The British Library.

The British Library is the national library of the U.K.  Now I have a Reader Pass for the British Library. Everyday the library received up to 8 thousand items for their collection, plus all items that was requested  by readers.
What did I learned today from our guided tour?  Books by Shakespeare on the display are all poems, why?  At that time, the play was designed for performance, and not for a reading.
The next stop, at the music display.  The written text of songs by the Beatles that never was recorded.
The map display.  We saw London before & after the Great Fire of 1666 side-by-side that represented the time with eye-level view.  We saw something really similar in the Museum of London, but the British Library has an original items on display. I liked maps collection at lot because it a very interesting  to see how people used their imagination to represent the world around them.
Magna Carta has 4 copies.  We saw one in the Salisbury Cathedral, and now two more copies in the British Library. [the Lincoln Cathedral has one more copy]
I also learned that people of London raised up 53 thousand pounds to help purchased  Codex Sinaiticus that Stalin was selling for 100, 000 pounds during the WWII.

I also browsed on my-own and visited all exhibits. I found a display with four old Russian post-cards, 1914, a visual presentation of 2214.  Although people in 'the 23rd century' costumes that are very similar to fashion of the early 20th century.  The buses are flying from the top floor of the buildings, and many-many airplanes up in the air, and many-many cars on the street with a really heavy traffic and a few accidents.  I smiled while I was looking on these post-cards: they are close to reality.

I wished that I can often come to the British Library and discover something new every time.

Today, I am choosing the backward view from my photo-collection: I want to look back, and I am looking to come back.

The Globe Theatre: Before & After

Evening along the Thames & Ann Boleyn:

The city is living at day & at night.

Sherlock Holmes in London: Observation, Deduction & Knowledge.

It happens in every city -- when we read fiction, it is often based in reality, and when it is tied to a specific place.

The places are real, even though the characters are fictional. People love to visit places described in books; it how I started my digital story. 

The Sherlock Holmes Museum is the most popular privately run museum in London. The address is 221B Baker Street is the world's most famous address, even though 221 Baker Street existed only in Conan Doyle's imagination.  Still, if you're planning to visit the museum, prepare to pay 6 pounds, climb a very narrow stairs to see for yourself how imagination, stories, & descriptions recreate a real atmosphere of Sherlock Holmes house.

 Observation, deduction and knowledge are main steps of Sherlock's Holmes problem solving method.  Still, no one can solved mystery as well as Sherlock Holmes did: discovering clues, deducting the cause, and finding solution.

Mixing Modern with an Old.

The Salisbury Cathedral is busy with visitors daily.  I did not realize that I was saying "Sorry" to the real statue that does not move.  Suddenly, I saw all kind figures, including the fountain in the middle: the water -tower. I asked guide the name of artist: he said he thought it was Bruce Munro but he wasn't sure. He told me that it was normal to see all kind arts inside one of the oldest cathedrals.
Photography is welcome in the Cathedral, except  Magna Carta, which creates a good place for displaying art.  On the other hand, this is a sacred place.  I thought about how every aspect of marketing is covered to a new level, including installations, and hidden reasons why foreign tourists visit this cathedral, and bring support to local economy. Maybe it is a new way to show you care about the future of the Cathedral, through communication with modern art.

Mr. Piglet presents his adventure through the world of modern art inside one of oldest cathedral;

Mr. Piglet stood up and looked up; walked down the steps; sat down; tried to hide; and went to sleep.

What do you think about Mr. Piglet?

The history in our hands.

   

Stop # 1: The London Museum. I never have been here before, even though this isn't my first time in London. How I could miss this place before? The history that you can hold in your hands, see all transformation through the time, seeing how London was born on rubbish but turned out to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

I could take a shot of the real Roman ruins from the museum's windows, but the closest shots of the ruins were outside. I was overwhelmed from seeing all of these in one stop. What do these finds mean? Some excavated objects are easily identified and explained. Others keep their secrets.

The new & modern incorporated inside museum is so lovely. The transitions are natural, which not every museum can do. A slice through time: Saxon, Medieval & Modern, which can be used to help understand London. Many more await discoveries.

Video Project: The White shoes

The idea about this video was born back home when I was trying to figure out what to bring or not to bring.  I was reading all posts from my fellow classmates about Wear or Not To Wear, Bring or Not To Bring. That was a question.
I spied so many white shoes here in London, worn by people from all over the globe, so my short video shows many of the white shoes I saw lately.

Here are some of 'our' Facebook conversations before we came here:

"Crystal Schmidt

What is appropriate footwear for London in the summertime? Having a hard time knowing what to pack.

June 13 at 11:10pm · Like ·

           

           

            


FSU Multimedia 2011 Wear comfortable shoes as we will be on our feet a lot! However, wearing white (only) athletic shoes usually screams you are an American.June 14 at 8:13am · Like
           

           

            


Theresa Latonis Wondracek LOL. An irish friend of mine said that her brother-in-law made the mistake of wearing white sneakers once and his feet were pointed at and discussed! She also suggested I bring capris and skirts, as shorts are "not done" -- at least for women. Can anyone give me some advice on this?June 16 at 4:59pm · Like
 

I also asked my boss who was saying the same thing that we learned from Dr. Everhart before we came to London.  My boss, Ann O'Bryan, told me; "

Elena, I remember I was told the same thing before I went to Liverpool many years ago. It’s probably just a bit British snobbery and a way to look down on Americans. ;-)

 

         

           

                        




 

Why Do We Wear Masks?

"In order to protect ourselves, we hide our faces to make it much harder for them to identify us."  This group comes once in month on Saturday to protest in the front of the "Scientology" building for last three years.  I am so sad that my video did not work out that I took while I was watching.  People in masks are extremely loud, with a modern music turn up high.  I wasn't alone who was taking photos of this protest.
I have some pictures to share:

  













Day goes fast, maybe too fast; laundry takes close to 4 hours for just two loads, and working on assignments takes forever.
So much to do, so much to discover.