A More Cultured London

This is a follow up to my previous, similarly belated post on my New Year's trip to London. My lethargy is dissipating with the rise of Spring, apparently.

Now, usually when I go to London I manage to visit the Tate Modern and the National Gallery, and this is about the extent of my cultural intake. Otherwise, I'm drinking it up in pubs and bars; shopping at Camden Market; making a pig of myself in Chinatown, on Indian food, and on fish and chips; and otherwise being a total hedonist. And, on this trip I did all these things as well. But, I did manage to make my trip slightly more cultured this go around.

Museums:
The Tate Modern hosted one of the better installations in the turbine hall that I've seen, namely a rather creepy, sci-fi installation by Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster called "The Unilever Series." This installation consisted of, amongst other things, grossly oversized objects, some representational and some not, that seemed to play at the edges of one's child's subconscious and hearken one's most primordial fears. A large copy of a cat's skeleton, a strange amorphous assemblage of iron-wrought blobs, and a massive, spiderlike sculpture that soared to the heights of the space bespoke of wonder-slash-terror with just the right edge of mystery and playfulness. Fun exhibit! They also had a fantastic Rothko exhibit, including the series of works usually on the permanent display that are best seen in dim light.

"The Unilever Series"


At the Saatchi Gallery there was a very interesting exhibit of new Chinese Art. Perhaps it's the oppressive nature of contemporary Chinese culture that inspires so many young Chinese artists to break out and express themselves through art. Some of the works were truly original and inspired, leading me to believe that China may be on the forefront of the new wave of contemporary art. (Though I wonder how much of that art can actually be seen in China itself!)



Theater:
I've never actually seen a play in London before. I had really been missing out! I saw two productions this time, each of which was breathtaking and had a stellar cast.

The Royal Shakespeare Company offered a magnificent production of "Hamlet," starring David Tennant and Patrick Stewart! Now, not only are these two men incredibly gifted actors, but as a sci-fi fan myself I was utterly thrilled to be able to see both these actors perform live. Now, for the longest time, David Tennant had been out with a back problem. But one day I was walking by the theater and found out he was back, playing the lead role of Hamlet! Without hesitation, I chose to wait for hours at the stage door in the hopes of gaining a return ticket (the play was, unsurprisingly, sold out). Gladly, I was not disappointed! I had a wonderful seat for what was a wonderful play. No, a superb play! No, a... Let me just put it this way: After seeing this production of Hamlet, I felt like I never wanted to see another dramtic thing ever again, the acting was all so perfect.

David Tennant after "Hamlet"

However, I did see another play, namely Drury Lane's production of "Oliver!" The selling point for this production was that it starred, in the role of Fagin, Rowan Atkinson! Mr. Atkinson easily stole the show, his Mr.Bean-esque brand of humor muted but still inspired enough to capture every scene he was in. I saw this production with my mom, which was quite special since she has always loved "Oliver." We even reserved a table at intermission to have dessert! The production itself was top notch. I will surely see more plays next time I am in London!

Mom enjoying dessert at "Oliver!"

Pub Crawl:
Now, a pub crawl may not seem like a very cultural outing, but it all depends on where you go - and who you are with! One of my hosts, Richard Chinn, is something of a self-made expert on London's history and was kind enough to take me on a tour one day of some of the most historic pubs in London. Most of these were found on the East End, an area once renowned for its criminal element though now becoming completely yuppified. It was fascinating to go to these places and imagine what this part of London once was like: boats from distant lands crammed together against the shores of the Thames, criminals and cutthroats swaggering about the crowded, dirty streets, and justice - in the form of hanging judges who strolled leisurely down the river, tried and hanged their suspects, and then moved on - was really very interesting. Plus, beer! Here are some of the places we stopped on our crawl:


The Prospect of Whitby, dating from 1543

Inside The Prospect of Whitby


The East End/Docklands today - once it was a lot different!


The Town of Ramsgate, another of Hanging Judge Jeffrys' favorite establishments, located right where the gallows used to be in fact!



The George, where legend tells (or at least my guide) that travelers a la the "Canterbury Tales" would begin their pilgrimages. Even Charles Dickens used to drink here!


My host enjoying a hot cider at The George

And now for something a little different:


That's the new and "improved" Intrepid Fox, once a punk rock landmark in Soho, now relocated and - well - just not the same. Ah, the more things change...


One thing that makes London great is the incredible variety of things to do there. One can go for the clubs or the galleries, the shopping or the history, and never run out of new experiences. It's a destination worth going, not just for a visit, but for a lifetime.

I was sad to leave London, but can't wait for my next trip!

Flying back to Montenegro

Chisinau's Burning! My Perspective on the Moldova Riots



As many of you know, I spent over two years in Moldova. While the country certainly had its problems, I found my time there to be quite rewarding. I made many wonderful friends and was rewarded with a unique insight into what is a fascinating culture in many ways. The recent outbreaks of riots following the elections, in which the communist party won over 60% of the votes - by most accounts, fraudulently - was, for me, at once surprising and wholly expected.

Since gaining independence, Moldova has remained controlled by the rich and elite. To say the country is corrupt is an understatement. Corruption defines nearly every aspect of life. Schoolteachers regularly expect bribes as a determination of children's grades, and the police seem to exist solely as an institution for bullying and money-taking.

By and large, the rich and powerful - since the fall of the USSR - have been members of the Russian speaking minority. They maintained their status since the fall of the Soviet Union and have strived to maintain that status ever since. Worse, the Russian minority holds to the view that they still belong to some avante guarde of Russian imperialism. They seem to believe that, so long as they stay true to the "motherland" and keep Moldova as Russian as possible (which, to them, means being communist) that some day Russia will reward their efforts by embracing Moldova once again and bringing the country back into the Russian fold. To this end, most of the media - controlled of course by Russian nationalists - is in Russian or, worse, from Russia itself. Hence, a Stalin/Putin communist mandate is driven into the minds of the population, even in the most remote of villages. For the Moldovans, then, to elect the communist party is expected. The communists control the media, which means the communists control what many Moldovans think and believe. It was, then, no surprise that the Moldovans elected the communists into power yet again. What was surprising was the backlash against these results.

The protests and demonstrations in Chisinau were the first of their kind in this fledgling country. Thousands of youths stormed the streets, some of whom even became violent and ransacked the parliament building. The question is not: Why did they do it? The reasons are self evident. The communist party manipulated the votes, registering thousands of dead people's names to bolster the numbers of votes they received. When elections are so clearly manipulated, it is quite common for the population to rise up against the State and demand justice. No, the question here is: Why now? The thing is, this is certainly not the first time that the communists have rigged the votes. As noted above, corruption is rife within Moldova, and this is certainly true within the election process. No one would be surprised to learn that the elections were handled unfairly. Indeed, it would surprise people more to learn that the elections had been fair. So, the Moldovans certainly did not protest because of the novelty of a corrupt election. What, then, was the cause? Why did they protest this time and not in previous elections, protest so strongly in fact that the demonstration became a riot?

First of all, it should be understood that, in the past too, people were angry at the communists and were often disappointed by the election results. Here, by "people" I mean those who are educated and intelligent enough to see beyond the Russian propaganda of the media and who have a more worldly outlook. These people, although they live in a small and rural country, are by no means a minority. for the most part, these people are citizens of Chisinau where approximately one quarter of the country's population lives. By "people", too, I do not mean only Romanian-speaking people. While Romanian-speakers are generally more antagonistic towards the communist party than their Russian-speaking counterparts, there are plenty of Russian-speakers who denounce corruption and want to live in a fair and free Moldova. So, by "people" I mean simply those Moldovans who are aware of what is going on in their country and are tired of the corruption in their government. These people have long been fed up with the depression, corruption, and poverty that prevails in their country and want a change, a change that they know the communist party will not give them. Indeed, as communist president Voronin often stands in the way of progress, pocketing state funds and allowing Moldova to remain depressed to better serve the interests of his Russian masters, the communist party seems to stand in the way of progress. So, for many years, people have been unhappy with the communist party and have been disappointed every time they won the elections. So, again, what changed this time? Why this time did people take to the streets in protest?

For one thing, Moldovans had recently begun to believe that change was in the air. In the last mayoral election in Chisinau, non-communist Dorin Chirtoaca was elected to the seat in what was a surprising - and welcome - break from the normal course of corruption that prevails in the country's politics. This was seen as a sign of hope for many Moldovans. They believed that, finally, the people's voices were being heard and that the country was moving away from the communist ideals of the past. For the communists to have won such a surprising majority of the election this time around, then, was a shock. Many assumed, even if the communists did win, they would win by a much smaller percentage than in the past. After all, one quarter of the country had elected a non-communist mayor. For the communists to win over 60% of the votes, then, was seen not only as an obvious sign of corruption, but as a slap in the face of the progress many Moldovans were anticipating. Their hopes, which they had been waiting for and counting on for so long, were dashed by the communists. It is no surprise, then, that after these elections the Moldovans were even more angry than before and were perhaps more willing to take to the streets. They had, after all, proved that their votes could matter with the mayoral elections, and they were not about to have that recent change in fortune taken away from them now.

Another reason for why the protests happened this time had to do simply with the possibility for organizing such a protest. As noted above, for a long time the media has been controlled by the communists in Moldova. Certainly, the media would do nothing to help organize such demonstrations. However, these days - as with much of the world - Moldova is better connected. Online sites such as Facebook and Twitter were responsible for rallying many of the protesters together, and cellphones were used when internet service was cut off. The recent expansion in internet and cellphone access by Moldovans allowed them something they never had before: a free media by which to share information and call for action together. Of course, it is no surprise that the communist government continues to block Facebook and other sites. The government knows it is in the wrong, and wants to oppress its people and the truth as much as possible in order to maintain its corrupt, illegitimate power. To this end, the communists and their Russian masters present ridiculous excuses for what caused the recent protests. For example:

* Romania incited the riots in order to take over the country [“We know that certain forces from Romania masterminded these riots,” President Voronin said, according to the Interfax news agency. “Romanian flags which were planted on state buildings in Chisinau prove this.”] As a refutation to this claim, see http://savemoldova.blogspot.com/2009/04/comunist-conspiracy.html

* That some insidious masterminds had manipulated the Moldovan children against their own country [“The organizers of the worst crime in the history of the Republic of Moldova are again preparing to use our children to stage riots in the government’s office on Friday and Sunday,” Prime Minister Zinaida Greceanii said.]

* That President Obama of the USA organized these protests [according to Russian political scientist Aleksander Dugin]

These excuses, of course, are all nonsensical accounts meant to detract from the real issue at hand: the Moldovan people are tired of being treated as second class humans, not only by the rest of the world, but by their own government, and they are not going to stand for it any more.

And this is the real reason why the protests happened now: because the sentiments of the Moldovan people had finally reached their boiling point, and the Moldovan people are not going to take any more. And this is why, ultimately, no matter what the communists do they cannot hold onto their power much longer. They can't blame the young and turn the country's sentiments against them. (In fact, after the protests, high school and university teachers were all forced to sign a document saying they would prevent students' protests. In response, a crowd of 3,000 older Moldovans showed up to protest in Chisinau on Sunday. This is clearly not a generational issue.) They can't close the borders to Europe and cut off the internet, because these actions will do nothing to curb the sentiments of the people living in Moldova. And they cannot blame the outside world - Romania or Ukraine or the USA - because the only reason the Moldovan people are sick of the communist party is because of the corruption within the communist party itself. The Moldovan people, long regarded as peaceful "cows" who would take whatever suffering they were given, have finally risen up. And there is nothing that the communist party can do now about it, and no matter what propaganda they spin or what oppressive measures they take, the communists' days are numbered.

These protests happened, as protests everywhere always happen, because the Moldovan people have spoken: They will not take the lies, corruption, or incompetence of their government any longer. They will rise above.

England's Lake District


Meeting my mom by the Tower Bridge

I have once again fallen behind in my posts. Fortunately - or perhaps not - it was a rather lackluster winter and I don't have to much to report. I did, however, manage to make it to England to see my mom and brother. Now, usually when I visit England I just stay in London. This is a fine thing, by my reckoning. Why not spend as much time as posible in one of the most exciting, cultured, and historic cities in the world? However, this time I managed to venture beyond London's city limits and took a road trip with my mom and bro up to the very lovely Lake District.


Mom and Matt planning the trip in a pub the night before leaving

Thanks to the time of the year, the sun hung low in the sky from dawn til dusk. As a result, the lighting was phenomenal - great for taking pictures. Additionally, a permanent frost clung to the grass and the trees, giving everything a silvery gleam. Early morning was the most beautiful time, as the lakes remained placid like mirrors reflecting the rolling hills. But throughout the day, the countryside remained lovely and picturesque.





After driving through the lake district for a time, we came upon the famed Hadrian's Wall. this was a massive wall built across England by the Romans to keep out the Scottish horde. Nowadays, the wall is less dramatic than it surely once was. Nevertheless, it remains a significant landmark on England's terrain.






Views of Hadrian's Wall

We also came across a nice stone circle. The legacy of the druids prevails!




Stone Circle

After trekking through nature we drove through Newcastle in the evening. I was impressed by the brown brick architecture and the soaring bridges in the city. Really, a very interesting place.


Newcastle at night

We spent that night in Durham. I went out in the evening to a few of the clubs in town, this being a university town and so buzzing with several bars and clubs. A couple of the places were actually pretty nice, though I was surprised to see that the girls there ventured out on the cold, blustery evening in nothing but the shortest of dresses. Sadly, I was not able to keep any of them warm myself ;) The next morning we wandered about the town, saw one of the last Woolworths in England shut its doors forever, and and were able to see the towering Durham cathedral.


Durham cathedral


Closing Woolworths

Driving back we passed through York and managed to see the cathedral there. the highlight, however, must have surely been the Sunday Roast we enjoyed on the way out of town. Nothing better than a Yorkshire pudding in York!


York cathedral


Sunday roast!

All in all, it was wonderful to experience more of the UK with my family. If you get a chance, experience the placid calm serenity of the Lake District for yourself!