words, words, words

Why can you sense when someone is staring at you?
Any ideas?

We went to Brighton today. It is the Ocean City of England. There
were heaps of people laying on the rocks and swimming, and playing
video games on the pier. The funniest thing I saw was when a woman
was complaining to her friend about “tombstoning”, the art of jumping
off a fixed object into the ocean. She was talking about how
dangerous it was. She was so wrapped uyp in describing the stupidity
that she smacked her head on a sign. Hilarious!
I ate a lot of seafood. I ate whelks, cockles and had a kipper
sandwich. I really liked whelks, they are a kind of sea snail. It
also occurred to me that I like anything that comes out of the ocean
and isn’t endangered. I could eat seafood everyday for the rest of
my life. Maybe it has something to do with growing up near the beach
and catching dinner with a fishing pole.

Oh last night, we went to the Cinnamon Club. A really great Indian
restaurant. It was an incredible meal.
I’ll post a picture. Best food ever.

I have invented a new word, I think. It is “themeparkification”.
This is the “themeparking” (possibly another word I invented) of
experience into packages.
For example, Las Vegas. It used to be a bit seedy and inexpensive.
$1.50 Shrimp Cocktails. Now it is an experience that has been
commodified and packaged so that the act of being and doing is now
just another product. This is a result of capitalism and it’s
stranglehold it has on human consciousness. We start telling these
stories about such-and-such experience that happened to us. We
continue to tell these stories until they start to bore the teller.
Then the person starts to fabricate until they believe their own lie,
and are bored with that even. Enter the next new “themeparkifiied”
experience.
Take the British “gap year”. This is an institution that involves
going to Thailand and meeting the beautiful local people. So pure.
So unspoiled. But you are wading through a sea of dreadlocked non-
conformists all looking for the same unique experience.
(Being a non-conformist is the conformity, but that is another story.)
Even this adventurous, life-changing thing becomes themeparkified.
You show up at a jewel of an island in the Andaman Sea and there is a
7-11.
This is a trend that has not peaked. Stay tuned for “themeparkified”
childbirth and other personal events.

It is HOT in London right now. Really hot. And there aren’t a lot
of places with air conditioning.

Took the train out to Fleet again today.
A little boy got on the train with his sister and parents.
When they took their seats, he said, “Daddy, I think we are on the
wrong planet”.

Last night I saw a fox out of our kitchen window. I threw it a milky
jelly baby (like a gummy bear) and it ate it! It was so cool!

Susi and I went to a Service at Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London last
night. It was the Annual Festival of the Friends of Saint Paul and
our friend, Robert Walker, had written the music for the service. We
went as invited friends of Bob’s and therefore sat in the very front
row of the church, where they don’t let the unwashed masses, right
under the dome of St. Paul’s. Also in our row was the Lord Mayor of
London, the Sheriff of London, and the Duchess of Gloucester. The
service itself was a bit more like propaganda for the Friends of St
Paul’s than a proper service, but being so close to the front of the
action was a unique experience. The service was directed by lots of
people in strange clothing walking with wands. Bob’s music was
fantastic and I especially liked his second piece, which seemed to me
to have some Asian influences in it, which you normally don’t hear in
church. (Bob lived in Bali and Bangkok for a while.) Everyone
agreed that the organ was a bit too loud and drowned out some of the
singing. Also we saw, as Bob called it, and I am paraphrasing, “the
union of church and state”. It is rather peculiar, especially since
in the USA we pretend that it doesn’t matter. Generally, it doesn’t
matter, unless it is an election year.

Here is a brief excerpt from the program from the service, these are
the directions for everyone before the service starts, remember this
is a church:

At 1645 remain seated as the Dean and Chapter proceed to the Great
West Door.

At 1650 the Dean and Chapter receive the Lord Mayor at the Great West
Door.

At 1655 Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester is greeted by
the Lord Mayor and escorted to the Great West Door where she is
received by the Dean and Chapter.

At 1655 remain seated as the Choir, the College of Minor Canons and
the College of Canons proceed to their places in the Queue.

At 1700 please stand as a fanfare is sounded and Her Royal Highness
The Duchess of Gloucester is escorted to her place under the Dome by
the Dean and Chapter.

I won’t forget this entire experience.