London Ninja

Not sure what it’s like in other parts of the world, but London is bloody cold.

Not in Cali anymore, toto.

I finally used my free passes received from the first time I watched a movie in London. I decided to hit up the Odeon on High Street Kennsington. The was something very obviously different with this particular cinema. We received tickets that had a set number on it. In addition, they checked tickets at the entrance of the individual theatres. WTF? I thought the whole movie watching model was that you get checked at the door and then it’s off to the races and you get whatever seat you want based on where you think the optimal seating is. In stadium seating, it’s generally the row of seats right ahead of the path to go across in the middle. So what does all this mean? No double-features, no sitting where you want…wtf.

The first side-effect of the assigned seating is that people don’t need to get there as early as you normally would. As a matter of fact, we tried to get into our cinema 15 minutes early and couldn’t. They open the doors 10 mins before the showing. WTF. Also because I was watching Into The Wild and not Beowulf, our theatre was small. Felt like a living room or something. I don’t even want to talk about the non-THX/Dolby Digital sound system or the screen. I absolutely do not want to talk about the screen that was smaller than the plasma I wish I had.

The movie, by the way, was fantastic in spite of the viewing conditions. Go watch it….although it’s probably not even showing anymore in the US. The brits just have not invested in good movie theatres and it shows. It may have been wise because of the decline of movie-watchers, but it also means I probably won’t be watching anything any time soon.

Ok, this is part of the reason I moved to London. My office is actually quite lovely with a view of the Thames(pronounced ‘tams’, not ‘tames’). This is the picture I just took a few minutes ago.

lovely

Of course, I do not take pictures of my view during those days when it is pouring rain and you are in the sun, or….wait…I do have one:

bollocks

Grasshoppers, you can’t have ying without the yang. The true ninja accepts all with grace, dignity, and a proper ale. I leave you with a saying from the wise:

It usually rains twice a week in London. Once for 3 days, and the second time for 4 days.

Cheers.

Instead of Forth of July, in the UK we have Guy Fawke’s Night aka Bonfire Night. It’s basically a time when people go outside and light up their fireworks. I have to admit I enjoy fireworks a lot. On my birthday a couple of years ago, we lit a couple of monster fireworks on the beach that went on for a good 20 minutes…before the cops came and we had to run for it. I’m generally a law-abiding citizen, but when it comes to anything gun-powder, I’m all for bending the rules.

So tonight, there are tons of fireworks shows all over along the Thames, etc. Why wouldn’t you when you are celebrating, right? In America, we are celebrating the day of independence from the horrible Brits. Fair enough. But what are the Brits celebrating tonight?

Who is this Guy?

The Gunpowder Plot

The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, or the Powder Treason, as it was known at the time,[1] was a failed attempt by a group of provincial English Catholics to kill King James I of England, his family, and most of the Protestant aristocracy in a single attack by blowing up the Houses of Parliament during the State Opening on 15 November 1605 (5 November 1605 on the Gregorian calendar)[2][3]. The conspirators had also planned to abduct the royal children, not present in Parliament, and incite a revolt in the Midlands.

The Gunpowder Plot was one of many unsuccessful assassination attempts against James I, and followed the Main Plot and Bye Plot of 1603. Some popular historians have put forward a debate about government involvement in the plot.

On 5 November each year, people in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and regions[5] celebrate the failure (or among some groups, the attempt) of the plot on what is known as Guy Fawkes Night, Bonfire Night, Fireworks Night, Cracker Night or Plot Night

So, in case you didn’t read that bit closely…it’s a night that celebrates the failure of an assassination attempt on King James I. Come again? It’s like having a John Hinckley, Jr Day. Not only does Guy get a day out of the year for himself, his name is now in the dictionary to represent a male person:

The word ‘guy’ came thus in the 19th century to mean a weirdly dressed person, and hence in the 20th and 21st centuries in the UK and U.S. to mean, in slang usage, any male person.

Um…so a guy tries to kill the King and gets a day to commenorate this event and his name is forever associated with a day of celebration. Makes perfect sense, guys.

One very cool thing with living in London is that there are some of the best museums in the world here. One of these museums, the Victoria & Albert museum does an event once a month, the Friday Late, where they keep the doors open until past midnight (which is as late as this bloody city goes till anyway). You get music, drinks, and some interesting things going on. On top of seeing some Hattori Hanzo swords, you also get to see readings and other fine things you typically see at world-class museums.

My take on museums still stands: 2 hours MAX. Stay away from religious painting sections. Stick to modern art and sculptures. Yeah, I know…..I’m a very cultured and complex man. [this is where I would burp in person]

Yes, this is just to scare you

The cool thing I did see is a talk by the UK Society for Paranormal Investigations. If you have seen Ghost Hunters, you would know what I’m talking about. There are some shows in the UK that also hunt for ghosts. Now, it’s a given that American shows are better than British shows, so if you’re to watch any, you should watch Ghost Hunters. The one at the murder site of the Manson clan was particularly interesting. The talk by the UKSPI was interesting. The equipment they had was sort of crude…but it’s an area I have a deep fascination with. Why not? We’re talking about ghosts here. I had a nice conversation with the members of UKSPI and may try to join a paranormal investigation at some point in the future if I have time and if the location is near London.

FYI: If all of a sudden I stop blogging or my eyes roll in the back of the head and start consuming the brains of all victims, you will know what has happened….

I have mentioned this before, but the yoghurt in the UK is absolutely fantastic. As a matter of fact, everything other thing is “absolutely fantastic”, “amazing”, or “lovely” in the UK, but don’t worry about that, love. Yoghurt, as it is correctly spelled here is a creamier silkier delight. Not sold in those small-arsed Yoplait type of cups and does not look like some strange gelatin-like substance when you open the container. It is absolutely…you know what I mean. It contains cultures, hence “biopot”, or bio cultures…or Lactobacillus acidophilus, bifidobacterium longum, and Streptococcus thermophilus. Yes, that’s right…Strepto, Coccus, and Philus. Hehe…coccus and philus. Yes, I am in the 8th grade.

Fruity, full of fibre and made with our special combination of wholemilk and bio cultures, Onken’s Wholegrain Peach is a yogurt so feel-good it almost hurts. Its creamy, fruity taste makes it a yogurt to die for.

This by far is a must-eat when you come to the UK. And don’t worry for those of you lactose-intolerant folks. This won’t affect your social life any more than your bad hairstyle.

Yes, the worst blogs are the ones that explain why they have not been blogging. This is one of those. Here are my excuses:

1. A whirlwind trip to San Diego to attend my boy AK’s wedding, which means also seeing friends and family. Fab.
2. A Firestorm, which has ultimately put a million folks at risk and evacuated from their homes in San Diego. Fab.
3. My parents actually got evacuated from their home, so I had to keep the news on. Fortunately, I have both a live video stream and Slingbox to watch whatever is happening in San Diego.
4. I have been attending a information security conference the last two days. Highlights have been learning about multimodal biometrics, meeting up for drinks with a friend and author in the industry, and hearing the true story of Catch Me If You Can by the actual person himself.

All that said, it is officially winter in London now. I’m not in California anymore, toto.

So unless you have been hiding under a rock or…are American, England is in the Rugby World Cup finals against South Africa. This means that there will be a World Champion between the two countries. These things go on every four years like the Football World Cup, except this is Rugby, similar to football in America…not football in Europe, which is soccer. Very simple.

The big difference between sports in Europe and America, of course, is the amount of international play. Most people here don’t care that much about rugby generally but when it’s rugby against France in the World Cup, it’s a completely different story. Compare that against the American way of “international competition” and we have something completely different. In America, the World Series represents the best in the world because anyone in the world is welcome to come to America to play. It’s the same for football (the American kind that you play with your hands), and basketball. Basically the team that wins is crowned the “World Champion” because Americans believe that nobody else could compete and if they could they should come over to America to play. My opinion is that this makes complete sense. There is no competition for Kobe Bryant and the Lakers on a international level and likewise with Ladanian Tomlinson and the Chargers. I’m all for it. The only thing that is amiss is the whole international rivalry aspect. It’s more fun to take your best and stomp a whole country’s pride where possible (the same way the Americans that competed against the Brits in rugby got stomped). Unfortunately, Canada just plain sucks at all sports except for hockey…and the only thing we compete against Mexico for are workers. Oh well…I don’t think any of that will change in any forseeable future.