London 12/12

Each friend represents a world in us,

a world possibly not born until they arrive,

and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.

- Anais Nin

I have blogged about Ancient Near Eastern tablets, flights over the Thames, movies, books and games. But for me, the best part of being in London one month ago was the renewing of friendships (not to mention meeting a few great new people too). In the end, that is what made my vacation a vacation. That is what infused me with energy upon my return, and inspired this series of 12 posts, which is now, finally, complete.

London 11/12


Well, the penultimate London tidbit to share with you all is my discovery of this London shop, which may perhaps be my favorite place to shop for clothes on earth! (I'm speaking of the shop on Oxford Street, specifically.) There, I indulged in the tunic pictured above. Here in the Netherlands, I like to shop here for clothes and here for everything else.

Where oh where will I shop when I move back to US in just a few months?!? I must focus on the positive: the US beats Europe hands-down when it comes to affordable second-hand stores. So: I will shop at Goodwill. Yes!

London 10/12

In a few short years, I am hopefully going to be able to read tablets like this.

London 9/12

More breath-taking artifacts from the British Museum:

Ancient Philistine pottery.

Looks nearly as fun as War on Terror!

London 8/12

Some board games are more dangerous than others. If you dare play War on Terror, you may end up with Evil plastered all over your forehead. In London, some friends and I spent several hours one Sunday figuring this game out. If I gave board games stars, I would give this one 3 out of 4. Recommended as an entertaining way to get educated about the crazy turn our world has taken. Apparently, WoT's creators, who are peaceniks from Cambridge, have been banned from some game conventions because of the controversy surrounding WoT. Read The Guardian's coverage of the game here.

London 7/12

I bought two books while in London, received one as a gift and borrowed another.

The first book I bought from Metanoia Books, the book shop affiliated with the London Mennonite Centre, where I was staying: and that book is The Human Being by Walter Wink. The human being Wink writes about is none other than Jesus. This promises to be a provocative book which builds on Wink's Powers Trilogy but ventures beyond what some would consider acceptable Christology. I've only read one chapter, but am already intrigued. As soon as I finish (and the title of the book subsequently appears on one of my new sidebars!), I'll let you know what I think.

The second book I bought for a fiver at a second-hand book market near the Thames: and that book is The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever by Stephen Donaldson. It's actually a compendium containing the first three books of a 10 book series (only 7 of which are currently published). My friend Vic recommended this series to me as some of his favorite books of all time, so I couldn't help but snap this volume up when I discovered it at the market.

The third book Vic gave to me. It is one of his own: Sign of the Manipogo. (It's also available on amazon here.) Vic has written two novels, the second of which is as of yet unpublished. I very much look forward to reading them both!

A book which I borrowed from my hosts and read in its entirety was Short Cuts, a collection of short stories upon which the identically titled movie is based, which I blogged about earlier. I recommend the collection of stories just as highly as the film. Raymond Carver exudes brilliance.

London 6/12

While in London I spent a mind-blowing day at the British Museum. Most of the aforementioned mind-blowing occurred while encountering artifacts like this one: an ancient Assyrian relief sculpture depicting Israelite captives playing their harps nearby a grove of trees. (Click to enlarge.)

Viewing this image both awed me and broke my heart. I remembered Psalm 137:

By the rivers of Babylon— there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion.

On the willows there we hung up our harps.

For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? (NRSV)

When I first viewed this piece of art last week, I was impressed by how the faith expressed in the Hebrew scriptures was grounded in concrete, earthy experiences - many of which were tragic. Here is a portrayal of Israelite musicians: conquered, captive and marginalized as 'the other'. I could only gaze in sadness and wonder as the real, lived experience behind this artifact (and the psalm) leapt forward, demanding my attention. Today, as I think back to my afternoon in the museum, I wonder about the real, lived experiences of the 'captives' in Western societies. I chose to emigrate to Holland; many immigrants leave their homeland against their will. In what ways are they required to sing their songs in order to 'entertain' the powerful majority? In what ways do we use others to satiate our own 'need' for mirth? By refusing to take seriously those who are different, how do we impoverish our own souls?

London 5/12

While in London I was enthralled by Kathy's stories about her experiences in Israel/Palestine with a Christian Peacemaker Team delegation from 20 November to 1 December 2006. (Krista participated in a similar delegation in January of this year.) Check out photos of Kathy's amazing journey here.

London 4/12

Hold your own movie night, just like my London friends.
Use these questions as a guide.
Read more about Vic's perspective on film here.

London 3/12

Top: Janelle and me.

Bottom: Heather, me, Kathy, Vic.

London 2/12

My week in London was filled with good things, some of which were movies. The friends I was visiting (named Vic, Kathy and Janelle -- photo forthcoming) are enthusiastic about films, to put it mildly. Every Saturday, they host a movie night; we watched Half Nelson. Vic's brother Walter references it briefly here, in the inaugural post of the blog authored by both Vic and Walter. A couple of days later, several of us watched Short Cuts, my first Robert Altman film besides Gosford Park. Short Cuts is based on the writing of Raymond Carver, whose short story Cathedral is one of my favorite short stories of all time (although Short Cuts did not draw upon Cathedral). The next day Vic and I went to the cinema to see Inland Empire, which Vic reviews here. Additionally, the lot of us watched several episodes of Northern Exposure on DVD.

My one-sentence reactions to these various cinematographic experiences?

1. I recommend Half Nelson, which I found to be ultimately hopeful and quite funny in places. However, the hope is framed by a postmodern bleakness which some in our group didn't find believable.
2. I highly recommend Short Cuts, which I found equal parts energizing and sobering, and which is a stirring interpretation of Raymond Carver's work.
3. I side with Vic on Inland Empire: I don't regret seeing it, but I wouldn't necessarily see it again (at least not for a very long time). I wouldn't recommend seeing it unless you are in the mood for a (mostly) inaccessible work of art (for art it is!) which (largely) substitutes images and impressions for plot and character. It does have some good quotes, like what Nikki said about the men she had been seeing:

Some men change. Well, they don't change - they reveal. They reveal themselves over time, you know?

4. Northern Exposure is great TV. If you can get your hands on the DVD, watch it.

London 1/12

Tonight I returned from a week's vacation in London. It was fabulous. I have resolved to post 12 times about it, starting now. My deadline is 12 days from now. 12 posts, 12 days. Let's see if I can do it.

The first of the twelve: a photo essay, which I like to call Self-Portrait on Millenium Bridge X4 (aka The Thames and I). Bonus points for non-London readers who can identify Tower Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Tate Modern, Shakespeare's Globe and Blackfriars Bridge in the backgrounds.

Related pieces include:

Self-Portrait in Miniature, with River and Bridge

Self-Portrait at Gabriel's Wharf, Amongst Woodland Creatures

Self-Portrait, Airborn, Passing Big Ben