The Voice of London Episode I
Good evening Canada. The time (locally) is 12:21 in the a.m. and I am writing to you from the couch of Jo-Ann Breault's Norwich apartment. We (Danny and I) arrived in London approximately ten hours ago. After passing through customs with little difficulty we collected our baggage and were picked up by Danny's mother (the aforementioned Jo-Ann Breault). We stopped for a bite to eat at (what I would assume is) a chain restaurant by the name of Little Chef. Jet lag stole what consciousness I had of the five hour drive to Norwich. Upon arrival my most immediate task was to brush my teeth and remove the sickening taste and smell of airline food from my mouth. After that, upon Danny's suggestion, the three of us walked down the block to the Black Horse pub for a few beers. After about four hours, two pints of Carlsberg, and a pint and a half of Scrumpy Joe's cider we returned to the apartment and that brings us up to date with this very moment.
It is now 6:12 p.m. I woke up three and a half hours ago. The water here tastes terrible. I had its scummy flavor coating my mouth when I awoke, leftovers from brushing my teeth last night. There is no shower here. Bathing is such an ineffective way to cleanse oneself. Danny and I walked into downtown Norwich this afternoon. We bought some lunch in the market and wandered around for a couple of hours. On our way back we stopped at the Fountain for a pint (an Addlestone's Cloudy Cider for myself). We are currently considering going to see a movie. I think Children of Men is playing, and I would very much like to see it. We shall see what is decided.
As it turns out we did decide to see Children of Men. It was quite a good film. It actually bears a fairly strong resemblance to two comic book series; one of which I've read, one of which I intend to when I get the opportunity. The first of these is the book from which this email gets its title, V for Vendetta. It shares with Children of Men the setting of a post-apocalyptic England in which immigrants are rounded up into internment camps. The second comic to which I refer, Brian K. Vaughn's Y: the Last Man, is more directly related to the plot of Children of Men in that the former deals with a scenario in which all male mammals (save, as far as I can tell, one human and one monkey) die suddenly and the latter has all human females (again, save one) unable to reproduce. Anyway, you should go see it when it comes out in December over there.
I went to a comic shop here in Norwich called Abstract Sprocket today and picked up the first volume of Y: the Last Man. I can now confirm that the story revolves around a young man named Yorick Brown and the helper monkey he is training, named Ampersand. They are the last surviving mammals with Y chromosomes after some sort of virus kills the rest of the males on the planet. Think 28 Days Later with the blood-spewing, but resulting in death instead of zombification. I've only read a couple of issues so far, but it continues to lend support to comics as my favourite storytelling medium. I'm not sure for how far into the story I'm going to be able to provide you with updates. It depends on how much money I'm willing to spend on trade paperbacks while I'm here. Probably not all that much as there are many other things on which I intend to spend my money.
For example, concert tickets. The following are just some of the more significant concerts I will have the opportunity to attend while in the UK: Sufjan Stevens, Yo La Tengo, The Raconteurs, The Who, Bruce Springsteen, Missy Elliott, Gogol Bordello, Badly Drawn Boy, Gnarls Barkley, Jet, Brian Wilson, The Flaming Lips, Art Brut, Slayer, Jefferson Starship, Motorhead, George Michael, The Killers, Christina Aguilera, Ennio Morricone, The Pussycat Dolls, All Four Original Members of Asia, DJ Shadow, Tenacious D, Willie Nelson, Iron Maiden, Kylie Minogue, Lionel Richie, Styx, Beyonce, and Tool. It should be apparent that I will not be able to attend all of these shows, nor, in several cases, would I want to. But I do finally get to see Tool, which will be fucking awesome.
Expedientially yours,
Matthew Hawkins
It is now 6:12 p.m. I woke up three and a half hours ago. The water here tastes terrible. I had its scummy flavor coating my mouth when I awoke, leftovers from brushing my teeth last night. There is no shower here. Bathing is such an ineffective way to cleanse oneself. Danny and I walked into downtown Norwich this afternoon. We bought some lunch in the market and wandered around for a couple of hours. On our way back we stopped at the Fountain for a pint (an Addlestone's Cloudy Cider for myself). We are currently considering going to see a movie. I think Children of Men is playing, and I would very much like to see it. We shall see what is decided.
As it turns out we did decide to see Children of Men. It was quite a good film. It actually bears a fairly strong resemblance to two comic book series; one of which I've read, one of which I intend to when I get the opportunity. The first of these is the book from which this email gets its title, V for Vendetta. It shares with Children of Men the setting of a post-apocalyptic England in which immigrants are rounded up into internment camps. The second comic to which I refer, Brian K. Vaughn's Y: the Last Man, is more directly related to the plot of Children of Men in that the former deals with a scenario in which all male mammals (save, as far as I can tell, one human and one monkey) die suddenly and the latter has all human females (again, save one) unable to reproduce. Anyway, you should go see it when it comes out in December over there.
I went to a comic shop here in Norwich called Abstract Sprocket today and picked up the first volume of Y: the Last Man. I can now confirm that the story revolves around a young man named Yorick Brown and the helper monkey he is training, named Ampersand. They are the last surviving mammals with Y chromosomes after some sort of virus kills the rest of the males on the planet. Think 28 Days Later with the blood-spewing, but resulting in death instead of zombification. I've only read a couple of issues so far, but it continues to lend support to comics as my favourite storytelling medium. I'm not sure for how far into the story I'm going to be able to provide you with updates. It depends on how much money I'm willing to spend on trade paperbacks while I'm here. Probably not all that much as there are many other things on which I intend to spend my money.
For example, concert tickets. The following are just some of the more significant concerts I will have the opportunity to attend while in the UK: Sufjan Stevens, Yo La Tengo, The Raconteurs, The Who, Bruce Springsteen, Missy Elliott, Gogol Bordello, Badly Drawn Boy, Gnarls Barkley, Jet, Brian Wilson, The Flaming Lips, Art Brut, Slayer, Jefferson Starship, Motorhead, George Michael, The Killers, Christina Aguilera, Ennio Morricone, The Pussycat Dolls, All Four Original Members of Asia, DJ Shadow, Tenacious D, Willie Nelson, Iron Maiden, Kylie Minogue, Lionel Richie, Styx, Beyonce, and Tool. It should be apparent that I will not be able to attend all of these shows, nor, in several cases, would I want to. But I do finally get to see Tool, which will be fucking awesome.
Expedientially yours,
Matthew Hawkins
posted by Ad Hawk at
3:57 PM
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