Friday, December 23, 2011

God Bless America

I decided to come home for Christmas (10 days to be exact) and have taken a few photos of things that I've missed since they don't appear to exist in London.  Some of these pictures were stolen from the google...

The Washington Post
Although I can get the amazing crossword puzzles online, it's just not the same.

Jovey

Bethesda Bagels
...or any fresh bagels for that matter.

Dunkin' Donuts
America runs on Dunkin, but England does not :( and the Krispy Kreme doughnuts here just aren't warm.

Christmas Cookies with Somerset kids. 

Apple Cider (non-alcoholic) and Sparkling Cider.

Corn Louisianne (Christmas Dinner), my favorite dish.

Christmas at home of course.

Bethesda

Christmas with the McMahon Family



Just Dance 3 with Sara and Brendan (and video games in general I suppose)

Dryer Sheets
Clothes just don't smell as fresh without them...

Special K Vanilla Almond
They have Special K but not Vanilla Almond.

(American) Pancakes
Had Silver Diner blueberry pancakes my first breakfast back... so good!  To them, pancakes are crepes.

Websites such as www.hulu.com and www.pandora.com

The list could go on with things like the Bouten Christmas Party and things in my home like my wonderfully comfortable bed and the amenities such as a dishwasher and free laundry but I'll spare you with the list I've already composed.  I'll miss all these things but am looking forward to another term in England!  Thanks for such a great break :) 

Coldplay at the O2 Arena

A video of Christmas Lights (one of my favorites!!) along with a bit with Alan Partridge and Chris Martin followed by a Drummer Boy duet.  My favorite part of the show was probably when Chris said to Alan, "fuck, fuck, fuck you," haha.  I didn't like Alan Partridge much... lol

I'd like to apologize in advance for how nondescript this post is but I may have forgotten to actually post about this even though I started the post back in December (I was waiting for Noor's photos).  Sorry about that!  Anyways, I've decided to just get on with it and post it so it's mostly just photos below.  The concert was absolutely amazing though.  I went to see Coldplay perform for a charity event called All Under 1 Roof in December at the O2 arena in London.  I showed up around 10am and got in line (I was sixth in line) and after about an hour one of the roadies came out and asked if we wanted to help Coldplay out backstage with the glow bracelets so we of course said we'd love to and went ahead backstage!  It was so great.  We (the five Italians in front of me and myself) didn't have to sit in the cold, we got first pick of the floor standing seats (where our tickets were), and we got autographed photos from the band (although we didn't get to meet them unfortunately)!  Coldplay had Tiny Tempah, Emeli Sande, and two comedians opening for them.  My friend Noor came along after I was already backstage so we met in the actual standing area/arena.  After the show we took the Thames Clipper ferry back to Waterloo.  The ferry ride was a great end to a fantastic night!

These are the glowbands (picture taken from Coldplay's website).  They have a transmitter in them that controls when they glow.  I got to meet the engineer who helped make them backstage actually!  Really nice guy.  Our job was to pull out a tab that started the battery (because the transmitter trains the battery after a few hours) and to sort out the working ones.  They're also arranged into zones so they can turn on one zone or the other.

The O2 Arena

Close up of the bracelet

I am now realizing that these (at least the photos I took) are in reverse chronological order... sorry about that...

Chris clapping at the end!

Johnny jammin!

Chris Martin

Chris Singing

What a great stage!

Johnny on the keyboard.

Johnny, Chris, and Guy

Viva la Vida

M's and X's raining down

Love this!  Chris and Johnny

Chris and Guy

Chris and Guy again

My friend Noor came along (showed up after I went backstage)--we're literally front row!  So great.

Security guys :)

Front Row!

So Great!

Another one of Chris

This is the woman who is in charge of the charity/event.

One of the comedians; I believe this one is Alan Partridge... he wasn't very funny... a little too mean quite frankly.

The Tinie Tempah guitarist--he was great!  Loved his enthusiasm.

Tinie Tempah--I think he was voted best dressed man in Britain or something?

Emeli Sande ("Emily Sundae") was really good too!

Chris coming out to greet everyone!

This is the arena behind me from where I was.

The ads outside!  Steve Coogan, the other comedian, was really funny!

My ticket!

Autographed photo!  The following photos were taken by Noor (she's from Bah Rain!).  We decided to take the Thames Clipper ferry back to Waterloo.

Tower Bridge 

Tower Bridge 

Tower of London 

The O2 from the pier.

Thanks for reading!  Sorry I wasn't very descriptive about the show.  I recommend checking out some of the tunes from the artists on youtube though!  I thought they were all great performances.