Day 2 (part 2): Westminster Abbey

When we got outside of the Globe, it was pouring rain! Luckily, we brought an umbrella with us.
In London, when it rains, it RAINS. I live in an area where it rains pretty consistently; but it's more of a persistent drizzle. In London, even the individual rain drops seemed bigger than the ones where I live.
When it rains where I live, it's almost a sign of weakness to pull out an umbrella. Instead, people run for cover like rabbits. In London, when it starts to rain, umbrellas pop up everywhere. Every different type of umbrella imaginable! Every shape, every color, every design.

(And, evidently, everyone wants to cross the Millennium Bridge at once...)

On our way to lunch, we walked past the house the Benjamin Franklin lived in when he was in London.

Pretty exciting! But why is there a skeleton in the third floor window on the right...?

Next, lunch at...

The Sherlock Holmes pub! This is where I ate fish 'n chips.

What a cool restaurant! Downstairs, they had a bar, where they were playing Sherlock on TV. Upstairs, there was the restaurant! They had a display in one corner, modeling the sitting room at 221b Baker Street complete with the bust Sherlock Holmes made of himself for The Empty House story (to trick Sebastian Moran into thinking he was in the window, when he really wasn't. Tintin uses the same trick in Tintin in America)

 

 

It was like playing Spot the Sherlock Holmes Reference. In the corner stood a harpoon, on the chair sat his violin, on the table were visiting cards from Lestrade and Dr. Mortimer and Charles Augustus Milverton and several other familiar names. The correspondence was stuck into the mantlepiece with a knife. Science equipment was lined against the wall, and above it the initials "V.R." had been shot into the wall. On the sofa was the key to The Dancing Men, and on the table two ears, packed in salt, were waiting to be investigated. 

After that, we took the bus to Westminster Abbey for an Easter service; Lessons in Carols.

There was one place that I wanted to see in Westminster Abbey, and that was the Poet's Corner (with monuments honoring those such as The Bronte Sisters, Jane Austin, George Frederick Handel, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Spenser, and others). Because it was Easter, they weren't doing tours, and weren't letting anyone wander around. Seats were set up everywhere for the services. Do you know where they sat us? Us in the Poet's Corner!

I must say that now that I think back to the event, it's quite amazing, but at the time, I was too awed to notice. 

Westminster Abbey is the first big, regal cathedral that I've ever been in. Being in such an old place of worship, where thousands of believers over the centuries have gathered - and were gathered that day! - to worship our Creator overwhelmed me with emotion. All I could think was, Who wouldn't want to worship our God? 

Some people in the church just wanted to get a look at the inside, and when the service started, got up and left after the first song or two. My thoughts changed to, How can they just walk out like that? Why aren't they falling to their knees in submission to God?

Those architects who built Romanesque and Gothic style buildings believed that people could be converted just by walking into their churches and seeing the splendor of them. In a place like Westminster Abbey (which, I believe, is Gothic... but I'm not sure), I can believe it!

The service was very interesting. The priest would read some Bible verses, and then a men and boy's choir would sing a beautiful song to accompany it. At one point they lit incense, which only happens at special services like on Easter. I thought that was pretty cool.

It was especially nice because I've been studying church history and I know the history behind the church now. I have so much more appreciation for services like this. While I think that having a personal relationship with Jesus is the best way to go, there is something to be said for giant, mass services like that in Westminster Abbey. It was really quite amazing.

Even though technically you aren't allowed to take pictures inside... my dad sort of sneaked a few on his phone.

(The ceiling, which makes me think that maybe this church is build in the Romanesque style. All the old church in Holland have this sort of ceiling. It's really beautiful!)

 

(Part of the Poet's Corner. See Shakespeare in the middle? He's sticking his calf out to show it off!)

We were going to go and see Big Ben, but since it was pouring when we got outside, we decided to just go back to our hotel.

We passed Nelson's Column...

 

And a big blue chicken...

And many a red phone box.

Name that Tintin book!

The weather turned nice - and even a bit sunny! - late in the afternoon/evening, and my dad and I decided to walk to find the Allies Bench.

In World War II, the three major powers fighting against Germany were Winston Churchill and England, Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union, and Franklin D. Roosevelt and the United States. They were called "The Big Three."

(You gotta love Winston Churchill. You just have to.)

There's a bench dedicated to "The Big Three" in London and my dad and I went and found it. 

Only it's missing someone...

After that, we walked to where the Embassies are, to find the American and the Canadian ones.

The Canadian Embassy (and all the other countries) is really nice... it's just like a house with a Canadian flag on it... it even has a nice little balcony...

And then you turn to the American Embassy and it has electric fences surrounding it, and those things that come out of the ground to stop cars (in National Treasure 2, Ben drives over them to get away from the police in the parking lot of the Library of Congress), and there are guards posted every few feet. And not just nice guards. Guards with HUGE GUNS. Though one did nod at my dad as we passed. 

You'd think we were the world's most hated country or something...

After that, we took a detour through Hyde Park to get back to our hotel. We walked passed Speaker's Corner, where people gather of a Sunday and speak about whatever they want. We didn't stop to listen too long. As we were walking away, we heard this guy say to his girlfriend, "I mean, really? Don't those guys have a life or something? They should go get a life!"

Hyde Park is really gorgeous - and HUGE! It would be fun to go back and explore it. 

Thus ends Day Two of our adventure!

Stay tuned for Day Three...

Live long and prosper.

I'm still alive.

I have successfully survived to the next stage of editing.
We sent off for my trial copy today! Huzzah! Now I get a week break while I wait for the copy to arrive... And I'll use it to (hopefully) write my outline for NaNoWriMo, and get TONS of schoolwork done!

*** 

 

You know what I love? World War I. It's so fascinating.

Guess what?

Paul McCartney has a World War I music video! It's SUPER cool... It's about the Christmas Truce of 1914, when men from both sides got up out of the trenches and met in No Man's Land to play football, exchange chocolate, laugh, talk, and share pictures and letters from loved ones.

 

 

Live long and prosper!



Algona, Iowa.

On Tuesday, my grandparents, mother, and I took a road trip down to Algona, Iowa. Our premise for going was that my mother, who is a quilter and therefore follows lots of quilting blogs, won a pack of fabric and also a gift certificate to a restaurant where they house the largest cheeto in the world. While we were down there, though, we decided to go to a museum and the Algona Nativity Scene. Here I must sidetrack a bit, and tell the history that we learned at the museum, before I go on and tell you about the Nativity Scene and the restaurant.

Nearly everyone is taught about the World Wars. While studying World War One, one learns about the trenches, and mustard gas, and the United States entering near the end. While studying World War Two, one learns about Hitler, and the gas chambers, the Jews, and V-Day. One learns about the Pacific Theater, and the awful battles between America and Japan; one learns about the Japanese Internment camps (where the United States took all of the Japanese or Japanese-American people and shut them up in camps during WW2 [one of those that was interned, was George Takei, who played Sulu in Original Star Trek]); and one learns about the awful treatment that American soldiers received in German Prisoner of War camps.
What does one not learn about? The Prisoner of War camp (P.O.W. camps) in the United States.
In 1943, Europe's P.O.W. camps were overflowing with German prisoners (with other nationalities, such as Italian, mixed in) and Great Britain asked the United States to take some of the prisoners. The United States people weren't happy about it, but in the end, they did take in the Prisoners of War. Over 450,000 P.O.W.'s, during the course of 1944-1945, stayed in 700 camps scattered throughout the United States. Here is a map - every dot is a P.O.W. camp:

 

So what happens now? 450,000 German prisoners are now in America! Well, unlike American prisoners in Germany, these German prisoners were treated very well, in accordance with the Geneva Convention (which says that prisoners will be treated as well as the army that watches over them).

This is where the museum that we visited, and the Nativity Scene, come in.

In Algona, Iowa, they had a P.O.W. camp. Though the camp is no longer standing, and is now an airport, they have a museum with lots of articles and bios about German prisoners from the camp.

The Algona camp (and, indeed, mostly all of the other camps), prisoners could be hired out to local farmers, as farm hands. They would be paid in slips of paper, that they could spend at the Canteen - the store inside the P.O.W. camp.
In camp, prisoners had a variety of things that they could do.... They had arts and crafts, and sports. Many beautiful pieces of art came out of the camp, as well as poetry and journal entries, talking about every day life. Prisoners were allowed to send and receive letters (though they were looked over very closely by both America and Germany before being allowed to get back to family or sweethearts). In the Algona camp, they had an acting troupe, a choir, a newspaper (the P.O.W.-WOW) and a 15 piece orchestra. They say that idleness is the tool of the devil - these prisoners were anything but idle! They had a million things to do and were treated very well by all. Several of them became great friends with their farmer employers. There is one story about a farmer who had lost his son to the war, and started calling his German farm hand his son, because they were on such good terms. Later, after the war was over, and the prisoners were sent back to Germany, that prisoner came back to the farm with his family, and was reunited with his employer. There are many, many stories like that.
In 1946, the German prisoners were sent back to Germany, because the war was over. But many of them didn't want to go! Several escaped and lived in the United States, falling in love and creating a family, until found out by the government. Most of the time, the government would let them stay, if they would consent to going back to Germany for x amount of time first.
One man, his named was George, I think, was an amazing carver. While still a P.O.W., he carved something that took the fancy of one of the officers. The officer asked for it and George wondered why. "To show my grandchildren," replied the officer. George asked for five dollars (and not in slips of paper to spend at the canteen). The officer wondered why George would want five dollars. "To show my grandchildren," George replied. So they traded. George ended up selling two more carvings for $5 each. He had $15 and escaped to New Mexico. He met and fell in love with a woman. They married and had at least one child. But George was always looking over his shoulder, sure that someone would find out that we was here illegally. He didn't want to go back to Germany! He had experienced freedom - and had a beautiful family.
He had also started a bookstore, and was a flourishing businessman.
Well, one day, the officer who had bought George's carving for $5, walked into the bookstore, and recognized him. After that encounter, and after 40 years of living in the United States, George turned himself in. Our government made him go back to Germany for 6 months, but then said he could return and become a citizen. George did so. Eventually, though, he ended back up in Germany, and ran a successful bookstore there.

In 1944, one P.O.W., named Eduard Kaib, made a Nativity Scene. It was relatively small... something like six or eight inches per figure; but the officers were so impressed, that they asked for a bigger Nativity Scene for next year's Christmas. Eduard Kaib, and six other people (only one of whom has been identified) set to work, and by Christmas 1945, they had a huge Nativity Scene, where the figures were half life-size, to show to the people. And the people did come! Every year since 1945, at Christmastime (or, if you live more than 100 miles away, like us), Algona opens up the Nativity Scene to show to people.
It was quite amazing. There is over 35 sheep, over 20 figures, four camels, one angel, one cow, and one donkey. All of them are original, from 1945. To make them, Eduard Kaib poured cement over a wire and wood frame, to get the basic shape. Then he covered it with plaster, and painted it in what colors he supposed to be prominent back at the birth of Christ.

 

Blue lights added to the atmosphere. They played a recording of the history of the Nativity, and even had Kaib talking about it! He returned to Algona in the '60's to see his Nativity again.

 

Look at all those sheep!

 

I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend these two museums (the Nativity Scene, and the P.O.W. Museum, in Algona, Iowa) which tell about a piece of lost history. It's really quite incredible. They are both run entirely by volunteer, by the Methodist's Men's Club. It will be a sad day when all of the old, Methodist gentleman, die and no one is left to take care of the museums. I hope that never happens, because this piece of history is an amazing story, and one not often told.

After these two museums, we went to Emeralds, a restaurant with the largest cheeto. Their food was very, very good (though a tad bit expensive, maybe) and their restaurant was cool - nautical themed! They had model ships and portholes and diving suit helmets.
And, of course, the largest cheeto in the world:

 

(That's my mom with the cheeto.)
Here's a picture of it that I found online, compared to a regular cheeto and a quarter.

 

So there was our day on Tuesday! It was a great trip.

Live long and prosper! And go visit those museums!

A random assortment of things pertaining to American Girl Dolls and dog tags.

First of all, WHAT?!?!?! American Girl came out with new outfits and I didn't know about it!! It must have just happened within the last day because I recently checked the AG website.
Among the new things are, new doll outfits (for My American Girl/Just Like You dolls, Historical doll Julie, and Girl of the Year Mckenna), a new pet (Meatloaf - love the name), an old pet (they retired Licorish, they brought her back. Personally, I like the old Licorish better. Dad says, "I can't tell the difference." *shakes head* ), some new black boots (cute, but I already have, like, 4 or 5 pairs of black boots for my dolls 0.0 Oh well, they go great with the Star Trek costumes), and.... A DOLL SIZED CAR!!!!!

Is a little Bug! How cute! And blue, my favorite color. Unfortuneately, this car costs $350..... For a doll sized car. You could easily make your own car for virtually free. That's what Anna at basilmetos did.
A cute car AG, but a little too expensive..... Alright, a lot too expensive.

Every month or every few months I go on an American Girl Doll rave. I dress and re-dress them. I make videos with them... Most of this happens during the summer when I have time.
While I dress and re-dress my dolls, the clothes that I take off of them pile up on my desk. The desk was originally supposed to be a writing desk.... But most of my writing takes place elsewhere. I don't know if I've ever sat down and written a story at my desk. Probably 'cause it's usually overflowing with American Girl Doll stuff. Hee hee.
Currently our living room floor is also scattered with AG stuff. Outfits and hair accesories and shoes.
Tonight I dressed 5 of my dolls in the Kit Kittredge outfits I have (6 dolls including Kit, but she was already dressed).
And since I really don't have anything else to blog about and this blog was originally supposed to be an American Girl blog (but has spilled out into all the other areas of my life), I will show you my collection of Kit outfits.

From left to right:
Jamie wearing Kit's Christmas Dress (in the books, the dress is a hand-me-down from Ruthie who has outgrown the dress. Kit angrily refuses it because Kit thinks Ruthie is giving it to Kit because Kit's family is poor - the books are set during the Great Depression. In the end, Kit takes the dress.)
Felicity is wearing Kit's Birthday Dress (in the books, the dress is made of feedsack - you know, the stuff chicken feed comes in? Aunt Millie made the dress for Kit after buying the family some chickens. Kit feels so embarressed to wear the dress because a feedsack dress in the Great Depression lets the whole world know that you are one step away from the poor house. Luckily (and probably thanks to Aunt Millie) it doesn't come to that. Felicity is wearing shoes that came from Michaels Crafts.)
Rena is wearing Kit's School Dress (with the bow from one of Samantha's dresses. I honestly don't remember anything about this dress from the books... Only that it is on the cover of "Kit Learns a Lesson.")
Ruthie is wearing her Meet Outfit.
Kit is wearing her Reporter Dress (which never shows up in the books, only the movie.)
Jess is wearing Kit's Meet Outfit.

So there you have it.... I might do all of my Samantha outfits next, since I have tons of those too.

Anywho, I will be in Canada for the weekend so no blog posts (I will actually be in Canada on Canada Day for once!). My dad's family all lives in Canada, eh? I guess you could call this my vacation from the vacation I just took.... I would be upset to go except for the fact that my favorite cousin will be there and we always have a blast playing Mario on our Nintendo DS's. And playing at the park around the corner from our Grama's. We always end up playing freeze tag or hide and seek or the Alien Game or making up our own running/tag-ish game (like Lord of the Rings!) with our Dad's.
The last time I was in Canada, the dad's wanted to go back to Grama's so they said, "We'll leave now. You come 5 minutes later. We'll try catch you before you get to Grama's. If we catch you, you lose. If you get to Grama's, you win."
So my cousin and I were thinking we would sneak around to the front entrence of the neighborhood my Grama lives in and get in that way. So we walked and walked and walked and we went into this neighborhood thinking it lead out to the main road.... It was a culdisack. So we walked all the way back. It took us a good 30 minutes. We snuck back to Grama's and almost got in... and then the Dad's caught us.
That was the absolutely funnest adventure I've ever been on. =D

I took a World War 1 and 2 class last fall/winter/into the spring. I completed all the requirements (memorizing 3 quotes, memorizing 3 Bible verses, watching WW1&2 movies, reading all the books on the book list, memorizing the poem Flanders Fields, completing the weekly opinion papers - 13 in total, writing a 3 page+ hero report on a hero from one of the World Wars {I did George M. Cohan}, and giving a class presentation on one of the countries during WW2 {I did Holland because my Grama lived during Germany's occupation of Holland}). If you completed all the above requirements, at the end of class, you got your own dog tags. Three of them. One with your name and the date of the class, and two with quotes that you got to choose.

The first one (in the red silencer) says, "Do Hard Things" (fantastic book, by the way. Everyone should read it).
The second one says, "Freedom is never free."
I won't show the one with my name. ;)
It was a very cool ceremony. We went to an old people's home and the veterans told stories. There were even two men that had served in WW2 there! It was very fun.

Well, I've ran out of random things to say so I shall leave you with a picture of Rosey. Or maybe two or three.....

(Rosey and Davie. Davie is the dog of the people who watched Rosey. His tail is a blur because he spotted his owner coming home and kind of went crazy).

(Rosey being adorable and hogging Davie's bed.)

(Hanging out the window on the way home.)

P.S. Sorry for any spelling mistakes. Spellcheck isn't working!! AHHH!

Day 18: A day where you felt passionate and alive.

It wasn't really one day... It was a whole weekend. I went to this AMAZING Christian seminar thing a few years ago where they focused on reaching out to non-Christians.
It was an eye opening weekend for me and I realized that I wanted God to be my Father; I didn't just want to be a Christian because my parents were. I wanted to be a Christian because I realized God is my savior and I can't live without His guidance in my life!

In my World War 1 and 2 history class, I am doing a presentation on Holland during the World War 2 German occupation of Holland.
All I can say is W.O.W. what a fascinating time!
Holland was going to be neutral during the Second World War, as they had been in the First World War. Germany said that they would honor Holland's neutrality but the very next day, they invaded. The Dutch army tried their best to defend their country, but they failed and for the next five years, Holland was under German occupation.
Here is an amazing pictures of Allied parachutists coming down over Holland in 1944 (Operation Market Garden) in an attempt to liberate it.

I absolutely love this picture - it's my desktop background. =D

I'm always so awkward when finishing blog posts.... I never know what to say. I guess I'll end this post with "Tot ziens!" Which means goodbye in Dutch.

Paramount Theater

The year is 1928.
Silent films are very popular, as "Talkies" (films with sound) are not possible yet.
To accompany these silent films are Wurlitzer Organs. These organs aren't your everyday church organs... They have many, many different sounds to accompany what's happening in the film. And they were always played live.
People would go to the theater to watch a silent film, while someone would be playing a Wurlitzer Organ in the orchestra pit.
In modern days, there are only about 8 people who play Wurlitzer Organs to accompany silent films. And although Wurlitzer is still making organs, there are only around 100 that are still around that were made especially to play with silent films.
The Paramount Theater in Seattle was built especially to play silent films. And, of course, they would need a Wurlitzer. They had one built especially to match the theater and that's where it's stayed since 1928.
Shortly after Paramount was built, the technology to make "Talkie" films appeared and silent films were slowly silenced... Luckily, not forever.
Theaters like the Paramount still occasionally show these wonderfully funny shows.

I was lucky enough to visit the Paramount this morning with my mom and my best friend and her mom.
Right now the Paramount is going through a "Silent Movie Monday" series, where each Monday evening they play a silent film.
This morning they were also doing a tour of the theater and a man was giving a performance of the Wurlitzer while accompanying a short, silent film called "Cops" by Buster Keaton.
(Here is it on youtube if anyone wants to watch it... It's quite funny! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8rf_w7w0IQ )
The Organist came all the way from Kansas to do this series. He said he started with piano but was completely self taught on the organ. He also said he only plays Wurlitzer Organs. He's been playing for 42 years. =)

Here is a video of him playing the Paramount Overture on the Wurlitzer:



Here are some more pictures.
The Mighty Wurlitzer:


Me admiring the Wurlitzer (it's such a fun name to write... Rachmaninoff is another fun name to write.)


All I can say is I was born in the wrong time period.... I think it would be SO cool to have been able to live in the early late 1800's-early 1900's. Vaudeville.... Silent films.... Women wearing elegant dresses to the theater, accompanied by men in top hats.
When the Paramount Theater opened, 10,000 people came the opening night, paying 60 cents at the door. Although the theater only held 3000 people, men and women came to mingle in the lobby. They came to be seen in their elegant clothes. They came to see silent films accompanied by the beautiful Wurlitzers.
As well as having a Wurlitzer, the Paramount has a "Re-enacting (or reproducing... I forget which) piano" which is different than a player piano. This piano was also made especially for the Paramount. It was amazing to see it play.... Sadly, I didn't get a video.

My family and friends and I also went to a flight museum recently to look at their exhibit on World War One planes.
Here is the first fighter plane, made in Italy before the first Great War. See how the gun is on the top? As planes became more sophisticated, the gun was moved lower down, so it could shoot between the front propeller. How could it fire between the propeller, one might ask? Well, the gun would shoot through the propeller, but would pause when the propeller was directly in front of the gun. It was quite the sophisticated technique!

Of course... I had to go through the entire flight museum and find the ONE mention of Star Trek.... I found it in this picture, when the cast from the original Star Trek series came to see the Enterprise space shuttle.