Summertime and the livin' is breezy

To the tune of Barenaked Ladies Three Weeks: It's been three weeks since the England trip.  Turned my head round and I was comin' back.  

I could try to keep going with that silly verse, but my point is that it feels like just yesterday I had airport troubles(to the tune of a 9 hour delay between two airports) and then was uploading photos of my trip to Facebook.  I know everyone in my class has had work or school since returning- I haven't heard much from LH or AG especially(sad!)- and I myself have lost track of summer.  It's August 25th, with just over a week left before I moved back into my house in Rhode Island and already I have attended one wedding, one night of karaoke, one night of a 90s cover band, several girls nights(complete with popcorn!), had a few bottles of Pumpkinhead and Octoberfest, gone to a drive in movie for Despicable Me 2, several movies(Red 2, We're the Millers, The World's End, etc.) and so much more.  In the remaining week, I hope to visit my friend's camp, attend a fair, finish packing, finish my 15-20 page paper(yes, even I still have a little left.  But mostly the bibliography and like a page, so that counts for something) and drink plenty of pumpkin iced coffee.  

In the time that I have been back, I have shared many a story from my travels.  I have way to many photos- no one person(minus myself) has seen them all.  Paris contains almost 200, Scotland almost 600, and Harry Potter holds almost 700.  I think...  Many people love hearing my story about how I went on a date with a Scottish guy.  And I am glad that I did, I think it has given me some confidence and level of assurance that I didn't have before.  In fact, I have been chatting with a nice guy this month and find myself not thinking too far forward.  I miss London, there was so much to see and everything was very close- everywhere I have gone this summer has been 15-90 minute drive away.  Except Moosehead Lake, that was almost 4 hours.  But very fun and the kayaking story deserves to be told.

So it was out first full day there, out of three total days, and BC and myself decided to go kayaking.  Now while I don't own my own kayak(yet) I absolutely love it.  I only ride single, the doubles remind me too much of canoing- which I hate with a passion.  So we head out, I in the single and BC in the double, and go to a small island slightly off our shore.  We "park" and look around, BC asks me "where do you want to go next?" to which I look further from where we are and spot a nice island with big green trees and some landing rocks.  I say "how about that island?"  BC doesn't protest and we head out.  And we paddle.  More paddling.  We had some footage between us so neither one of us was sharing their idea that this island seemed a little too far and that the travel on the waves seemed much too easy.  We got there, eventually, but couldn't park because the waves were almost crashing our boats to the rocks.  So, we tried turning around and found the waves were pretty sizable.  We had to paddle a lot harder.  We went to the shore, on the opposite side of our camp, and discovered we must have been at least a mile or two from the camp.  With the large waves, it took us a lot longer to paddle back.  Apparently BC was swearing, again we were at a distance due to paddling, but I was the least of our worries that week(her grandmother is a little schedule happy and it got on her nerves).  However, it has been deemed that I am not to pick where we go again- hopefully this just means kayak-wise.  Its definitely one of those look-back-and-be-funny tales.

This year is going to be a busy one.  I quit Dunkin in May, before the summer hit, so that when I left for England I had two graduate assistanceships, three classes, and one of which is an internship.  When I came back in August, my boss from the spring told me my schedule was too busy to work for her.  So, I went down to one graduate assistanceship.  I am quite excited about this one because I like the people I work for and the project is cataloging- which I will have proper training and therefore learn tons by.  I am also excited for my internship, on digital literacy, which kicks off in my first full school week.  The classes might prove a challenge, but they pertain to public libraries and I want some class principles as well as first hand experience.  I have an interview lined up for a part-time library when I come back as well as communications with a public library I worked at last year on Sundays.  Needless to say, I am keeping a better daily planner this year.  I don't even want to think about spring, when its comps season and graduation.  Jinkies!

For now, I am going to eat grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, Octoberfest, and blueberries.  Ahh, summertime in Maine and the livin' is breezy.  I always hope for a breeze anyways, it keeps the mosquitos away!

British Studies: Day 14

As I have mentioned several blogs earlier, we have attended the V&A.  While I did not get to attend the David Bowie exhibit, I did today get to see the Beatrix Potter archive at the Blythe House.  It is a storage facility of the Victoria and Albert and as such is quite old- it use to be a post office and savings bank.  By the 1970s it was computerized and taken for storage and increasingly they wanted to increase their reserves.  The V&A originally kicked off around 1837 when schools studied design and the subject became large, thus the British Archive formed with a collection valued around 52 pounds.  In 1851, there was a great exhibition and the public was allowed to attend.  In 1851, a South Kensington branch began and then the suite we were at today.  It really started because of ambitious curators who were acquiring a wider selection of material- sculpture, paintings- and by the 1860s-1870s they became "one capacious handbag."  Textiles, wood, metal, illustrations, and more.  The archive and registry holds records of management roles, staff records and documents, freedom info, data protection legislation, and in the old schools of archive they were taught records with management practice.  So IT, records, database, and collaboration.  Nowadays, they face challenges such as print/electronic records, as was decreed the thing to do and thus more print has ensued, and the cataloging of the archive online.  Record retention is something archives has in their veins and the online catalog allowed the public to see what is available even before it is properly cataloged.  We were show a few books, including a 19th Century registrar with a request from Queen Victoria for a stain glass repair, as well as correspondence of William Morris's tapestries.

Peter Rabbit Illustration.

Alexia , an archivist of arts and design, talked to us about the importance of design to the collection.  They were set up in 1978 and with a lack of records of design and new design courses being offered with people needing research, they began collecting British-based artists & designs, making sure not to step on other cultures designs.  So they have clothing, furniture, textile, and other styles handy.  the collection does not, however, include fine art or architecture.  They aim for 5-15 items a year to collect, with 2 staff members to do so, and mainly do this from donation or gifts.  There are 400 individual archives, which can be seen in print and the online catalog- interestingly enough they are in a consortium.  Alexia showed us an interesting fashion designer of the 1920s named Lucile, the prints were lovely, and another example of fashion from the 1950s where they predicted 1980s trends, which included knitwear.

Francis talked to us about Beatrix Potter, as she is a specialist of children's literature and has her MLIS.  There are 100,000 Potter items.  The 1920s man collection came from a husband and wife team, Enid and Leslie Linder(of whom Andrew Whiltshire talked extensively about his family's connection and the importance of these two to the Beatrix Potter codex, a written piece that Leslie translated and crafted the history of the famous author) and how the collection changed houses a few times before settling.  Since the Linder's play a large part in the collection, there are a few of their books and personal effects here as well.  Parts of the collection are on long term loan, such as the Peter Rabbit Letters(from the states).  The most impressive was a 1901 copy of Peter Rabbit.  Growing up with the stories, it was great to listen to an in-depth history of their finding.  There was also an interesting Alice in Wonderland adaptation/reimagining and over 2000 botanical studies, such as butterflies beneath microscopes.  Andrew Whiltshire was able to shed light on the interest of the Linders on Beatrix Potter, often draw by the wife and the overall works being purchased quickly(they had plenty of money to do it), and thus his theory was that their work on the gathering of the collection and the codex inspired works such as The Tale of Beatrix potter by Margaret Lane, Letter to Children from Beatrix Potter by Judy Taylor, Tales of Beatrix Potter ballet, and Miss Potter starring Ewan McGreggor.


Then this evening I spoke on behalf of the class.  I hope to post my speech soon, but as it is almost 11:20, I will need some sleep before Cardiff tomorrow.

British Studies: Day 13

Today's post will be a brief but studious one.  In the morning, we ventured to Middle Temple Library(which isn't far away from a DaVinci Code scene) and met Ms. Slattery.  This library is known as one of four Inns of Court.  There is Middle, Inner, Lincoln, and Gray, all of which work together to accomplish their needs and collections.  Each have their own special subject- Middle focuses on Law with a specialization for American law.  In 1641 they received a donation of books that started the library from a Robert Ashley, whom the building is named after.  We received a small history of how law libraries of the Inns began, around the 19th century there was a surge in law publishing and by 1861 the library was built, however nearby ones went through bombs but thanks to a Sir Edward(the last name I missed) their concrete was reinforced for protection.  They have a displays of arms, a display of armor, a display of the Molyneux globes, and several royal rooms- including the smoking room or Prince's room, and the Queen's room.  The Queen's room and Princes room are both elegant in their own fashion, the first brighter than the second but the second with comfier chairs.  The library doesn't throw books out unless they are not under their jurisdiction, in which case they are deselected and offered/sold elsewhere.  On the 3rd floor there was a US law collection, here no food or drink is allowed(unlike the first floor) and it holds an association with the Carnegies.  I am getting the idea that this guy liked libraries and had a lot of money.  Either way, his son studied at Middle and eventually took his learning home.  On this floor one would find classrooms, American textbooks, West Law US subscriptions, and financial records.  The classrooms are called advocacy suites and hold pros and cons- pro, more people, and con, people cannot always access their materials since the suites are lined inside and out with the books.  Thus being shut inside for a period of time. 

Dozens upon dozens of law-related books!

There is no classification system here, most of the items are, however, in subject booklets that are readily available.  There is an online catalog for online objects only, though it cannot collect online, and an ILL can be done through any of the four Inns to another.  Slattery began as a rare books librarian at Middle and is now the senior librarian, though she began as a librarian of the Canadian Government.  There were all sorts of fun British law terms, like a bencher, and it held many fascinating   items and locals- such as the Judgement of Soloman painting which was collected due to an argument of law, and Middle Temple Hall which had double banner beam roof, oak structures, a head table with planks floated down the Thames, and all sorts of activities are done there.  Speaking of events, the first performance of Twelfth Night was done there(see masks, plays, balls, and revels) as well as the 3rd Harry Potter release and in the Princes room a scene from Bridget Jones Diary(see Colin Firth) and other shows.

For lunch, we attended the Old Bank of England, where Sweeney Todd was pointed out to be a real man that operated around there.  Somehow, I ate a meat pie, but really tentatively and not much.  My classmates and I played some witty games and had a real get together.  Just before this, it was decided that I was to speak on behalf of our class at the Symposium tomorrow.  So while I met my personal goal(to speak there with an awesome idea) I am going to spend the hours travel crafting an outline for a five minute chat so I don't sound daft.  By afternoon, I went to the Westminster Reference Library where I saw their collection, asked a few details about it, and gathered some information of further places to contact and further my research, such as the University of Minnesota and the Portsmouth Library.

Tonight, I am headed to Camden once more, with LH, K, & AG.  Something about Macbeth and funny dressed men.  Oh nightlife of England, how strange you are!

British Studies: Day 12

Being in London forces one to learn their directions quickly.  Also, undergrounds at 8:30-9am are nuts.  This morning JD and I, my Scotland travel mate for the mini holiday, needed to purchase our unlimited passes.  In doing so, we left at 8:30 promptly, purchased them at Waterloo, bought coffee/bagel, and were waiting at our respective crosswalk(the one facing the station) and began waiting by 8:50 for our group.  Now, as I said before, there was tons of foot traffic and we were watching down the sidewalk, where we have always crossed at, for fifteen specific women.  By 9:15, these women did not come.  Beginning to grow frantic(it has been days since we went towards the British library so we didn't exactly remember how to get there) we doubled back to the courtyard to make sure no one was waiting for us.  They were, in fact, gone.  Luckily, JD has a data plan and can Google Maps like no tomorrow.  We figured that we had to connect from Waterloo(walking there once more) and to Euston, then a brief walk.  We did that, no problem and a few minutes before ten.  When we got to the area for the British Conservation Library(the behind the scenes of the British Library) no one was there either.  At this point I checked my phone, it has had shoddy reception/receiving abilities the whole trip(until seemingly this week) and I had a missed call from a classmate, telling me we had missed them in Waterloo.  This evening, we discovered, they had crossed to Waterloo several crosswalks up, thereby blending into the foot traffic we had been ignoring on the far side.  Like I said, quick moving.

Either way, we had made it and while people had no idea where were were suppose to meet our group, this was solved when we met them in the front entrance of the British Conversation Library.  Here our tour guide was Robert Brodie, the leader of the team.  He began by pointing out the architecture of the facility, north facing with much natural light, and no pipes.  They have a display here with many type face tools of which are impressive to have since they originally were headed for America on the Titanic.  Their photo center has a special water system that allows pure water- calcium and CO2 or something- and can hold many items at a time.  To work on a piece, one must enter a bidding and estimating process, this allows 66% of the collection, and items won in bidding might contain a 350 hour project.  There are teams used for this time, as they figure how long(estimate) and is sent to the head of the department where they give options that dictate the outcome of their proposals.  There are minimum interventions, high profile phases, frequent requests, and digitization that affect these proposals.  Typically they work in pairs.  Robert over sees some people himself.  Having taken a history of books and printing course, this was all fascinating to see up close.  They have special boxes for different items, office records and geneological items make up the bulk of the collection, and then we saw examples.  One such example was an office record with a decorative and practical look.  It had a spring back, marble pages, and if you rip out a page it leaves an opening.  Quite noticeable.  Another example was of a leather bound book that was rebound but used the original leather pieces.  Life the leather, reline the book, add new leather, put in the old, and set it.  Here they left the original innards, some manuscript notes that were in both front and back covers, and the work was from 1649.  If a work needed sewing, there are many different types of Japanese paper, including shusi and kuzu-shi.  

A nice entrance.

Our second guide was Chris of the PACCAR finishing department.  It takes years to learn this skill, of which much patience is involved and much knowledge of heating elements, leather/cloth reaction, and type face mishaps.  Their job is no freehand, but rather comes with specific instructions for typefact and gold from the others.  They use a stone to heat the type and a souffle looking item to cool it, so that the type doesn't punch through the leather.  Gold foil melts easiest but the spine must be washed first and then clamped down.  Gold leaf is used for leather and gold foil for cloth, which is interesting.  It has to be cut to size, the gold is cut on a cushion, and then pasted with an eggwhite glue to the area of the book.  The tools used vary by style and as Chris has worked at more decorative places before, he is quite good here.  Francis, a conservator, was very nice as well.  I asked if the Illuminated Manuscripts with gold gilded pages come here and indeed they do.  I am not sure what the process involves, but I imagine it is more time taking then other areas, however they told me that the works pretty much keep them selves up.  

That's gold foil.  On K's finger.

And don't worry, I am doing research in here.  I tried to see a document from the British Library(featured in their display Crime Fiction A-Z) today, but the readers card process was a little more technical then I anticipated.  Turns out, my drivers license does not have my current house address and I need to return later this week if I am to learn nothing about the display.  On the upside, I have an appointment scheduled with the Westminster Reference Library for tomorrow to discuss their huge Sherlock Holme s collection.  I am very happy about this.

In the evening, I hopped on a tube to Euston, a train to Watford Junction, and a "knight" bus to the Warned Brothers Harry Potter J&K stages.  Let me tell you, I haven't been able to afford going to Harry Potter World, but I know this was ten times better.  I can't wait to upload photos, as there are at least a thousand, but it was fantastic.  I went with a great bunch- thank you, you know who you are- and had the experience of a lifetime.  I was able to sit in/on Hagrid's motorcycle, walk acrros the bridge of Lupin(my favourite character) and Harry in that touching scene,, pose with chess pices that were larger than me, see the special effects of the cratures(oh yes, Aragog too), and drink Butterbeert with a souvenir cup to boot!  I think I will be reliving moments of this for a long time.  If you can g, do so.  Spend the money, it is highly worth it.  Make sure to have some time, bring some friends and just take it all in.  I did and it is the best night of the trip, I think this is safe to say.  And, as you have read by now, I have done quite a bit.  

LH & I, stealing a ride in Hagrid's motorcycle!

British Studies: Day 11

Today was another adventurous day.  Having still been jazzed up from meeting Daniel Radcliffe and sipping cider at The World's End yesterday, we today traveled to the Tottenham Road stop for a tour of the library at the British Museum.  Like many of the tours this month, we saw a behind the scenes element that normal tours cannot.  Our tourguide was Stephanie Clark, an energetic speaker and rather impressive figure.  The archive collection here is massive, taking up the whole space of the museum below and Stephanie keeps track of it all herself.  For 7 years she has worked here with no catalogue when she arrived and having no official one at present.  There are all sorts of archives here- finance, staff, trustee, building, and reading room.  There are 8 collecting departments but only the one archivist.  

The majority of her records of are trustee records with minutes from meetings.  These, she says, provide a sense of the era and are therefore important to keep in their bound volumes- for easy storage and finding.  Stephanie's department receives a total of some 30-40 emails a week that may come from legal services, those interested in family history, or anotehr special interest.  Of the trustee minutes, she tells us that there are dates of importance as well as page numbers, giving the item its own organization.  Some volumes have been tossed (due to the lack of use or concern for space) by previous directors.  The volumes include letters from the meetings, subject points most likely, as well as letter books that accompany them.  Today there are no staff records to be kept due to confidentiality laws.  

Of the building plans, she shows us an example from the 1830-1920 collection.  A trasncription from Aaron Hayes' previous work.  These include sketches of a sheep and a man.  In 1920 there were some records not kept.  There are some 1500 photos in the collection that relate to archives.  These are delivers to their respective departments, which aides the finding of materials requested.  She then showed us a (bomb)shell from 1941 and its related photos of their destruction.  In 1854, the museum highered its first photographer, Roger Fenton, in a time of pre-electricity.  The photos she showed were purchased at auction in 1980.  In 1881 they had a zoology/botany section, later moved to the Natural History Museum, which included an Irish Deer.  We viewed the images from a viewing device which made the 8 see the image in a 3D prespective as well as o see details of the previous version of the museum.  These were very cool.  Rather than focus on preservation of materisl, they have microfilm copies of all written works and building records.  They also have some impressive drafts from Smirke's architecture of the museum's outside.  Their round reading room is often take for special displays, so we did not get ot see it.  What I did get to see downstairs was far more special- a signature and reqiuest form from one Bram Stoker.  THE Bram Stoker.  Rumour has it that his Dracula and the British Museum are connected, though Stephanie was unsure how.

In the end, Stephanie has a job for life.  She took a task that had no organization and made a system that requires inquires through her.  There is no browsing done prior to the completed request, so she must retrieve it amongst some areas that seem to have no classificatin.  The index downstiars is aphabetical, with ticket numbers, and mostly grey boxes.  There does not seem to be a devised plan for digitalization because, due to the content f the collection, many photos are taken with poor quality so that they are not published elsewhere.  The items cannot, therefore, be used for digitalization.  Stephanie has a major in history with a masters in archive and management.  She says the realm can be tough and there have been a lot of changes in the last ten years(post-graduation) but there are still tradiational channels and she had the qualification over experience when highered.  She said to do her job one needs to have cataloguing, records, conservation, and preservation experience.  

In the afternoon, I finally made it to London's Hard Rock Cafe.  I am a bit obsessed at this point.  I hae a background as a classic rock/college dj.  The Hard Rock gives me an opportunity to see some iconicperformance  pieces.  Queen and The Beatles were there, amongst a vault of items, so I was not dissappointed.  Tonight, I must pack and book tickets for travel during mini break.  Tomorrow I am viewing the Houses of Parliament and venturing on Baker Street for research.  Wish me luck at a Benedict Cumbebatch sighting ;)

British Studies: Day 10

We had another sunny morning today.  I am not complaining, in fact I am laughing because Maine has all the rain at the moment.  I bought sunscreen last week and have been okay since.  It makes iced coffee, cider, and fresh fruit all the more enjoyable.

The Royal Geological Society is to be considered one of the highlights of the trip.  While our discussion took place in one room(their main library), the gentleman who talked to us today was so knowledgeable it was unreal.  He brought us on a travel expedition from South America to the Antarctic as he went around the table to the objects and pictures placed there.  Expeditions, until the 19th century, were mainly about traveling.  In the early days of their foundation, the Royal Geo. Society created a journal that contained much of the discoveries made.  Founded in 1830, their collections hold some 2 million items- 1 million of which is comprised of maps, some part are picture collections.  They are considered to be the largest in Europe of British history exploration and have an atlas as old as 1490.  They also have lantern slides from lectures.  Of their book library, there are 25,000 items; 150,000 are books and 100,000 "other".  They have an archives section(100,000) with "meters of boxes" covering the history of society.   Their Everest Collection, which contains trip plans and various papers, is from a 1904 expedition.  Their collection of objects total some 1500 items, and periodical collections with 1500 items digitized from requests fulfilled.  They have 2000 item for India alone.  Our tour guide is their principal librarian, whom is in charge of duties such as cataloging, artifact care, artifact loans, giving talks, and reading room aspects.  As far as loans go, the items are chipped and when loans to museums or library exhibits there are discussions had about how to treat the items.  For example, Edinburgh just borrowed an item that they wanted to freeze to kill pests but the RGS decided that would damage their item and it was not to be done.  Climate control and storage are just as important here as previous visits.  The collection comes from donations and the founders of the RGS.  Other parts of the collection come from great grandchildren and family members of those on expedition for the RGS.  Nowadays, the RGS is short on shelf space.  They maximize their space, organizing not by classification scheme but shelf number.  Their concern is storage, preservation, and accessibility.  They use MARC21 and the catalogue is readily available online.  Technically they use two, with one more detailed in another location.  They have a team of 8, one head director, one library manager, and the 6 of the reading room.

  The second half of our visit, our tour guide gave us an awesome story-by-story encounter of the items on the table.  I have many of them jotted in notes, but it is one of those "you have to be there " talks, but my favourite story was a combination of the voyages sent out and the hat/hood of Ed. Shakleton that was gifted to a close friend and later came back to the society.  That and the nifty mini sextant that was not only or a pocket but also had ivory toggles so your skin wouldn't stick to it.

By after noon, K, LH, K2, & myself went to Camden town.  My goal here was to see The World's End pub and have a pint.  This was easy to do since it was right at the subway resurface.  I also bought a tank-top- or what they called a vest.  It's a little punkier than I am use to but its wonderful.  I had Chinese food and walked through the "stables", eying many a shop and seeing all sorts of sights. It's a spunky town and I wouldn't be opposed to returning if there is time in the final week(next week is Scotland).

UPDATE:  I finally met Daniel Radcliffe tonight and had the opportunity to tell him he is building a great body of work(as an actor).  As well as to laugh about his height- some people out back said they were short and he said he knew what it was like, to never apologize for it.  He is a sweet heart really.  I also have photo proof with JL, whom was my crowd-attendee!


 Anyways, it's off to bed for this one!  While tomorrow might be slower, I have to carefully pack for a week's long voyage and pack things to be left behind.  Wish me luck!

British Studies: Day 8 & 9

Yesterday was spent wandering the same streets that Shakespeare did- Stafford-on-Avon. 
            By morning, I purchased a few souvenirs for family and friends.  By early afternoon, I had  some great ice cream.  By late afternoon, LH & A and myself went to a building called The Enchanted Manor where we were mystified by all of the Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Pirates, Doctor Who, and else they fit into one building.  We paid 4 pounds to go through the two upstairs floor where we had a dragon egg challenge to do and work study(14 year olds) to meet.  Of the eggs, there were 35 and a pirate riddle involving Treasure on the HMS Vampyrica, of the 14 year olds they wanted to work in various aspects of film.  I was impressed by the detail such as the LeMarchand Box- and the slight name changes to avoid copyright.  We won the dragon challenge: I became a broomstick flyer expert, A became a cackling witch, and LH the green witch understudy.  We have certificates to prove it!

MaTiLDA.  Oh, I know what you're thinking, but they gave theirs a different name!

By evening, we watched a performance of As You Like It performed at the Royal Shakespeare Company.  As I have processed the show, I have liked more elements of it.  It was in traditional theatre in the round, making all seats good seats.  The stage used simple elements to give us a change of scene and great costuming choices to place us from the palace to the forest, a much more freeing world.  The acting was good- though their Rosalind was almost too eccentric- and the technical effects(such as lighting) were stunning.

Today, we had a behind the scenes tour of the Victoria & Albert, or V&A.  There are several section, composed of desks and researchers, computers and printers, shelving upon shelving, and more.  The library, we were told, is 150 years old.  It holds many arts related items, including fashion magazines such as Vogue, and focuses on al aspects of art and design.  It sees about 30,000 visitors(truthful as we saw today) and the collection has attentive cataloging so that it can be found online, as some of the materials are untouchable.  The hours are reasonable as well, Tuesday through Saturday 10-5:30.  At the moment, they have a camera available but would like to go over to safer scanners that don't harm the spines.  They passed us a packet today telling us how their training for handling books goes- something done very 18 months.  Many of the rooms do not have air conditioning because they keep an eye on their economic climate.  Of the storage facilities, they too are monitored because pests and vermin are just as common here.  Checked quarterly, using traps to prevent them, as is the OCEAN system for testing humidity.  At present, there are 11,000 periodicals and 1,000 are current.  Nowadays they are not bound together.  All items are arranged by size- I am sensing a trend here- and in a house classification system.  Objects storage containers change depending on the year, here you can see grey folders or red boxes with a metal pull.  After a few more rooms, one of which contained the majority of staff(cataloging) we were given the real treat- old books we could view up close.  My favourite was the Leonardo DaVinci Codex because of its coded language and small illustrations.  A fascinating man, the book is small and pocket sized.  It was purchased from Italy in 1992 and made around 1493-1505.  The ink within changed between black and red- this might be due to age- and makes me very curious.  Other items in this viewing included a book of Parrots(the first of its kind), a Picasso illustration set, and a Book of Hours.  

Tonight, I am joining GOP & AG to head over to Leicester Square for the premier of The World's End, a new Simon Pegg film.  While we won't be getting in til next week, we will get to stand on the carpet and get autographs of the actors.  For the event, I purchased a canvas and permanent marker- best artwork ever.  I do hope I can get their signature!  What a splendid month this is turning out to be!  And we haven't even gotten to Scotland yet!

UPDATE:

After posting this, I decided to go with two friends to The World's End premier, as I mentioned.  Soon there will be a picture to accompany this, but I managed to get most of the cast, the director, and cameos to sign my canvas.  There is actually a photo tagged(on my friend's facebook) of my canvas being signed by Simon Pegg.  THe first to sign it was actually Simon Pegg's brother, Mike Beckingshire, and Simon signed below.  Bill Bailey, Edgar Wright, and others are all on there.  Martin Freeman was not there as he is in New Zealand filming for The Hobbit, but that's acceptable terms.  Overall, the experience was wonderful and we had perfect standing spots to see, sign, and watch the large screen with sneak peeks and intervewees.  After having gone to this event, it dawned on me that if anyone asks the illusive "what was your favourite part of the trip?"  I am going to have a very difficult time answering.  I have been so fortunate, thus far, in my academic and social time that I do not know what the best part is.  Just that I am still singing with triumph about my uber cool canvas.  

British Studies: Day 7

Today's morning begun in the most fabulous way- almost smashing into none other than Kenneth Branagh.  On my way out of Waterloo station, having just solo bought an Oyster ticket, I was weaving in and out of people to return to the courtyard.  Since I couldn't shout out or anyhting, I did several double takes and am 90% certain it was him.  So there's that.

By afternoon, our group went to the Guinness World Book of Record's largest archive library, the "Pompeii of the North"- the Museum of London's Library.  Here, a fellow named Dan Nesbitt(of LARC) gave us a tour around and sneak peek into many historical lives.  Constantly growing, this site began ten years ago, placed in a steel tubing facility.  With 120 staff members and 40 volunteers, there are guidelines to follow, cataloging to be done, and public accessibility is a priority.  This facility has won not only a world record but various volunteer awards that have inspired similar volunteer programs.  Their primary work concerns are leadership, learning, curating, and research.  In the facility, there are people in charge of organizing the materials(section by section), washing and drying items(there are even drying racks) as well as the most important bit- identification.  A large part of their collection began because of a man named Mortimer Wheeler, a famous archaeologist whom later created a show (so says Dan) called Animal, Vegetable, Mineral.  We were a privileged bunch today, seeing their facility behind the scenes with some of 99% in donated items.  They have roller racks, controlled environments, and many many kinds of items.  A Buckingham Palace telephone(used as a background for the creator of Skype), a Royal Opera House urinal, leather from Shakespeare's time, a "Psycho"(a magician's circle item that can be seen in Big with Tom Hanks, used for "fortune telling.") and much more.  They have an x-ray machine and store their metal items separate from their cloth and tile as well as these grouped parts.  Shelves are organized according to 3 letters(street) and 2 number code(year).  Some have a context number which makes more meaning in context.  The pr-historic flints are their oldest item, but Adam(another staff person) showed us some awesome animal bones that the year was undecided.  It had soil samples, pollen seeds, dietary information, printed records of site digs, and even rules for human skeletons collections.  Graham showed us the drying room and some other items, shears & a Tudor spoon at the highlight.  The cannon ball of Shakespeare's Globe was perhaps the neatest item- the guess is that it was used(they have five from his theatres) as a behind the stage prop for making thunder when needed.  Shakespeare himself may have been a cannon roller!  The storage boxes are standardized and the bags inside are clear for viewing, labeled, and padded accordingly.  There is some small interaction with radiation and a small chance of a squashing hazard- there are many people using the roller racks at a time, so be careful!  The archive even has a catastrophe plan.  The point of this place is that everything is kept because people a) like to see it and b) archaeologists desire totality, or that with an unknown future it might be nice to have.  To whether or not to  keep the archive is something that doesn't need deciding now.  In the end, I asked two questions.  1) No they do not have any dinosaur remains, those belong to paleontologists.  2) There were rubber rucks in the last room(with vases and such) and those are not an inside joke but rather a challenge for sweets for the kids' groups. 

Not sure if I am suppose to show this, but there is the pink duck I found!!

Then the highlight of the evening- JD, LH, C, & A and myself scored 27 pounds tickets for five balcony seats to see The Cripple Innishman.  It was 2 1/2 hours of amazing.  West End has yet to let me down.  It was a dark comedy set in Ireland and had many more characters than Daniel Radcliffe.  Yes, he was in it.  The syke was beautifully used, painting watercolour skies over different scenes.  The stage was "in the round"- picture a t-bone that curves at each angle.  It used several scenes: a store, two bedrooms(at two times), an outdoor park, and a boatdock.  The music and acting were also good, but(like when I saw Evita here 7 years ago) the things the do with the stage are amazing.  And yes Daniel Radcliffe is handsome in person and yes he is small in person, but he played a strong character in a play of 9 people.  I bought a programme for 4 pounds and and looking forward to reading the article he has in it, talking about his work with the stage.  I don't think I will be forgetting the stone sets or jokes about cows anytime soon! 

I adore thee!

Off to Stratford tomorrow, ta!

British Studies: Paris

Paris Weekend Explore:

The trip to Paris was the most bizarre by far. At almost midnight we headed on a coach bus past the Dover cliffs and onto a ferry. After a cold hour long voyage, we drove four hours and one hour forward in time to St. Christopher Inn.  After dropping our bags in storage we began our tour.  Some euros, a yummy espresso, and a metro ticket later, we were bathing in the small city streets.  

Notre Dame was one of the first sites we frequented.  the line was long but luckily the church was large enough to make it move.  here I lit a candle for my family.  it was a grand church.  From this location we wandered over to another famous location- the louvre.  To add to my day, I saw Mona Lisa, the Venus, and much much more.  Later in the first day we ate at ....a small restaurant with a cellar and a Mousketeer theme.  Salad, red wine, duck, and apple crumble made up my courses.  From there we attempted to go on a boat cruise, but missed our time.  

I discovered this weekend that while my pronunciation is off by a lot, I remember far more French than I knew.  I played liaison for translating much of this weekend.  Signs, people, directions, the metro.  C'est tres bien!  It came in handy Saturday.  As it turns out, there are many "Dufour"s in France.  On Saturday morning when we went to Versailles, the home of Madam Du Pompador and Marie Antonette, I searched for my wing.  Knowing it was there on the ticket, it was sadly under renovation.  This I learned by asking.  It was impressive nonetheless and makes me curious about my roots.  Their coat of arms in almost exact to mine, which my cousins and I recently conferred.  

That afternoon we took a long and crowded metro to the catacombs, but unfortunately slightly missed it.  From there we made plans to go to the Paris Hard Rock Cafe.  While expensive, the music was grand and they had items of Jimi Hendrix, Scorpions, and The Clash.  Here I decided to buy a patch from Hard Rock and iron it onto the sleeve of my London letterman I purchased in Greenwich.  From this location, we wandered along the sienna, spotted the Arc de Triumph, and got on the evening boat tour.  The Eiffel Tour at night is gorgeous.  The tour was hard to hear, but looked wonderful.  Our group is curious as to why the Eiffel glitters at 11pm, but it's tres jollie.  

After a short night's sleep, we packed and headed out for more espresso from the same cafe(2 euros!) and then to the metro for a morning peek at Moulin Rouge.  Here I purchased a red fan for a wall decoration.  We poked around inside but it costs over 180 euro to go any further(a show and dinner).  By noon, we boarded the coach and here we sit for a long journey home.  I don't know if we will be back by midnight or eleven, but it was a crazy fast weekend.  Sadly no Daft Punk was run into, but I miss London in a good way.  

Notre Dame in all its tall glory.

 I don't recall why I was so surprised...

The best photo of the Eiffel Tower that I took.

 T

British Studies : Day 5

The Bodleian, located in Oxford, was once created for the School of Divinity.  It's style of perpendicular Gothic with high ceilings and sandstone via quarry holds dates of 15 Century, 17th Century, and 18th Century.  The detail was created with hammer and chisel over time.  It has crests in the ceilings as well as pictures of Jesus, Veronica, the Virgin, and others.  There is a door that leads to the theatre, where some degrees are accepted(such as Bill Clinton's due to security issues) built in the 17th Century by none other than Christopher Wren.  In the 18th Century he added the chair of astronomy and created the route for which degrees would be confirmed.  The second room we entered was known for lectures and oral dissertations, complete with debating pulpits.  School was no longer conducted here in the 19th Century.  In the convocation house- a business place for community meetings- John Selden decided there needed to be a wing for books, that storing them underground they were subject to floods and rats.  Books are and were considered to be precious items.  The wood of the room is of the Jacobean style, it is polished every 20 years, and happened to be completed by a local of Oxford.  In it there is also the Vice Chancelor's Throne were councils use to be held weekly for 100 or more people.  The chancelor's election, which was attended by any graduates(and is now moving  online), was held in formal robes at the end of the chancellor's career- also known as life in this case.  Beside this room was the court/case room where one belonging to Oxford could hold a trial without delays, recess, etc.  You wouldn't go to the gallows, but you could be sent to the Tower of London for treason.  

The library here  is worldly re-known.  It is known in size(11 million items of 1 copy each) and age(700 years old).  In the early days, it has seen contributions from New York's Rockefellers.  By 2015 then intend to make an addition, offering a restaurant and tea.  We were not allowed cameras here, for obvious reasons, and were told that the collection contained items such as 67 of 100 Hebrew Incunables, the Macgreggle Gospels, Playboy, the NY Times, and trashy novels.  I think those last three might have been joke items.  Thomas Bodely, whom long ago gave away a First Folio that has now been returned after much fundraising, was important to the library.  Duke Humphrey of Gloucester was as well- giving all of his personal manuscripts to the library project, believing that if he wasn't around to read them someone else should.  It was therefore named after him.  There is an old and a new library here.  The Duke Humphrey library can bet be described as the library from the Harry Potter films- there are restricted sections, studying benches and tables, and chained books as well as tall multi-level shelves.  In early days, the library saw no artificial lighting or heating, being afraid to catch aflame, and the hours of the library were given daily by the librarian.  In 1598 it was empty and by 1602 Bodley restored it.  The ceilings of these rooms contain Hamerbean ceilings, painted wood, and code of arms- such as "the lord is my light" and Thomas Bodely's coat of arms.  The Duke Humphrey library saw to house several royals, such as Charles I and James I(whom both have commemorative statues) and even the librarian was an aristocrat.  The organization here is similar, if not the same, as that of St. Paul's.  The book chains were removed in 19th Century and they library now receives one copy of each book weekly- resulting in two vans full.  

In or around 1610, a man by the name of Dr. John Radcliffe wanted to see a science library built.  This is now a popular reading room.  It's ambulatory is gorgeous, complete with ivory and sea green painting.  Once upon a time, Napoleon ate there and was received at a royal dinner.  Since that time, there has been a similar dinner but the only royal in attendance was Prince Charles(1990).  This was a dinner of donors.  In 1909 the underground was set at a capacity of 80%.  This room has no windows but plenty of book stacks and one area for water or meetings..  It is quite modernized The tunnel connector at the end is magical as well- we ended up in the original building we had walked out of!

Their Magical Books display was amazing.  While we couldn't take photos, I won't easily forget the First Folio Pages of Macbeth, the Tolkien images of Smaug or the Runes, nor the work of Beatrice Potter and JK Rowling in their first editions.  The art/ illustrations spanned 12th Century to 20th Century, Tolkien being of their school as well as CS Lewis.

This made dinner lunch at the Eagle and Child special.

At Christ church I learned much about Lewis Carroll, aka Charles Dodgson, and saw "THE" Great Hall used in the films.  In sum, Alice was based on the Dean of Carroll's time, Dina(her cat)  owuld get lost in a tree that people would have to etch(this became the Cheshire cat.)  The mad Hatter was based on a fabric/fitter shop attendant whom wore a top hat with the receipts of customers ticking out.  And the white rabbit was based on the dean(Alice's father) whom would enter the dinners very late exclaimed, "I'm late, I'm late, sorry I'm late!"  Eventually it all sunk in with him.  Tweedle dee and dum, as well, whom were two chefs boys in the kitchen.  Fun fact: Lewis Carroll was first a mathematician.  Also there is a magic" garden door in the garden.  The last story we were told is of Alice grown up: at one point, Prince Leopold came to visit.  He stayed in a private suite, but dined with Alice's family,  It is thought they fell much in love, but Alice was common and thus went away for a time to smolder the flames.  When she married Hargreaves, she named their son Leopold and when the Prince married he named his daughter Alice.  How mad indeed.

And King's Cross is tomorrow!  I am quite excited about this!  

British Studies: Day 4(or is it five now?)

As I eat fish and chips(with plenty of vinegar and salt), having just arrived home from a spontaneous trip to Kensington Gardens where we saw the famous Peter Pan statue(picture to follow).  It was a successful day for learning Tube stops as well as Bus stops.  We do not always have to hunt for Waterloo- Country Hill will almost get you there.  And if you are not sure which Tube to get on, match the color of the inside railings with your line's color.  I.e., Circle is yellow and the inner railings(what you hang onto inside when standing) is also yellow.  I sort of remembered this trick from my high school trip, but re-observed it two days ago and it has made my group's life easier.  

As for official events today, we began at the Barbican.  The Barbican is a public library that was built before World War II and was rebuilt after it was bombed down in that same era.  In 1964, they began acting as a lending library.  The Barbican estate, the land that holds the library, is composed of a cinema, theatre, restaurant, the library, and more.  It is know as a cultural heritage section, just as the Tower Bridge is.  The library has several structural issues, such as columns, but makes up for that with its use of displays.  These change often.  The ones they had today included a section of e-book downloading, Superman, fiction, Crime Novels(with awesome covers), etc.  The center has about 9,000-11,000 residents, fluctuating of the hours they are open, and sometimes 300,000.  They are open consistently with two late nights alternating and not on Sundays.  Their online catalogue is 24/7.  They have an interesting security feature- putting labels in the back of the book.  They have a scanning self-check in complete with dropbox, as well as a real librarian to do the same task inside.  While in the US librarians seem to feel threatened by their lack of use at the desk, the Barbican seems to feel that this self-check allows them to be of use for other actions.  In addition to the location we visited, they have three joint libraries.  In the future they hope to be able to make better recommendations to their patrons, a feat most public libraries strive for.  To entice the public, they use twelve artist slots a year- much vied for apparently, we had one setting up today- and this can be comprised of jewelry, sculpture, painting, or other.  It gives the artist a showing platform in London.  Their age range, statistically, is of mostly men and 25-40 years of age.  Another interesting feature of this library is that it let's you not only hold but check out 1738 texts.  They have a fiction section, large print, non-fiction, "london lost", DVDs, a music section of the library that works with the girl's school, a children's library, and much more.  I was incredibly impressed with their Doctor Who collection(52 films/items).  Oh, and no we did not see Daniel Craig today- a regular of the library.

52 Doctor Who DVDs.

Our second trip was the upstairs(perhaps middle floor) of St. Paul's Cathedral and into their library.  There are 140 stairs to this trip, I believe we did half because there were more stairs above us.  The "tri forium level", as it is called, has three arches, a tesserai mosaic by William Wren, a set of viking runes reading "caused me to be made", and much else that I am not sure I am suppose to discuss with outsiders.  I can tell you there was a lot of latin(faciendi plures libros nollus est finis) as well as other "retired" religious artifacts.  The library, however, focuses on the conservation of rare books- which to them is preventative.  The tour guide, whom was very lively, discussed the needs of digital collections and the importance of the prints.  Originally, the library was lost in the Great Fire of London and later replaced through donations and clergy members.  Now, the leather is decaying and parts(holes) have been eaten in the works by worm type insects.  While we couldn't see them, the awesome smell of books when you go in an old library(like St. Paul's) is marvelous, and also the smell of decaying bindings.  They apparently are going for the wood under the leather or the animal glue.  They now vary in age, 17th Century mostly, and are all cataloged in the database- which is not available for the public.  Of this, our tour guide told us that the first rule of librarianship is to "never ever dispose of your old catalogs."  He then called himself an old "fuddy duddy," a technical term of course.  His favourite books include Tendall's New Testament and the Psalter of pre-reformation, two books he believes you could use to begin the world again.  If you are curious how they arrange their items, it is first by case # and then by shelf letter.

During the day, I pondered my research paper some more.  I am now thinking I want to combine my love of Sherlock Holmes and Alice in Wonderland with an curiosity in preservation & a passion for display making.  One potential research question would be to ask "What do public libraries do to attract attention?"  The answer, to me, would be to utilize displays.(See Greenwich Maritime & Barbican)  Second, to as "How do the US and UK vary on this?  How are they similar?"  And thirdly, I noticed  that the pubs and museums in England also contain script/text pieces of these authors(mentioned above) and I would then have to ask "What role do the pubs play in the preservation of these works?  Do they affect or aide the public libraries cause?"  Either way, these are some ideas floating in my head that I then wanted to see  in text for later use or thought reflection.  On that note, the 6:30 departure to hop on the Paddington train to Oxford comes rearly.  Tomorrow is a full day and I really look forward to posting photos, whenever that happens.  Also, I just purchased tickets to see the Harry Potter Warner Brothers Tour.  So I will sleep extra well tonight, rest assured.  

British Studies: Day 2

Today had much to do and, now, not enough time to write about it.  So here are the highlights.

St. Paul's is just as gorgeous as I remember.  The gold guilded insides are just as impressive as the massive dome- not to mention the hight of it from inside.  At 11am, I attended their mass and was able to enjoy the boys choir accompanied by the church's orchestra and men's choir.  I have never seen so many deacons in one room.  The procession was formal, and familiar, and really worth seeing.  As far as the route to St. Paul's, we sat on the top decker of the double decker bus and J & C, new mates, and myself decided we HAD to return to make purchases at the sweet shop.  

I'm headed to mass, but not before a photo opp!

At 2pm, I attended a tour of "Mayhem" and War by a professor of the history department.  And know his history he does.  Our route was to cross by the river, come up by the London Eye(where we sat in the sun and received stories of the plague), past Parliament(where we sat in the shade and talked about Richard and the Evil Prince John, as well as William the Conquerer) then by Westminster, saw a few guards(not the guards, they weren't there.  So look forward to a picture of me in their place..)  We went down a street that had been set up for the royal baby- which isn't here yet, but soon- and eventually ended up in Trafalgar Square.  The tour was great- Prof. Wiest really knew his history- wars, political figures, monuments, and buildings.  It was a nice four hour stroll amongst my new home.

By the end of the night, myself, GOP, and JG went to Liverpool Street.  Don't go alone, try to bring a strong man/woman if you can.   The men try to push you into their Indian restaurants(verbally) and, for me at least, it was really nerve wracking and uncomfortable.  One of the guys followed us on four crosswalks(a square) until we threw ourselves in the one adjacent to(but not) his.  The food was fine, I liked the spiced(mild) chicken.  From there we proceeded to The White Hart, a pub known for Jack the Ripper's planning.  The alleyway next to it even looks as though it were a potential murder lane.  The pub was friendly and told us what they knew.  They too had good cider.  Here I learned that J2 has worked with Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman.  I almost died.  Not only did this girl become my hero earlier when she shouted "No!"(flailing her arms) when men tried to push food on us after having just had food, but then she told me about her work as their Dramatoligist- a person who does research into dramatic time periods within the archives of the library.  I am loving learning about the people I am with.

And once more, I shall love my bed.  Hello midnight, we meet again.

British Studies: Day 1

This is Harry, pre-flight, in protest of my packing.(He's right, it was too hot to pack!)

Coming to London is like falling down a rabbit hole, likely where Lewis Carroll got the idea for his writing actually.  In one day I did more than I could have imagined.

In the morning, we met in the courtyard for orientation.  From there we made our first venture into King's College.(Mum and Paul, if you're reading this, I am going to try really hard to get your shirts you asked for, but the shoppe is only open Mon-Fri. 10-4:30.)  We sat in our class and the tour schedule was discussed.  I am very happy to be going to St. Paul's for mass tomorrow, not because I am overly religious but because I am curious how the English do mass.  Monday will be great too because we are having a reception for the BSP students.  Wednesday will be too because I am uber stoked for Oxford, the Bodleian, and the Alice shoppe.  Amongst everything else, of which is also great.  Anyways, here we also discussed our blogs(tada!) and research projects, of which I pondered all day and may have come up with an idea by the evening.

My flat, in the middle of the street.

After we met an amazing man, named Dr. Doug Mackaman, and some others in charge/involved with BSP we snagged lunch and broke into our tour groups.  Initially, I didn't  have one because the online site said it was closed, but it had space.  So, we did a historic pub tour.  When it ended, we were way down on Fleet Street and given the right to wander.  So six of us(myself included) did just that.  We started backwards, beginning at a pub near where the tour ended(I forgot the name of this one).  The half pints are wonderful, for about 2 pounds you can purchase a half pint- considering our target goal of a taste testing, this was perfect.  So we drank here, chatted and got to know one another, and took in the new feeling.  Our group was comprised of five women and one man, whom we librarians-to-be borrowed from the finance group.  I won't list their names because right now I just know firsts- so it'd be A, C, D, M, & TWH(who I know from becoming Facebook friends).  Anyways...

Next was perhaps the best pub of the bunch: Ye Olde Chesire Cheese.  If you enter the building, there is a bar to the right, a dinner area ahead, and stairs to the below.  "Mind Your Head", they say, and you should.  Unless you are short like me and this doesn't apply.  At the bottom, we were waiting for one of our members at the restroom and got a chuckle out of the men who were way  too tall for the stairs.  When one of their group exited the restroom, he too bopped his head and, well, you really had to be there.  Overall there was a joke exchanged about looking for a horse, directed at a man dressed like a jockey( which later, as it turned out, was a friend of his party) and a hearty "welcome to England." Entering the cellar, we found the pub part.  While waiting at the bar, we asked some locals what they preferred and they pointed us to a delicious cider.  As we sat and drank, we not only took a group photo but we got another chuckle at the group- members of a stag party.  

The next pub was The Black Friar, which I recognized the name from Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere.  It was an oddly shaped place, with tons of outside seating(all taken due to the unusually gorgeous weather).  We sat inside and this time I had some chips and sampled a Golden Summer, I think was the name.  My waiter asked about my visit upon hearing my accent in ordering at the counter.  This is becoming a little funny  joke: when I tell someone I am from Maine, they look puzzled and shake their head no, and I then tell them it is on the East Coast and almost Canada.  This works.  I kind of like it.  I discovered a lot today about varying mentalities of Americans, of which are not all pleasant, but our group has not personally had any bad situations.  We were a curious and friendly bunch and struck up many good conversations on our way.

After Black Friar, we wandered over to Trafalgar Square for Pride in London.  While it made me cringe to see Trafalgar so littered with plastic and beer bottles, the energetic vibes of the attendees was electric.  We danced here for a while, received awesome stickers with readings such as "Some Guys Marry Guys, Get Over it!" and "Some People Are Gay, Get Over It!"  Here we learned an important terminology: equal.  Rather than Gay Pride, they say Equal Pride and that's fantastic, preferable.  So, our group decided to adopt it and spread it on elsewhere.  

Our trip ended (almost) at the Sherlock Holmes Pub.  I decided I would go back there because this is where I got my idea to look into research.  They had several documents from the Arthur Conan Doyle books and several scripts of the films behind protective glass(of which I want to photography when it is not as busy) and contemplate how the libraries , pubs, and museum come together to reserve and promote these works- of which I imagine have some amount of funding for upkeep- and provide such joy to fans.  The men's room hallway had a picture of Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock.  It was wonderful.  I intend to keep an ear out and actively seek Sherlock Holmes pieces to try to figure out a research question and thesis statement- my big assignment for this class.  Right now it might be c=something about how his works fueled a genre that keeps Public Libraries burning.  In the libraries I have worked at in the past, of the Public ones, mystery novels and action types were the most checked out; Sherlock Holmes fits into both.  It's a rough theory, but Lewis Carroll and J.K. Rowling may have plenty of people talking about them already.


Tomorrow is a busy day again, and I will share it in the evening, for now I think I will gain some sleep- I didn't realize how much there was to take in within 8 hours.