:cineTREK 4 prompt: The most common adaptation across media that we know and hear about is that from book to movie, from literature to cinema--and the result, usually, if hearsay gives any evidence, is a disappointment; there are some exceptions to this rule--Kubrick's adaptation of Nabokov's LOLITA; Charlie Kaufman's adaptation of Susan Orlean's ADAPTATION--but on the whole, what one mostly encounters are readers none-too-pleased with the filmic metamorphoses of their cherished novels (HARRY POTTER films vs novels here being the most heated example).  But
what you are watching tonight is something altogether different--here
we are presented with a comedic theatrical adaptation of a film! With
books and cinema, we move from the experience of reading to that of
screening (reading WAYS OF SEEING will bring you up to speed on the
complexity of sight). But with the 39 Steps we move from visual
filmed medium to a visual live medium. In your blog posting talk
about different parts of this transformation, you might want to screen
parts of the original film version of the story (by Alfred Hitchcock)
before you venture to write this mini-essay.Deadline for this cineTREK blog posting, MONDAY, July 9, 2012 @ midnight. 500 words minimum. 5 cineTREK scoobysnack value! |
| July 5, 2012 | THURSDAY BLC John Makey  We
will meet at the Gloucester Road Tube station at 9am for the ride over
to
the British Museum and your class with Professor John Makey--we are
scheduled to meet him there on the front steps. Professor
Nericcio will concierge; Professor Makey will wax eloquent!The Society of the Spectacle, Guy DuBord cineTREK The Shard | Public Spectacle Visual/Viral #1  “The spectacle is capital accumulated to the point where it becomes image.” “The spectacle is not a collection of images, but a social relation among people, mediated by images.” ― Guy Debord Public spectacles are an industry in London, a city that writes about itself in ways rather extraordinary for a city--it is as if the city had a pulse, a mind; and, a mirror: like some epic anthropomorphism of myth, London emerges as Narcissus. This is NOT to denigrate London! It is a way of understanding one of the fundamental differences between London, and say, Tulsa, Oklahoma, or Boise, Idaho. So tonight, we will venture out for a long stroll down the Southbank to Tower Hill for the inaugural night of the Shard! London is celebrating the completion of the external part of construction and lighting up the city with a light show focused on the Shard--we will leave Gloucester Road turnstyles at 8:00pm for the longish ride out to the Tower of London (or to Monument), across the Thames from the Shard. There may be thousands out to see this public spectacle--or not, I have not a clue, though I would lay money on crowds. Here's a slide-show from the dress rehearsal.2 cineTREKS for the trip 5 cineTREKS if you post a piece on the blog analyzing the event of the Shard spectacle using (quoting/incorporating) ideas from Guy Dubord's essay, "The Society of the Spectacle." note: you don't have to read the whole essay, just enough to get a feel for Dubord's thinking. DEADLINE: Wednesday, July 11 @ midnight FREE |
| July 6, 2012 | FRIDAY No BLC today--have a great morning in London!  Memory and the Subject, Memory is the Subject cineTREK British Filmmakers | Christopher Nolan's MEMENTO Today's cineTREK junket finds us at the turnstyles of Gloucester Road Tube Station at 7:45 sharp as emerge out into the city to treat ourselves to Christopher Nolan's MEMENTO. For film studies novices, MEMENTO presents challenges owing to its unique structure; that said, Nolan's breakout film is a modern masterpiece that reveals how much of what we call our "personality," our "identity," is merely a function of memory--there are many GREAT comparisons to be drawn between the ideas you are working with in FREUD FOR BEGINNERS, and Nolan's early film work here, anticipates the range he would come to display in the new Batman series and INCEPTION. Remember to buy your ticket in advance to ensure you wont be left making a trip and not having a seat. 
4 cineTREKS for the film screening7 cineTREKS if you post a 500-word (guestimate the length don't sweat it!) piece on your blog either contrasting the visual arts/design sensibilities of Nolan in MEMENTO with Zarate in FREUD FOR BEGINNERS OR author a close Freudian analysis of key elements of Nolan's film (at least two Freudian concepts should be identified). DEADLINE: Tuesday, July 17 @ midnight £7 (I think, with student concessions) |
| July 7, 2012 | SATURDAY No BLC Cheesy Bad Cinema cineTREK Horror Express | Roxy Bar and Screen Dying for some schlocky horror/sci-fi cinema? Want to experience kitschy international 1970s movie awfulness in a hip club south of the Thames. Welcome to the locally infamous Roxy Film and Screen! Here's more on the movie: click to enlarge  You can risk buying tickets at the door or get them in advance here.  I
am not sure, but it looks like they will be screening WHITE ZOMBIE
before HORROR EXPRESS, which means we may want to get there around
4:30, not at the 3:00pm starting time. However, that also means
we won't get a good seat! SO, if you want to go early to arrive there
and get a good seat, that is cool--take the Circle/District line EAST
to MONUMENT; from MONUMENT walk (a long way) to the NORTHERN LINE south
two stops to Borough; then walk up Borough high street to the Roxy.
Here's a map opposite (click to enlarge). The rest of us will leave
GLOUCESTER ROAD turnstyles at 3pm sharp for the ride out to the Roxy.As for filmic genius that is HORROR EXPRESS.... get a load of tasty badness in this original trailer: 4 cineTREKS for the venture out to the Roxy and the film screenings.6 cineTREKS if you write a blog entry contrasting the experience of watching movies at the Roxy with any other performance venue you've gone to this trip in London cineTREK writing posting deadline: Saturday July 14, noon. |
July 8, 2012 | SUNDAY  No BLC, of course, it's the WEEKEND! The Theatric of the Spirit/Spirited Theatrics cineTREK St. Paul's Cathedral | Orchestral Mass  We meet at the turnstyles @ Gloucester Road at 10am as we prepare for high mass @ 11am with a cineTREK out to St. Paul's Cathedral for a special "orchestral mass" featuring the City of London Sinfonia. This cineTREK will be both interesting and free--and I dare say that regardless of your religious background, the mass at St. Paul's will be both memorable and moving.  Why
a mass for a "cineTREK." Think about it! One of the oldest
spectacles in the cultural traditions of Europe and the United States,
"Mass" is one of the oldest form of theaters--priests and ministers are,
in this light, performers using costumes (vestments) and props (the
chalices, candles, etc) to move parishioners (the specatators) to a
closer, ecstatic spiritual union with their god(s). Much of what
we know today as European Art and Theatre was bound up with the
conventions and practices of the Catholic Church in Europe, the UK, and
beyond. 3 cineTREKS for the venture out to St. Paul's...6 cineTREKS if you write a blog entry analyzing elements of the mass/ceremony/experience using techniques/passages adapted from John Berger, et al's remarkabke WAYS OF SEEING. In other words, imagine that you are a member of Berger's team of cultural studies fanatics and you have been give the task of writing a piece on the experience of St. Paul's but with a Bergerian methodology/tone/outlook strategy. As WAYS OF SEEING uses pictures, so too should your blog. cineTREK writing posting deadline: THURSDAY, July 12, midnight. Kundera's Genius: Unbearable Lightness of Being cineTREK BFI | Film Screening   You are welcome to return home after the mass (St. Paul's Crypt, the basement of the church is a nice place to have lunch or a snack) or you can meet me just across the river at 3pm at the British Film Institute (BFI) for their screening of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Philip Kaufman's adaptation of Milan Kundera's brilliant novel featuring Daniel Day Lewis, Juliette Binoche, and Lena Olin. As I will be out on the Southbank already owing to the St. Paul's field trip, I won't be meeting those of you who skipped the St. Paul's cineTREK at the turnstyles in Gloucester--however getting to BFI is quite easy--Circle or District line WEST from Gloucester TO Embankment; from Embankment, cross the bridge across the Thames, make a left after the crossing and walk on down to BFI--it's located to your right when you hit the book stalls. REMEMBER, it's always safer to book your tickets in advance, though I don't see this one selling out to quickly. 3cineTREKS for attending film screening and discussion afterwards.6cineTREKS if you write a substantive analysis of the film incorporating ideas adapted from Appignanesi & Zarate's FREUD FOR BEGINNERS. If you are so inclined, feel free to decorate your blog with drawings/collages/etc, Zarate-style. cineTREK writing posting deadline: Sunday, July 15, noon. |
| July 9, 2012 | MONDAY BLC Class Field Trip with Professor John Makey  Our destination this morning is to a working site/institution/facility that's been around since 960ad: WESTMINSTER ABBEY--today
we meet at the turnstiles of Gloucester Road station at 9:20am SHARP as
we head out for Professor John Makey's tour of a centerpiece of
British history and London lore--and, not coincidentally, the final
resting place of Geoffrey Chaucer, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin among
other notable historical figures.  note time change for this afternoon's classBLC CLASS with Professor John Makey 2:30-4:00pm Alfred Hitchcock Room, Foundation House.  MEXICAN FOOD cineTREK 4pm in your flat!  Why the class time change above? Because this Monday is a special Monday.... as in Mexican Festival Fiesta Pachanga
Blowout MONDAY; yours truly will be invading your flat with food and
drink (all on FIE! so free!). Whilst you are toiling away feverishly in
Professor Makey's class, I will be whipping up a array of Mexican
favorites--probably beef, chicken, and veggie tacos/ burritos, etc;
beer and cider will be made available as well..... and a dessert; I may
need a volunteer or two to go to Sainsbury with me after the
Westminster outing in the morning to  assist
with carrying this food festival back to your flat (we will use a cab,
so no true heavy lifting required--let me know via email if you want to
help).  We
will also need kindly escorts to bring Professor Makey back to Hyde
Park Gate as he will be our guest for our early dinner. Imagine it! As
you sit in class, I will be whipping up a culinary homage to the food
and culture of one my motherlands; when you return home (unless I screw
up) your noses will be treated to the smells and tastes of SoCal/Baja. |
| July 10, 2012 | TUESDAY BLC CLASS with Professor John Makey 10am to 12am Alfred Hitchcock Room, Foundation House. Old Theatres Meets Spiderman Cinetrek Comics, Movies, Adaptation  Spiderman! at the Coronet @ Notting Hill Gate! £3.50!Just across Hyde Park, we enter a cinematic wonder from yesteryear, an old school movie theatre, the Coronet; but we are here today to see something cutting edge and modern, the new Spiderman movie! The movie is at 3pm, so we will start the walk over from your front door at Hyde Park Gate @ 2:00pm. If you wish, you can also hop the underground--go to Saturday, July 14 for these one stop directions. 3 cineTREKS for going to the movie!That's it--no writing for this cinetrek unless you are a spidey fan-grrl or fan-boy--in which case, send me an email or pull me aside for an assignment.  We will be walking back from the film screening in time to enjoy our reception at Imperial College!  FIE-curated Party.... Summer Reception 6pm-ish at IMPERIAL COLLEGE Queen’s Tower Rooms (BLDG. number 24) (map) you may need to click the map after the image loads to make it grow... |
| July 11, 2012 | WEDNESDAY BLC CLASS with Professor John Makey 10am to 12am Alfred Hitchcock Room, Foundation House. See NEW replacement cineTREK below  Literary London Walking TourWestminster Abbey Gift Shop, 2pm We will meet at Gloucester Tube turnstyles at 1:30sharp for the quick ride over to Westminster Abbey's Gift Shop where the tour begins. THIS cineTREK has been cancelled! From the host's website: Literary Capital
"The London walking tour with a
difference. In just a couple of hours, see the capital of Great Britain
like never before. Walk in the footsteps of Charles Dickens, William
Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde. See Westminster Abbey, the resting place
of the greats, from Geoffrey Chaucer to Samuel Johnson, and listen to
stories of the wonderful and tragic lives of Britain's Poet
3 cineTREKS for the tour... Laureates.
Take a stroll through the sex and seduction of Bloomsbury and learn
about its complicated and fascinating love triangles. Discover the best
place in London to shop for beautiful old books and learn about the
city from local, knowledgeable, passionate guides.¶ Not only will
you get to see the sights of
the capital and learn about its rich and diverse literary heritage you
will also experience it; Most Curious Tours is proud to support a new
generation of writers. If you're lucky, you might even get the chance
to see some of them perform their work, just for you."5 cineTREKS if you memorize a short piece (a poem or paragraph) by one of the authors mentioned during the tour and recite it back to me and our group at a later time! Free Replacement for Literary London CineTREK The National Gallery Cinetrek Holbein, John Berger, and the Power of Oil Painting  It's
1:30pm and you find yourself at the Gloucester Road turnstyles once
again, in preparation for our trip out to Trafalgar Square and The
National Galleries. Before or during the field trip, you are going to
bring your WAYS OF SEEING book and reread the passage on Holbein's THE
AMBASSADORS pictured above. Do you agree with Berger's reading. Seeing
the painting in person, do you find yourself interpreting the picture
in an other way?I will probably spend only ten minutes or so lecturing here in or near the museum; the most important part of this cineTREK is your exploration of the gallery (don't miss the works by Velásquez and Rembrandt). Do try to spend at least an hour and a half touring this remarkable London institution. If you have time, also check out the National Portrait Gallery just north of the National Gallery. This tour is worth 5 cineTREKS, but you must complete the following writing assignment on the blog. cineTREK PROMPTPenguin books calls you up to inform you that they are printing a new edition of WAYS OF SEEING. John Berger has quit over a salary dispute and they want to bring you in to take his place. Write a continuation of a specific chapter in the book focusing on one, two, or three key paintings from your tour of the National Gallery--it is essential that your contribution to Berger's new and expanded edition of WAYS OF SEEING match/mirrors/mimics the style of the original book. deadline for posting: Tuesday, July 17 @ midnight. The Camden Market DO IT YOURSELF cineTREK + The Women's Comedy Theatre cineTREK The Boom Jennies' MISCHIEF We meet at the Gloucester turnstyles for the trip over the Camden Markets for shopping, exploring and more--you are welcome to go to Camden on your own earlier if you want more time for exploring! Just be sure to check in with me at the show; if you don't want to go to Camden, but do want to go to the show, be sure to hit the Tube at least by 8pm to make it up to Camden Town by 9--The goal of the evening is cool pub theatre, but you can spend all the time you want before the show shopping in one of London's coolest outdoor/indoor markets (be sure to find giant horse statues in the Stalls)--great for pictures.....   We will rendevous at the Etcetera Theatre
at 8:45 for the 9pm performance of the BOOM JENNIES, an all-women
comedy trio (think SNL meets VEEP) who are performing MISCHIEF, their
new show for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.I do recommend booking ahead, however, be forewarned there's a question at the top of the purchase page that asks how you heard about the show--be sure to answer that query or you will fritter away 10 minutes of your life cursing as I just did! 4cineTREKS for attending the shopping trip to Camden Town and the Comedy Show8cineTREKS if you write a substantive analysis of the show that draws connections between women's comedy and one of the following: Freud, psychoanalysis, politics, gender theory, sexuality in the Boom Jennies' show. cineTREK writing posting deadline: Wednesday, July 18, midnight. Here's one of The Boom Jennies recent skits: |
| July 12, 2012 | THURSDAY BLC CLASS with Professor John Makey 2:15-4:15pm Alfred Hitchcock Room, Foundation House. No cineTREKS today! But don't be glum....  Rest! or, better yet! Explore London! |
July 13, 2012 | FRIDAY East End Tour | Bricklane We will meet John Makey at the Gloucester turnstyles at 12:15pm SHARP, tomorrow, FRIDAY--don't be late as we have a fab lunch planned in the East End at 1pm!  Aeschylus by the Thames CinetrekTales of a Trojan Horse It's now Friday evening and we are off for some FREE theatre along the banks of the Thames--brace for the Aeschylus cineTREK! That's right, classical Greek theatre, including most of the Oresteia, THE TROJAN HORSE, AGAMEMNON, and ORESTES--the show last for three hours, but you are only required to stick around for the first two "sets", the Trojan Horse and Agamemnon. Be sure to bone up on Aeschylus' classic trilogy here or you may find yourself clueless and, hence, BORED. Here's a start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oresteia We will meet at the Gloucester turnstyles at 5pm for the trip out to the Scoop.4 cineTREKS for the trip 6 cineTREKS, total, if you post a blog on the evening focused on the differences between staged performances in a closed, conventional theatre versus what you experience tonight--be sure to lace your blog posting with SPECIFIC details and, even, pictures you take during the night. |
| July 14, 2012 | Saturday NO BLC  Portabello Road Arts Day DO IT YOURSELF Cinetrek Monkey Biz, Epico the Dragon & More... Just the other side of Hyde Park and to your left a few blocks rests the weekend shopping glory of Portabello Road--one of the more famous areas walking distance from your flats (no worries wounded warriors, you can also tube there), Portabello Road is a go-to site for vintage objects, clothes, art, people-watching, and more. This weekend they are doing even more with a festival that includes bizarre marionettes, dragons and more. All the info is here: http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/subsites/intransit/portobelloroadartsday.aspx This is a do-it-yourself cineTREK, as you've seen enough of me the last couple of weeks and need a break--just be sure to pick up a flyer/promotional material/something from one of the theatrical shows you witness to "prove" you were there; I will likely be there with my family, so if you say HI if you see me there, that is cool as well--you can also let Ally know you are going, etc. The PORTOBELLO ROAD ARTS DAY only lasts from 1pm to 4pm, but the shops and more will be open most of the day. RESOURCES: --walking map to Portabello Road and the Monkey Biz show and more: http://goo.gl/maps/fZHK --tube map: KENSINGTON HIGH STREET to NOTTING HILL GATE on the circle or district lines. 2 cineTREKS for venturing out on your own to Portabello Road.4 cineTREKS if you write a blog entry that shows off your growing cultural anthropologist skill set--in particular, I would welcome dynamic accounts of the outdoor theatre/puppet/dragon shows you witness and experience. cineTREK writing posting deadline: THURSDAY, July 19, midnight. |
| July 15, 2012 | Sunday Enjoy your day off!  |
| July 16, 2012 | Monday BLC CLASS Field Trip with Professor William Nericcio   oday
I am your hired escort as we wade into the heart of Great Britain's
power in our tour of the Houses of Parliament; while I am your guide
from Gloucester Road Station, 9:20am SHARP, it is Ian Hughes, John
Makey's mate and parliamentary insider, who will show us the ropes (and
keep us out of the way of David Cameron!). This is a mandatory BLC
class field trip so get up early, have a good breakfast, and get ready
to go backwards and forwards in time. Please not too much joking around
when we go through security--see that guy up there in the left-hand
upper corner?! The One and Only Jack the Ripper "London Walks" cineTREKTrails of Blood and Tears in the East End Tonight is the night--we bravely venture out of our snug domiciles and into the dark, eerie London night to meet up with Donald Rumbalow--the man who "wrote the book on Jack the Ripper." We are at the turnstyles at 6:40 for our ride out to Tower Hill--be forewarned that the tour costs £7. This is a "mandatory" cineTREK owing to the role the image of the Ripper has played in the cultural history of London.   4 cineTREKS for the tour6 cineTREKS for posting a cleverly-titled, well-crafted, dynamic blog piece, 500 words or so that focuses on your experience of the tour; you are welcome to use the first-person, "I," as much as you please in this posting without fear that the Grammar Stormtrooper Nericcio will cause you any harm. DEADline (get it!?) MIDNIGHT, July 23, 2012 |
| July 17, 2012 | Tuesday BLC CLASS with Professor John Makey 10am to 12am Alfred Hitchcock Room, Foundation House. ---------------------------------------------------------------- no cineTREKS this afternoon!  Don't be sad! Use the time to catch up on your writing assignments and revisions! |
| July 18. 2012 | Wednesday BLC CLASS with Professor John Makey 10am to 12am Alfred Hitchcock Room, Foundation House.   NOTE LAST MINUTE CHANGES!!!!I am in receipt of a late-breaking text from Professor Makey that I am to courier our gang of San Diego-based, London-Loving BLC students from Gloucester Tube turnstyles at 2:20pm SHARP so that we can rendevous with your fearless BLC Professor for your class Field Trip to the Inns of Court. Pottermania | LONDON WALKS  Harry Potter: The Harry Potter Quest Walk cineTREK Today is the day--Harry Potter is our guide, or, at any rate, Richard Walker is our guide as we venture out for the "The Harry Potter Quest Walk," part of the LONDON WALKS tours repertoire. We will NOT leave the Gloucester turnstyles at 5:30 for the ride over to Temple Tube Station as we will already be over by the Temple Tube Station finishing up our BLC tour of Inns of Court. When the BLC is over, you are free to roam the area securing dinner (or, better yet, pack a sandwich) as we wait around for the Harry Potter walk tour @ 6:30. 
4 cineTREKS for the Tour7 cineTREKS if you post a piece on the blog about how this tour altered some aspect of your relationship/understanding of the Harry Potter books/films. DEADLINE: Sunday, July 22 @ midnight £9 (£7, for students) Here's their description: THE HARRY POTTER QUEST
Wizard's Bank to Platform 9 3/4 6.30 pm on Wednesdays from TempleTube Quest. Pilgrimage. Walking with Walker. Pottering after Potter. Call it what you will, this one's a keeper. It's wizard. It's coming round a corner and there's the missing piece to the puzzle: the real thing. The bank. The packed-with-Potter atmosphere gas-lit courtyard twice used by the Harry Potter production team. Platform 9 3/4. London locations that got the fairy dust treatment. Got translated to the most magical screen of all – the dazzling, dizzying, derring-do world of the Elder Wand, the Cloak of Invisibility, the Resurrection Stone, the Horcruxes. And answering the "if yer know where to look" summons, the Prince of Potter guides, actor Richard Walker, he of the spookily perfect name. Let alone the spookily perfect skill set for this walk: the great voice, flawless timing, a bit of edginess, lots of warmth. N.B. There's a £3 charge for kids as this one's for all ages. £8 for adults, £6 for concessions. We take a short tube journey to King's Cross Station, so a 2-Zone Travelcard is a good idea. Here's a trailer for the walk: |
| July 19, 2012 | Thursday BLC/FIE-curated event INSTRUCTIONS FOR BLC OXFORD TRIP THURSDAY July 19, 2012   Our
express train leaves Paddington train station at 10:50am, arriving in
Oxford at 11:50am. Our journey return leaves Oxford at 4:01 (16:01),
arriving back in London at 5pm (17:00).Lets agree to meet at the infamous and now legendary Gloucester turnstyles at 9:45am; from there we will jump the circle line east, and then north, up to Paddington--we have not taken this route together yet as a group. Professor Makey will meet us up in Oxford for a memorable afternoon! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2 bonus cineTREK scoobysnacks for posting a response to this prompt on the blog--due at midnight tonight, July 19, 2012"I have to admit that the word "Oxford" conjured specific and memorable images in my mind (these include _________________ and _________________), but now, having actually visited, what clings most to my imagination is ________________ __________________________________________________" 250 words tops! |
| July 20, 2012 | Friday Shakespeare at the Globe cineTREK Mark Rylance and Contemporary British Theatre  We meet at the Gloucester Tube turnstyles at 12:45 for our ride over to the Globe and an outstanding afternoon with Mark Rylance and his cast in Shakespeare's Richard III--you are welcome to go to the show yourself sans escort as you now know your way around London, but do let me know you are at the show for attendance purposes. It might help you to enjoy the show more if you know a little about the peculiar biography of Richard III--beware, though, if you like surprises as this wikilink promises spoilers! 5 cineTREKS for seeing the play.7 cineTREKS, total, if you find a review online of Rylance in Richard III and write a sustained critique of that review OR author a piece on the difference between your experience of live theatre at the Globe versus some other SPECIFIC theatre. Blog posting deadline is July 25th @ midnight. Here is Rylance in a BBC screened performance, at the Globe, featuring the prison soliloquy from Richard II: |
| July 21, 2012 | Saturday Some of you who are not traveling had mentioned you might want a weekend cineTREK--here's a last minute one... (and a chance to say goodbye to the venerable BFI...)  Classic World Cinema cineTREK Buñuel Revisited BELLE DE JOUR Saturday @ 6pm at BFI No need to queue at Gloucester--just get yourself to BFI for the 6pm screening (say hi to me!) and watch the film.... another of Luis Buñuel's classic works. If you have time after the film for a chat, I will be in the BFI lounge opposite the box office. If not, no worries. 4 cineTREKS for the film screening (besure to say hi!) 7 cineTREKS if you write a substantative blog posting CONTRASTING Belle de jour with The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (500 words) |
| July 22, 2012 | Sunday The Tate Modern TANKS cineTREK  At 1pm today, Sunday, the Tate Modern TANKS will be hosting a screening of experimental films deep in its bowels!--details here! You are on your own getting there (Gloucester to Blackfriars tube, out and over the Millennium Bridge, the shortest route). I should get there on time to meet you in the dark for the hour-long CONE film screening; however, do try to get to the Tanks early and check out all of the rather challenging and eclectic underground offerings. If modern conceptual art is not your cup of tea, I offer you the alternative challenge of bringing pen/pencil, and paper, acscending to the surrealist gallery and copying as best as you are able, one of the key prints on display there.
4 cineTREKS for a blog posting on your experience of modern conceptual film/art in the Tanksor 4 cineTREKS for your sketch of a surrealist classic (no drawing skills necessary). |
July 23, 2012 | Monday Picasso at the British Museum cineTREKYou may have already treated yourself to the exhibit of Picasso drawings at the British Museum, if so, you are free to write about them for credit; the rest of us will pile onto the tube at Gloucester Road at 10am for the trip over to Bloomsbury and a return visit to the British Museum. Do take the time to read up on the compositions here before visiting the museum. 3 cineTREKS for the trip to the museum 5 cineTREKS if you write a blog posting contrasting two specific prints from the collection. BLC CLASS with Professor John Makey 3 to 5pm Alfred Hitchcock Room, Foundation House. |
July 24, 2012 | Tuesday 12:45pm | Final Class Discussion | London Visual/Viral Culture We will meet at the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park (out your door, cross the street, in the park to your right) for our penultimate Anthropology/English class meeting; attendance is mandatory if you are around! Come prepared to share your thoughts about the trip, London, London visual/viral culture, and more! Where do you meet? Here! Still can't find it? Here! 2 cineTREKS for attending the class! Free! Cheap! Awesome!  BLC Field Trip to the IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM with Professor John Makey We meet at the Gloucester Road Tube station for a JOINT-BLC field trip with CSU, San Luis Obispo. Be there at 2:15pm sharp! Special FIE-sanctioned cineTREK SPECTACLE TWO!  You thrilled to the wonders of the Shard laser show, now we visit the spectacles of spectacles on the Southbank: the London Eye! "Europe’s tallest Ferris Wheel at 450ft provides a spectacular ride above London with up to 40km panoramic views of the city. Take a leisurely ride on this remarkable landmark on the bank of the river Thames that dominates London’s skyline. Don’t forget your camera!! " Be sure to bone up on the history of this structure. Here are the instructions from FIE: "You have signed up for the London Eye on Tuesday 24th July. Just
to let you know that the tickets will be ready for collection from the
Student Life Office from tomorrow, 19th July. So please remember to
drop in and pick them up! Click here to check out the visitor
section on London eye website if you need any information. Your
scheduled time is 7PM but make sure you get there in good time –
you are allowed to join the boarding queue 30 minutes before your
scheduled time so I recommend that you aim to arrive at the Eye at
6.30pm."
If you wish to attend the trip as a group, I will be leaving the Gloucester tube station at 6pm for the ride over to Westminster station. 3 cineTREKS for the trip!5 cineTREKS if you write a blog entry that documents spectacular elements of this public phenomena. (Consider this paradox: the London Eye, itself, is an architectural spectacle; but, it is also a vehicle that affords visitor a unique perspective, a birds-eye view of London. |
| July 25, 2012 | Wednesday BLC CLASS with Professor John Makey 10am to 12am Alfred Hitchcock Room, Foundation House. Theatrical Spectacles/Spectacular Theatre cineTREK The Fire Garden @ National Theatre | LAST TREK  We meet one last time at Gloucester Road turnstyles for a trek over to the Southbank, the scene of our first cineTREK, for THE FIRE GARDEN--a
spectacle of public fire, light, and more. Be at Gloucester at 8:30 sharp for the ride out over to Embankment Tube Station. 3cineTREKS for the pyrotechnic field trip. 5cineTREKS if you post a picture snapped during this outing; along with the picture, write a paragraph or two on the topic of London and Public Spectacles--did you witness it or were you part of it? What's the difference?? cineTREK writing posting deadline: Thursday, July 26, midnight. |
| July 26, 2012 | Thursday Professor Nericcio and family depart for San Diego. |
July 27, 2012 | Friday |
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LONDON ROCKS CALENDAR 2012 