Photo Essay

Totally f***ed

Spring Awakening is a new musical that is just fantastic. I was able to see this while in London. The cast was fantastic and I was in awe with every note that was sung. The set was amazing and I loved the use of having part of the audience actually on the stage, mixed in with the cast.

Daniel, Staci, Meghan, Dani, and I had made the decision that we were going to see this musical while in London before we even left Harlaxton. We saw the show and had a bit of a problem with the location of our seats, but we were able to work it out and make the best of it.

After the show we had decided that since this was the last day of this particular cast that we would go to the back of the theater to the stage door and greet the cast on a job well done. We wern't the only ones with this idea either. With the help of Daniel, I was able to get a few autographs and Daniel got a personal picture with a cast member, the girl who played Ilse. All in all it was a great day.

Church bells are ringing

I have been going to church every Sunday for as long as I can remember, but I never would have thought that I would get the chance to pray to God in St. Paul's Cathedral. It was honestly one of the most amazing experiences of the whole trip. I know that this was gonna be a once in a lifetime experience and it couldn't be passed up for anything. There were a whole group of us that went and partook in the Pentecost mass. The Cathedral was so elaborate along with the service itself.

Welcome to Edinburgh

Being in Scotland was an experience all on it's own; shopping, the sights, the food was very different from just a few hours on a bus ride back. The first thing I noticed about Scotland is that the fashion is different from not only America, but Great Britain as well, and I'm not talking about the kilts and headdresses. The food is also very diverse, they have an appetizer called Haggis and Cory actually tried it, and liked it.

The nature of Scotland is magnificent, with the beautiful hills and such, where if you make it to the top you are rewarded with being able to see for miles. I am very happy that this weekend get-a-way was added to the trip.

A wonder of the world

Look in any history book or web sight and Stonehenge will be listed as one of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World. I was able to see this wonder along the trip. It was great to see a very popular sight that isn't man-made, or so some think. The day was horrible though, it was not only cold and windy out but it was raining and didn't seem like it would stop anytime soon. After making the trek to the sight many of us took a few pictures for memories and quickly headed back to the bus for warmth.

I'm glad I was able to see this, but I really wish it would have been a better day out so that I could really appreciate the time that we were there.

Shopping at Harrods

Before this England trip I didn't know anything about Harrods except that it was a mall that Oprah loved, but once we got to London i quickly found out the true beauty of this Harrods place. To a teenage girl, it's not just a mall; it's Heaven. You walk in and the first thing you see is an entire room full of Lancome, Armani, Clinique, and more cosmetics than you could ever imagine. Walk a few more feet into the next room and it is full of designer purses such as Louis Vuitton, Coach, Burberry; it just goes on and on. There are 5 amazing floors with everything you could ever want and dream of; shoes, perfume, electronics, clothes, jewlery, food, and even a floor full of pet supplies and children's clothes and toys. This is one place that I never wanted to leave, but I eventually had a plane to catch to get back to America.

All the world's a stage...

William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-Upon-Avon in this exact house that you see in the picture. After discovering the house, Meghan, Dani, and I decided to go inside for a tour.

The tour started off with a walk-through slide show with mobile props of Shakespeare's life. Then it took you through a hallway of all the celebrities that have stared in a movie of one of Shakespeare's plays. Finally, you were guided into the exact house that he was born in. There were tour guides in every room explaining how life was in the 1500, specifically around the time of Shakespeare's birth. You were able to see the clothes he wore, his and his siblings room, along with their parent's room.

It was a very nice experience to see where such a great man lived in the beginning of his lifetime.

Jerry, Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!!

Everyone knows the musical Chicago but no one would have ever thought that Billy Flynn would be played by none other than Jerry Springer, the only man to play a lawyer and actually have a law degree.

Chelsea Juanita and I decided to see this show while in London for a week. The day we wanted to see the show we headed out early and searched all the discount ticket venues for the best deal. We found one that not only gave us a discounted ticket to the show, but also a free dinner at a pizza restaurant called Fire and Stone.

We went off on our own that day and met up in the hotel for dinner and the show. The dinner was pretty good and the show was even better. Jerry Springer did a fantastic job in his role as Mr. Flynn.

Tips and Advice

The May Option Study Abroad was one of the best decisions I have made in my academic career. I would definitely recommend this to anyone. To get college credit for hoping on a plane to a country you have always wanted to visit is just fantastic.

1.) What I enjoyed most about this trip is just the fact that I was able to study in England for a month out of the summer. The sights were georgeous and I know that there will never come another opportunity like this.

2.)If I had to pick one thing that I enjoyed least about this trip it would have to be the hotel situation in Wales. It was in the deadest part of town and even though the outside looked cute, the inside needed a lot of attention.

3.)Suggestions for next year would mainly include picking a better hotel in Wales and have more planned weekend trips, possibly even a few days longer stay in London as well.

4.) In giving some advice to students for next year I would tell them that when they pack to make sure they pack for all kinds of weather; rainy, windy, cold, and warm, every day is different. I would also tell them that when they have a free weekend to make plans to go somewhere that the school has not planned to go.

"Peter Pan and Wendy turned out fine, so won't you fly with me?"

Wednesday May 13, 2009 was a day of excitement...well, for me and every preteen in London anyways. An event like this I thought would never come true for me. This is the day that I came encounter with the Jonas Brothers, face-to-face. Now to everyone else my age this is no big deal, but I have been dreaming of this day since I heard their first hit song "S.O.S."

As soon as I found out that the Jonas Brothers were going to be in London the same day that I was, I immediately conspired with Courtney, and we came up with a plan. The day of this sighting the entire group was scheduled to go to Shakespeare's Globe Theater in London. So, getting there was no problem, now all we had to do was find Empire Cinema in Leicester Square. Courtney and I had told Emily, Chelsea, and Juanita about our plan and they wanted to come along as well. While watching Romeo and Juliet we finalized exactly how we were going to get to the Jonas Brothers. During intermission we made our escape; we didn't have time to stay till the end. We quickly asked a nearby worker how to get to Leicester Square and made a dash for it.

We took the Underground, and we knew when we were in the right place as soon as we got out of the station; screams could be heard for probably miles. There were so many people in front of the theater, but I soon managed to squeeze my way to the front. After many screams and the crowd having been filmed by half a dozen TV and news stations the Brothers finally appeared. They made their rounds signing autographs, having pictures taken by the paparazzi, and doing few interviews, the boys went into the theater to watch their 3D movie of their concert.

I was able to get Joe and Nick to sign my tube map (the only thing I had on me available for signing). It was a pretty successful day, to say the least.

Revealing the Unseen

This article was kind of ridiculous. Steve Garlick, the author of the article did nothing but present research that was outdated; we wrote this in 2002, but everything he researched was from 1996 and previous. There was none of his own input throughout the article and the research that he did present was not that great to begin with.

On another note, the reason that I have been taking pictures throughout this trip is mainly for the fact that I want to document and remember my experience and the sights that I see. I want to be able to share this trip with my family and friends, along with my children later in life. I have also been taking some pictures to help acquaint myself with my camera and get use to taking different types of shots and angles. Usually while traveling, epically on this trip, I tend to focus on the beauty in the places I go and the fun times I have. These are slightly different from the pictures that I tend to take while at school or home. When I'm there I really don't see a point in capturing the sights of places for the mere fact that I live there and will be able to see it at any time that I want. Of course though, while at school and home I still try to capture every fun and exciting moment that I have with my friends and family, epically during special events.

Usually after I've taken a picture I can tend to be a bit selfish about them. I keep them all saved in a safe place on my computer, but then I take the ones that I think I look good enough in and post them on FaceBook along with the ones that I have of other people. But when it comes to MySpace, I only put the pictures that I appear in on my page. the reason for posting them on these sights is for the simple fact that I want to be able to share them with my friends, to let them know what I am doing with my life, and they also do the same.

Punting in Cambridge

The doctoring of photos

Depending on the picture and what its intended use for publication is, there can be some issues with changing the content of it. Some examples of this would be the simple fact of putting the head of a celebrity onto a supermodels body. It doesn't show who they really are. The Newsweek article about Martha Stewart titled Martha's Last Laugh had a subtitle that suggests she lost weight while in prison. Looking at the picture that is behind the title shows a skinnier Stewart and now we believe that she really looks like that, all because of her jail time. The fact of this picture is that the body does not belong to her, which would in turn make the entire article false.
This is not to say that the editing of pictures is totally uncalled for, it just needs to be done in the right way; to still display the truth. Changing the coloring of a picture slightly, like what we seen done to the mugshot of O.J. Simpson is not as controversial. Yes, the picture in Time magazine makes him look like more of a criminal than the one in Newsweek, but there is really no fault here. Looking at other pictures and video clips of Simpson, you can easily tell that Time darkened the image, but that is all they did.
Along with this, if a newspaper or magazine wants to fix slight problems with a person, such as whitening there teeth or removing a meaningless scar on their face, it just makes the picture more appealing to the public.
In article 2, placing people where they were not originally, such as the riot police in the event in Rome completely changes the whole meaning of the photo and the events that took place at the time of the image. That is severely tampering with a picture, and crossing the line. It becomes misleading to what actually happens at the events and things like this are what eventually starts the rumors and lies about what is actually going on around the world.

Ban on publishing certian photos

Even though there are disturbing images out there in the world, I do not think there should be a ban on posting them. I fully agree with the fact that the public is interested in what is going on in the world and we should not be kept behind censorship. With this being a free country, people should be able to see the images that they want to see, knowing what to expect as well.
I also agree with Wally Rayl's statement of "Not being able to face reality is a major problem in our society today." If people cannot face reality than they are not going to get far in this world. We revolve around reality; over half of the television shows left nowadays are reality shows.

I think that very few images need to be censored by the media. Many images, such as photos 4 and 5 in the second article are very powerful and show the truth of what is happening around the world today. But then there are those images that need to at least have a warning to them such as photos 1, 2, and 3. I believe that they should be shown to the part of the public that is willing to see them. These may be gruesome but they also convey the truth.

Would you like some cheese with that wine??

Jonas Brothers Signing

Exploring the Manor

The life of a swan