uk trip, part two, autumn edition --- london, day six

oh man, the almost hangover of this day. i will tell you this. in the uk, it is possible to drink COPIOUS amounts of bev and not be "THUDTHUDTHUDHEADACHE watching reruns of "baywatch" because you cannot find the remote" hungover because they don't have crazy amounts of sulfides in drinks there. which means, basically, you can still be drunk the next day without wanting to die quite so much.

yay us!

still. still. we needed to get a bit sober so we went to a cafe for coffee and greasiness (we overslept and missed hotel breakfast. oops.)

before heading to southbank centre for art shit and so much walking.

here is a funny tube story to get things started! northern line to waterloo, yeah? okok, so! there was a family of americans seated across from us. (you could tell by looking because of THE *CRINGE* BRIGHT TRACK PANTS JESUS) BEST PART:  the mother of the tribe had a RICK STEVES EUROPE PATCH ON HER BACKPACK.

PRO TIP:  if you would like to blend as much as possible in london, ha, 1) wear dark colors, ok? 2) DON'T HAVE A RICK STEVES EUROPE PATCH ON YOUR BAG YOU ARE JUST INVITING TROUBLE I'M SURPRISED THAT I DIDN'T MUG HER

ok, sorry. let's get back on track.

i saw my first andre in london on this trip! yay!

southbank centre is a huge complex. a complex complex, even. we were there for the hayward gallery but we scoped out the area because HOORAY (?) BRUTALISM AGAIN. these brutal scrap dudes were trying to escape the architectural depression, i am sure of it.

also because "doctor who" was filmed here at some point. (leff is a "doctor who" fan. i am just a fan of "doctor who" fans. love you guys! *smooches*)

hayward gallery had a small but well currated collection of punk memorabilia for the "someday all the adults will die!" exhibit.

i don't have pictures because, well, gallery, but here are the stairs leading up to the show.

ugh! there were some DELICIOUS used stencils and tons of flyers and cassettes and lps and zines. one thing that REALLY stood out for me was a johnny and the dicks sleeve? they were a band without music who released an album without a record. FUCKING BRILLIANT! this show was heaven for me. (the music being played in the gallery was aces as well.)

as amazing as the show was, however, we had a lotlotlot to see. like this tree! i had not seen this tree before!

it was near this whatever. i can't even.  i don't understand? it looks as if the spirit of a trapper keeper were trapped and kept in a building. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN DON'T PRETEND YOU DON'T

and look at this. LOOK AT THIS

it was on the way to the southbank skate park. i am just going to post a bunch of pictures now and think about british skate boys. (none pictured, sorry.)

so, hey. it was really foggy that morning.

but it did not stop the paparazzi from being out. NO REALLY these are real fucking paparazzi who were yelling the name of whatever person they were photographing.

it was really pretty gross. you know what wasn't? HAHA OPEN GATE DOWN TO THE THAMES IT WAS LOW TIDE

i've always wanted to walk on the banks of the thames but we'd never timed things correctly (or had a spare pair of shoes). this time, however, things worked out perfectly.

leff even found a victorian pipe stem!

and while we were on the sand, the fog started to burn off. 

so i was able to get an ok snap of oxo tower.

lots of construction was going on by the river so we were funneled through many, many tunnels. fun fact:  i don't feel uncomfortable in london tunnels because of the busking. you can hear some of it being amplified by the tunnel in the clip below.

also, how can you feel too threatened when you see the statement "I'M A NINJA"

being taken down a peg on the very same sign.

oh, blighty. i heart you so fucking much.

anyway, we went back to tate modern to catch the last week of the tanks.

THIS SPACE JUST PWHAR

my favorite piece BY FAR was lis rhodes' "light music". two way projection. YOU KNOW I LOVE IT WHEN PEOPLE WORK WITH LIGHT AND SOUND

i will upload a picture of luther being part of the projection once i get it from leff. HA stupid deer.

this piece was creepy. (promise to track down artist and title today.) it was supposed to be about meditation? i suppose? i felt like someone was going to get snuff filmed the whole time though.

but back into the light! hey hi hello, shard!

since we were heading to borough market, i had the opportunity to take a picture of this thing that i have loved for years. PEW PEW PEW

why borough market? NEIL'S YARD DAIRY

YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND HOW DELICIOUS THESE CHEESES ARE!

leff and i had about six different samples before purchasing a cheddarish type and a mild version of a stilton to eat with a DELICIOUS chewy half loaf of bread.

please go to neil's yard dairy on your next trip. all of the cheeses are made in the uk (the farms are even listed!) and it is just so yum. i am crying inside because i cannot get cheese like this at home.

cheese boughten, it was time to head to the last show of the day at city hall. so HI HEY HELLO CITY DRAGON

HEY HI HELLO TOWER BRIDGE

why city hall? you might ask?

two reasons:  1) i had never been inside 2) GAMES ART EXHIBITION

here are two of the pieces that i am sure that certain people would enjoy looking at THEY ARE NOT OWLS BUT I AM GIVING THEM TO YOU ANYWAY

one of the reps for the show talked to us for a while and told us that the pieces were being auctioned off to benefit special effect once the show was over. i fear that i have missed the dates for the auction and cannot provide you with a link so, instead, here is a direct link to donate.

you know what happens when i look at game stuff, right? RAKKA CRUSH RAKKA DESTROY THE CITY

idk, it might be a genetic disorder or something, this urge to king kong everything.

TOMORROW:  HIGHGATE CEMETERY! ZONE TWO ZONE TWO! AND we get tickets to see milton jones! I KNOW IT WAS SO GREAT!