Anticipated Delays and How To Pass the TIme

Pre-entry note: This entry contains a casual review of an R-rated movie with a PG title. Not sure if there are any parents who use the blog as read-aloud material with the family, but you might want to screen this one in advance if you do.

Oh dear.

It looks like once more, I'm off on another adventure, abandoning my blogging and going off to see the world.

For the next eleven days or so, I'm off to Italy where, among other things, I'll be chilling in Rome for Easter. Pretty cool.

But where does that leave you, dear reader? Waiting in Ireland, anticipating Norway, and hoping I might find time to blog about the other events I've mentioned. Yeah, that's pretty much it. But if you're fearing that I'll forget what happened at any of those places, don't worry. I have a pretty good memory. And this blog isn't the only existing record of my travels. So I have notes and souvenirs and brochures to refer to, as well.

But what should you do while you're waiting for my next update? Well, lucky for you, I have some suggestions.

1. Read a book.

Specifically, check out Paul Auster's The New York Trilogy. I'm not quite finished the book myself, but I'm loving every second I spend reading it. Auster weaves three stories of detection, but puts incredible twists on them. At least, he does for the two I've read so far. There is just so much going on in these stories. First of all, they are entertaining and interesting. Second, they comment on the genre conventions of detective fiction. Third, and most importantly and fascinatingly, they investigate the elements of human language and names better than almost anything I've ever read. And I took a linguistics class. If not The New York Trilogy, then consider one of the following: Everything Is Illuminated, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, or Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. All are quite different, though they do share impressively unique narrative voices, and all are thoroughly enjoyable. Plus, you'd be sharing in reading experiences I've had in England.

2. Go to the movies.

Again, this needs elaboration. You'll have to wait a while on this one, but go see Kick-Ass. It is only released in the USA on April 16th, but it would be well worth it to be in line that morning waiting for your ticket. I don't know that I've ever enjoyed a movie-theater going experience as much as I enjoyed seeing Kick-Ass earlier this evening. For those of you who haven't heard of it, Kick-Ass is the story of a high school comic book loving nerd who decides to become a super hero and becomes tied to a conflict between the mob and some other vigilantes. I'm being intentionally vague on the summary, because I want you to see it clinging to every wonderful moment in anticipation of what craziness might happen next. Everything about this film was entertaining, from its pop-culture humor to its phenomenal action sequences.

In my anticipation for this film (it ranks #2 on my most anticipated films of the year), a lot of people who know me well pointed out that I would no doubt be disappointed, since the role of "Big Daddy" was being played by Nicolas Cage, whose performances I seldom enjoy. But good news: Here, he is great. Whether he's shooting his own daughter (more on her in a bit) at close range or cleverly mocking Adam West, his performance is a joy to watch. As is the film's title character, played by Aaron Johnson. But the real stand-out is Chloe Moretz (you may have seen her in 500 Days of Summer) playing Hit-Girl. No doubt when you see this movie (and you will see this movie), she is the character you'll be talking about as you leave the theater. Like the rest of the film, she is violent, profane, and hilarious. Mature beyond her eleven years, Hit-Girl is far and away the most shockingly entertaining part of the film.

Along with its performers, the film is skillfully carried by director Matthew Vaughn, who wisely chose to produce the film independently, avoiding studio constraints, which would likely have removed Hit-Girl from the film entirely. The film's pacing is careful, as it alternates between humor and violence, comic book action and teenage drama. The action sequences, especially, are top-notch, including a noteworthy strobe-light shootout. He presents moments of, "He wouldn't do that... No, he couldn't... OH, he did!" with such timing that the temptation to watch wins out over the desire to look away at the last minute, and with great results.

In short, Kick-Ass is at once a parody of and tribute to superhero movies, one which readily disregardsthe PG-13 borders usually enforced on such films by studio heads. The film is bloody, vulgar, shocking, hilarious, and above all else, wildly entertaining. No doubt, the refrain of reviewers and viewers alike will be that this film, quite simply, Kicks Ass.

So, what are you wating for? Well, I suppose April 16th. Let the countdown begin.

And speaking of countdowns, I'll be back and (hopefully) blogging around April 7th. I'm done my classes now, so the only competition remaining is my two exams and two papers. And the many adventures and travels I have ahead of me.

So thanks for bearing with me. Hope you find the wait for future entries as worthwhile as I found the wait for Kick-Ass. And trust me, I was waiting for a long time.

Dublin: Day 2 - Writers, Wax, and Whiskey

Pardon the interruption, dear reader. I got a bit busy with reading for classes and writing something that would actually be graded. (i.e. Not this blog. Unless you are keeping score at home... Am I getting an A? Or did I lose points for tardiness?)

Anyway, early the next morning we awoke in the hostel to find that we had neighbors! We had gone to bed being the only two people in our room of ten, since it was so early, but the room was nearly full when we woke up. Wanting to spend as little time as possible there, we quickly hurried off to...

Breakfast

Not much to note here, I only bring it up so I can introduce a trend in Dublin establishments. Our hostel was built off of an old church, so the dining hall where they served breakfast was once full of pews, and there was once an altar in the kitchen. So I suppose it still gives us this day our daily bread. Another entertaining piece of reconstruction, they put their pay-phones in the confessionals. Very clever. Anyway, keep an eye out for more churches that are not churches as our travels progress.

Writers Museum

In anticipation of this exciting stop on our Dublin Pass checklist, we got here early. So early, in fact, that they weren't open yet. So we wandered around a nearby park for a bit, then made it as two of the first people in the Museum. To be honest, this was a huge disappointment. I mean, I was excited to see all sorts of stuff about famous Irish writers, like Bram Stoker, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, and Samuel Beckett. Well, they had some things. But not very much on hand from the writers' actual lives. Mostly, it was just old copies of their books in glass display cases. Certainly, there must be some more entertaining way to learn about the literary lives of the Irish. (But more on that later.) Ultimately, the greatest find in the Dublin Writers Museum was upstairs in their children's literature exhibit, where I found a giant re-creation of a scene from "Can't You Sleep, Little Bear?" Classic. But, ultimately disappointed with our experience, we decided to try our luck with another literary site, traveling down the street to...

James Joyce Centre

Before discussing the Center itself, let's make one thing clear: Dublin worships this man. Seriously, he is everywhere. But what's most interesting of all is how dedicated they are to his character, Leopold Bloom, the main character of Ulysses. To give you an idea: There are plaques in the street marking various locations that Bloom stopped at over the course of the novel. There is a holiday celebrating the day that novel takes place. The James Joyce Centre boasts that they have the original door from No. 7 Eccles Street, Bloom's home in the novel. That's right. They have preserved the door of the home of a fictional character. I mean, to be fair, London did the same with turning Sherlock Holmes' house into a museum, but Holmes has actually received mail from fans who believe he truly exists. I don't think the same can be said for Bloom. Anyway, even seeing the factual door that was never opened by a fictional character did not make up for the let down that was the James Joyce Centre. Sure they recreated Joyce's bedroom and had some computers set up with a timeline of Joyce's real life and a breakdown of Ulysses, but other than that, there wasn't much going on. Thank goodness it was included in the Dublin Pass... I would have been upset if I'd paid for this. If I'm going to shell out three Euro, the door you show me better have been opened by someone who actually existed.

Wax Museum

Here we crossed paths with writers yet again! The first room in the Dublin-Pass-Included Wax Museum Plus featured wax figures of many of the writers we'd encountered earlier that morning. This was much more fun, though, but still not the most exciting way we would get to engage with Ireland's literary history. (The Irish writers may acknowledge that what I am doing here is creating suspense and anticipation for a future event.) This was actually an extremely fun way to engage with all of Ireland's history. From lamenting the potato famine to shaking hands with the great Eamon de Valera, we interacted with all sorts of historic Irish incidents. We also got to check out the miniature Chamber of Horrors, where Ryan killed Dracula and I chilled with Gollum, along with the Children's Area, where we saw Bob the Builder, the Simpsons, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The final stop was a room full of Irish entertainment and sports icons, where we were able to successfully identify zero of the fourteen figures on display. Sorry, Ireland. But our time here left us craving something a little more mature, so we headed over to the...

Jameson Distillery

Now, our Dublin Pass map was not very good, so on the way here we got a little bit confused. Looking at our map we were approached by someone who asked us if we needed any help. In Amsterdam, we had received this same question. However, there we had ignored the gentleman who we assumed would probably rob us and kept walking. In Dublin, though, charmed by the overwhelming friendliness of everyone we'd crossed paths with thus far, I was quick to say, "Yes, we're looking for the Jameson Distillery." With his help we made it there robbery free. Unlike the Guinness Storehouse, the Jameson Distillery is a guided tour, which was a nice change of pace after our day of self-guiding. But like the Guinness Storehouse, it too ends with a sample of the product. Now, I'm not much of a whiskey fan, perhaps because my exposure up until this point has been limited to cheap bad whiskey. That said, I really liked the Jameson, even if I had a limited number of things to compare it to. Ryan had a better comparison experience, since he volunteered to be a taster at the end, and got to compare the Jameson to a scotch (Johnny Walker) and an American whiskey (Jack Daniels). He has the diploma to prove his taste testing skills, and we also learned that Whiskey and Ginger Ale with a lime is an excellent drink. But, with our thirsts not quite totally quenched, we decided to return to the...

Guinness Storehouse

Perhaps the greatest perk of the Dublin Pass: We were able to return to places we'd already been. Which means that each day of the Pass, we could return to the Guinness Storehouse for a free pint. This time, we just made our way straight up to the Gravity Bar, foolishly forgetting the small sample that we passed up in the tasting room by doing so. We planned to return the next day to correct our error.

City Hall

With a few minutes before most of the Dublin Pass sites closed, we decided to swing over to the City Hall exhibit. There was nothing much to see here, which is why we went so late in the day. Actually, the only Blog-worthy point to make is that, although the exhibit was technically closed when we arrived, the extremely friendly Irish ladies running the show let us in to browse around for a few minutes.

From there we explored the very interesting Temple Bar area for a bit, then headed for dinner at the Kingfisher near our hostel. Basically the Irish equivalent of a diner with a fun variation on a club sandwich. Though I do not remember the variation anymore, I remember it was good. We called it an early night once more, figuring we'd get up early to take full advantage of the Dublin Pass one last day. But before we could, we met one of our bunk-neighbors, who had perhaps failed to hear that this was a Youth hostel, since he boosted the average age in the room by a good fifty years. He told us to close the door quietly when we returned later. We pointed out that we were in for the night, and he looked at us kind of funny, then left.

So, with thoughts of the next day's adventures (which would, we hoped, include a castle, model trains, and free stuff) we brought the second day of Dublin to a close.

Dublin: Day 1 - And So Begins Our Odyssey

Where does the time go, Dear Reader? What ever happened to my promised real-time, one-week delayed series of Dublin updates? It looks like life got in the way yet again. But life has never gotten in the way in a more exciting and epic way. And it's given me loads of new material to (eventually) blog about. So really, I was only thinking about you...

Before we begin Dublin, Day 1, here's a preview of some of the things you have to look forward to:

- Knights from the Town of George & Beers By the Bard: Warwick Castle & Stratford Day Trip

- Extremely Cool & Incredibly Awesome: In Which I Meet Jonathan Safran Foer

- Norway? Yeah Way!: A Tale of Skiing, Bears, and New Friends

All titles are subject to change though, if I come up with something more awesome.

But now, back to our regularly scheduled, though much delayed, Dublintertainment.

So, where were we? Oh, yes. Day 0 had just blended into Day 1, and I was outside of Ramsay Hall with my trusty travel companion Ryan.

Departure:

Off we went to catch our early bus to our early flight. For the record, RyanAir is very liberal with what they mean when they pair a city with an airport. Stansted-London is quite a long drive outside of London. But, we made it in time for our flight, and soon we were Up In the Air. I was disappointed to find they don't carry any copies of SkyMall on the plane, but soon found out why... RyanAir IS a SkyMall. They tried to sell us everything during the flight, from cheeseburgers and candy (mind you, this is like 8:00 AM) to smokeless cigarettes (read: nicotine inhalers) and scratch tickets. Being poor college students, we declined their offer.

Getting off the plane we went through Customs, which was a breeze. Flying between EU countries as Americans is nice, since all the Europeans get filtered off to one section, while everyone else goes to another, and the line for the rest of us is even shorter. From Customs we went to procure our Dublin Passes.

Dublin Pass

Okay, this was Ryan's idea, and it was a great one. Basically, for €55, we got three days of free access to a whole bunch of places we wanted to visit, plus free gifts at certain places, discounts at others, and a few other perks. If ever you travel to Dublin with the intentions of doing all of the touristy things in a short period of time, get the Dublin pass! It even gave us a free bus ride from the airport that dropped us off at...

Trinity College

They had a lovely campus, and several neat statues. It's also home to the Book of Kells, which we did not get to see (unfortunately, one of the few things not included on the Dublin Pass). But the real reason I bring it up is the library we saw. Trinity's campus has lots of old buildings, much like Georgetown, done in beautiful architectural style. Except, one of the libraries we saw was nearly as much of an architectural train-wreck as Club Lau. Seriously, I don't know what it is about books that makes people think "Oh, let's build something ugly to put those in." Anyway, along with not having slept, I hadn't eaten since the night before either, so we decided to get some energy on the go, and pick up some delicious smoothies while we had Eunice take us to our first Dublin-Pass Destination.

Dublin Castle

Not really a castle in the traditional sense, this is where all sorts of state functions happen in Ireland. Lots of fancy things, weird ceiling decorations, and a wonderful tour guide who absolutely adored Bill Clinton. (This is not the first time I have encountered a Clinton-loving Irish person. Jon and I spent two hours in a pub in London chatting film, politics, and literature with an Irishman working on publishing his first novel.) Also learned some fun facts about the Presidency in Ireland. Their past two Presidents have been women named Mary, so the tour guide claims that school children come in thinking that in Ireland, you have to be a woman to be President, and it helps if your name is Mary. It was also here that we encountered a name that would follow us from site to site in Dublin: Eamon de Valera, born in the U.S. to an Irish mother and Spanish father, he was sent back to Ireland for his education and then rose to greatness. This is not the last time you will see this name, dear reader, so remember it well.

Christ Church Cathedral

From the Castle we headed to the oldest building in Dublin, the Christ Church Cathedral, founded in 1030. Lots of cool stuff here, including the burial place of the Norman invader (and cider namesake) Strongbow. Also, in the crypt there is a mummified Cat and Rat that were found stuck in an organ pipe. After getting caught in the photograph of a couple outside, who proceeded to actually try to photograph us intentionally, we headed next door to...

Dublinia & The Viking Museum

We may have been the only visitors over twelve here who weren't escorting children. This place is stuck somewhere between historical, children's, and wax museum, giving it an interesting feel. But we made a good time out of it, as we learned that Vikings did not wear horned helmets (but their gift shop will gladly perpetuate the horned helmet myth), got to try on helmets of our own, make rubbings in crayon of a variety of different things, smell and guess the names of spices, and interact with all sorts of wax figures. We also learned about archaeology. Did you know that archaeologists do not use potato peelers on site? (Unless they are peeling potatoes!)

Kilmainham Gaol

That's the Irish word for Jail, and it's where we went next. It was a long walk, and Eunice got lost a bit, which made things tricky, but eventually we made it. A few points of excitement: Along the corridors of the Gaol, above the cells of famous inmates, they put up plaques with their names. Remember that name I asked you to remember? He was on one of them. That's right, American-born Irish President Eamon de Valera spent time in Goal! When our guide mentioned the name, he failed to mention his later Presidency, and I stood for a while wondering where I'd heard that name. But my favorite part of the Gaol was its cinematic history, since both The Italian Job (original) and In the Name of the Father were filmed there, a fact that I am proud to have guessed at before we were told.

Guinness Storehouse

Heading back into the city, we made the stop we'd been waiting for all day. The Guinness Storehouse is set up so incredibly well. First, a tour of the ingredients (Barley, Hops, Yeast, Water), but artfully done, then an explanation of the process, then a lesson in how to taste all of the flavor in Guinness. But then comes the part I was really excited for: Two exhibits devoted to advertising. Everything from the 'My Goodness, My Guinness' Zoo Keeper to the modern brilliance of noitulovE. And a whole presentation of the artwork of John Gilroy, who created the Zoo Keeper ads. I was in advertising heaven. And we closed off our tour with a free pint at the 7th floor Gravity Bar, taking in great views of Dublin and the surrounding area. The pint was delicious, and I was glad I'd held off trying one for weeks in England and waited to get one at the source.

In Search of Sustenance and Sleep

Fueled by our Guinness, we decided to make the trek to our hostel and drop our stuff off before grabbing dinner. So, with tired feed and sore backs (remember, I've got a laptop in the bag), we set off to find Dublin International Youth Hostel. Eunice had a lot of trouble with this one, and we couldn't find the street on the very tiny map we'd been provided with in the Dublin Pass book, so we took a great deal longer to get there than we should have. But eventually we made it, and were able to check-in, buy a lock for our locker, and get our first glimpse and smell of the ten bed room we'd be staying in for the next four nights. Still, the smell wasn't enough to extinguish our appetites, so we checked what deals the Dublin Pass had in store for us.

Captain America's

Yes, that's what we settled on. I'm pretty sure it's because it was closest to the hostel. But you know what, I don't need to defend our decision against your judgements! I know you're thinking, "Why didn't you go to a traditional Irish pub, for some traditional Irish stew or something?" I'll tell you why. Free dessert. That's right. After my burger (which came with a fried egg on it, my favorite non-traditional burger topping) I enjoyed a delicious ice cream sundae. So there, now you are all jealous of the good time we had at Captain America's.

First Night

Once we'd finally gotten the attention of the waitstaff and paid for our food (except for the desserts, which, remember, were FREE) we trekked back across the river to our hostel, where I was quick to climb up into bed and fall asleep for the first time in somewhere around 36 hours.

There you have it, Dublin: Day 1. Just wait until you hear about the shenanigans we get into on Day 2. You can expect writers, drinks, and giant wolves.