So it's just over 2 and a bit weeks until Summerfest. I'm so excited about this year. There's going to be a wedding. An Ambassadorial Masquerade, which just screams trap, most people will be wearing a mask, everyone will be getting checked for Pi. Then I'm sure the rest of summerfest will be a blur. There is so much going one that I can't really list it all. On the Thursday they are testing out the sound system by playing music, which will be awesome. I usually find myself wondering aimlessly around the camp on Thursday night so this will be an awesome change. It's also my friends last leg of being CC, the past two years have been interesting and awesome, although there have been a few bits that have left me a little puzzled. But I guess it's like working through a novel; you don't really know what's going on until the puzzle has all its pieces.
It's also two days til John's birthday. We are hoping to go to Oakwood Park in Pembrokeshire. I've never boon there, I've also never been that far in to Wales. The furthest I have been is the Mumbles and Caswell bay, which by the way has an awful lot of dead jellyfish for one to step on when one is barefoot. I also apparently write neater in sand with a stick than I do with paper and a pen. If you love ice cream I suggest you go to the Mumbles they have the best ice cream shop there called Verdi's. They have apple crumble flavoured ice cream!!! What's not to love. Unless you're lactose intolerant.
I've watched bits and bobs of the Olympics. I couldn't watch it all day, it just get dull with all the commentary. I guess the best part of actually being there is you don't have the presenters talking over everything. I bet being in London must be a fun place to be, the atmosphere must be electric. For me one of the most entertaining elements of the Olympics is people's reactions on Facebook and Twitter. For the most part it's a collection of "Go GB" "Go team GB" "Wooo Well done GB" etc but I then you have someone like Tom Hiddleston on twitter who is tweeting like every ten minutes telling the universe how uncontrollably excited he is about everything. It's like watching a puppy. I don't see myself as someone who watches sports or follows them, but when I was watching the mens clay pigeon shooting (or whatever they call it.) I was getting really excited whenever the guy representing GB stepped up and cheering when he shot both and going "Awww no" when he missed and the other way around when the others took their shots. I'm feeling a little bit of British pride now that we are 3rd overall with 22 gold. I think that the USA and China are gaining so much is they work so much harder than we do, they also probably have larger teams, I don't really know I didn't watch the opening ceremony.
The Hollow Crown was part of the cultural Olympiad. First in line was Richard II, the king being played by young British actor Ben Whishaw, I was unsure about this play at first as it moved at a slightly slow pace. But Ben's acting was captivating. He held this slightly wry look throughout the movie. Whenever he looked sad or wept it was so adorably sad I just wanted to hug him. When Henry IV is presented by the body of his cousin Richard, the man that he just deposed. You can see the guilt in his eyes, he also looks at the guy that brought the body in like "What the fuck did you just do?" which I think haunts him until the day he died. I did love it that when Richard was speaking he was sometimes giving others the look of "I could kill you with one word". Ben will be appearing in the new instalment of James Bond as Q.
Henry IV part 1 and part 2. Which stars Jeremy Irons, Tom Hiddleston, Julie Walters and David Dawson. This saw the struggle between Henry IV and his eldest son Prince Hal. Prince Hal is a drunk and a miscreant. He spends most of his time in The Boars Head in Eastcheap. In the company of Falstaff and Poins. Falstaff serves as a surrogate father to Hal, Falstaff does not judge the young prince. When Hal and Falstaff impersonate the Kin, Falstaff who is playing Hal begs him not to banish Falstaff but to banish everyone else. Poins is a Hal's right hand man, he drinks with him, probably chases girls with him and goes about creating mischief with him, they watch Falstaff and his two men rob some scholars. They in turn ambush Falstaff. The king is not happy with his son, he tells Hal that he should get his arse in gear and gives him a cracking slap across the face, he would rather be the father to Harry Hotspur, who turns out to be a traitor and they go to battle. Where Hal kills Hotspur and Henry IV falls ill. I think this is a turning point for Hal.
Henry IV part 2. In this part Hal makes some changes for the better. He father gets sicker by the day.One of my favourite scenes is one that is important to Hal in getting his arse in gear. Him and Poins are in a bathing house, Hal feels like a hypocrite for being as he is and also feeling sad for his father. Poins agrees that he would look like a hypocrite. They then go to spy on Falstaff who is bad mouthing Hal and Poins. You can see the disappointment in Hal and Poins' face when they fall through the ceiling. Then when Hal believes that his father is dead he takes the crown and tries it on in the throne room. The sight of seeing the prince on the throne with his fathers crown and crying is just heartbreaking. The look on his face when his sick and very alive father storms is priceless. In the end they forgive each other and everything looks ok, and then sadly the king dies in the princes arms, which is again heartbreaking. When King Henry V is at his corination he is met with Falstaff one last time and he banishes him, leaving his past behind him to be a king. That wasn't all that sad as I couldn't stand Falstaff, I don't know what happens to Poins though I feel a little sad that they had to stop being friends.
Henry V. We are met with the face of a dead king. But then we are taken back and the king is alive and well. He goes to war with France to reclaim what is his. I guess it didn't help that the French Ambassador bought Henry a box of tennis balls. When they siege Harfleur there is the famous speech of "Once more unto the breach dear friends..." Once inside Harfleur he tells the townspeople that if they did not surrender he would not be merciful. Basically letting his men kill their men, rape their women and spit their children upon pikes, which I think scares Henry just a bit, I don;t think it is an immediate effect; I think it kicks in after the battle of Agincourt.
When all is won, he is alone with his soon to be wife. When wooing her he practically says that she should love him even if he has facial scarring. This is true in the plays as Henry gets a arrow to the face in Henry IV part one. But here he has no scars, so it is a little pointless that someone such as Tom should say such a thing when he is so damn good looking. He also says "England is thine, Ireland is thine, France is thine and Henry Plantagenet is thine." Which is one of my favourite lines.
Even though throughout the series there were bits and bobs that I didn't like or found boring I loved it all. I really felt something for each king in each different way, whether it be the greif of being deposed, or the weight of a war and having an ungrateful son or even being the ungrateful son and having to learn how to be king when you've been putting it off.
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