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city"},{"term":"auschwitz"},{"term":"baltimore"},{"term":"banff"},{"term":"baton rouge"},{"term":"bayou le batre"},{"term":"bejing"},{"term":"british columbia"},{"term":"brooklyn"},{"term":"buffalo"},{"term":"cabazon"},{"term":"calgary"},{"term":"capitan"},{"term":"caribbean"},{"term":"chivay"},{"term":"chong khneas"},{"term":"choteau"},{"term":"columbus"},{"term":"connecticut"},{"term":"cooperstown"},{"term":"crater lake"},{"term":"crescent city"},{"term":"crow agency"},{"term":"cruise"},{"term":"customs"},{"term":"delaware"},{"term":"dillon"},{"term":"dubai"},{"term":"dusseldorf"},{"term":"eagle canyon"},{"term":"estonia"},{"term":"fayetteville"},{"term":"fort myers"},{"term":"frane"},{"term":"gap adventures"},{"term":"gemany"},{"term":"georgia"},{"term":"gettysburg"},{"term":"glacier national park"},{"term":"glenorchy"},{"term":"harlem"},{"term":"hershey"},{"term":"hiroshima"},{"term":"ikeburuko"},{"term":"iowa city"},{"term":"izu"},{"term":"kakunodate"},{"term":"kamakura"},{"term":"kensington market"},{"term":"kobe"},{"term":"kofu"},{"term":"kutna hora"},{"term":"laguna beach"},{"term":"lancaster"},{"term":"layfayette"},{"term":"lincoln"},{"term":"livingstone"},{"term":"maryland"},{"term":"mexico"},{"term":"mexico city"},{"term":"michigan"},{"term":"milfordsound"},{"term":"mississippi"},{"term":"mobile"},{"term":"mongolia"},{"term":"moose jaw"},{"term":"moses lake"},{"term":"nagano"},{"term":"new london"},{"term":"newport"},{"term":"niagara"},{"term":"north carolina"},{"term":"offbeat"},{"term":"oranienburg"},{"term":"ouimet canyon"},{"term":"pensacola"},{"term":"philadelphia"},{"term":"pioneertown"},{"term":"pisa"},{"term":"potsdam"},{"term":"rachel"},{"term":"rappongi"},{"term":"red bluff"},{"term":"redwoods"},{"term":"reviews"},{"term":"richmond"},{"term":"roswell"},{"term":"russia"},{"term":"sachsenhausen"},{"term":"san antonio"},{"term":"saskatchewan"},{"term":"scranton"},{"term":"seattle"},{"term":"shinjuku"},{"term":"skye"},{"term":"socorro"},{"term":"solvang"},{"term":"sudbury"},{"term":"tallahassee"},{"term":"tallinn"},{"term":"texico"},{"term":"the hague"},{"term":"vancouver"},{"term":"verona"},{"term":"victoria"},{"term":"virginia"},{"term":"virginia city"},{"term":"wall"},{"term":"wilmington"},{"term":"ypres"},{"term":"zurich"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"one.year.trip"},"subtitle":{"type":"html","$t":"One Teacher's Around the World Travel Blog\u003Cbr\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.oneyeartrip.com\/feeds\/posts\/default"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/4453582688315838952\/posts\/default\/-\/New+Zealand?alt=json-in-script\u0026max-results=3"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.oneyeartrip.com\/search\/label\/New%20Zealand"},{"rel":"hub","href":"http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/"},{"rel":"next","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/4453582688315838952\/posts\/default\/-\/New+Zealand\/-\/New+Zealand?alt=json-in-script\u0026start-index=4\u0026max-results=3"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Unknown"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"generator":{"version":"7.00","uri":"http://www.blogger.com","$t":"Blogger"},"openSearch$totalResults":{"$t":"20"},"openSearch$startIndex":{"$t":"1"},"openSearch$itemsPerPage":{"$t":"3"},"entry":[{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4453582688315838952.post-4199606513062126665"},"published":{"$t":"2010-06-12T17:58:00.002-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2010-06-19T21:15:52.900-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"australia"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"australiaCT"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"christchurch"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"melbourne"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"New Zealand"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"rtw09"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Off to Oz"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_88RoabsTacs\/TB1ruQlYW-I\/AAAAAAAAC3Y\/JN9gNfuRsqo\/s1600\/IMG_6512.JPG\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_88RoabsTacs\/TB1ruQlYW-I\/AAAAAAAAC3Y\/JN9gNfuRsqo\/s320\/IMG_6512.JPG\" alt=\"\" id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484658363677039586\" border=\"0\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EWake up, pack my bags, and head on out.  This was made easier by my lovely, and charming host, who took me out to the airport bus, and spent the half hour before it arrived drinking coffee with me.  I had a gingerbread latte.  I felt a bit like a drink snob having something with a name and delicious flavour such as that, but – it was good.  So that's that.  I guess it's fine to drink more than just “coffee.”\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI was soon off to the airport, a little shocked to see how much Antarctic information they had, a huge American center, and what not.  But there was no time to see this, or check it out.  I had a plane to catch.  Thirty minutes of free internet let me post some blogs, and add a few more photos.  And then I was in the air, watching Battle Royale on my laptop.  I was impressed that my laptop had enough battery life to stay alive for the whole thing.  But there it was.  And it was pretty good.  I'm sure having read the manga and being able to fill in all the spaces in between made it a lot easier to follow.  The movie jumped around a lot, and you didn't care about many characters, and it was not nearly as distressing to watch as to read.  But still – quite entertaining.  If that's the right word for it.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI then put myself in and out of sleep, until we landed, and I made my way into the city.  Southern Cross Station was quite near to my hostel, and it was only a five minute walk to reach.  Checking in (once the reception staff decided to show) was no worries.  From then on, I made my way to the pizza place to grab a large pizza.  It was big – but it was less delicious than it could have been.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI ate it watching a movie about a guy travelling around.  It was good, it was entertaining, it spoke of freedom.  And then I realized that it was Into the Wild, which meant that character was destined to die at the end.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt was less entertaining to watch from then on.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EStill, I'm glad I saw it.  The only thing I question was the end.  The protagonist claimed he was happy when he died, having found bliss in his last moments.  Based on his journals, he wouldn't have written this – as, he died.  But it's the story his parents want to believe, and it's the story the filmmakers wanted to leave.  And that's important too, yeah?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt passed the time while I ate pizza, and berry fruit gummies.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThen off to my room.  I had to wake up early enough to meet up with two girls I met in the deep south.  Not the American one, but the real deep south.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI tell you though, I had to have a shower first.  And the shower here?  It was – and I believe this holds meaning now – the worst shower in the world.  Out of the six showers?  One was locked forever, one was bolted so that no water could come out, three had no hot water, and all gave only the slightest trickle of water.  I've showered under trees in Africa.  That was a better shower.  That's all I'm saying.  Somehow my hair was washed, and I could get the shampoo out of my hair.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGood for me.  Off to bed.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI may also have started doubting travel, never wanting to stop, and not really sure of what I was doing.  Or what I'd be getting into when I stopped.  But never mind that.  This was a transition day.  And I never think straight on transition days."},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.oneyeartrip.com\/feeds\/4199606513062126665\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.oneyeartrip.com\/2010\/06\/off-to-oz.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/4453582688315838952\/posts\/default\/4199606513062126665"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/4453582688315838952\/posts\/default\/4199606513062126665"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.oneyeartrip.com\/2010\/06\/off-to-oz.html","title":"Off to Oz"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"oneyeartrip.com"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/02942033055663818067"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_88RoabsTacs\/TB1ruQlYW-I\/AAAAAAAAC3Y\/JN9gNfuRsqo\/s72-c\/IMG_6512.JPG","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4453582688315838952.post-260985784851931057"},"published":{"$t":"2010-06-10T21:39:00.001-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2010-06-19T21:13:56.975-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"australiaCT"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"christchurch"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"New Zealand"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"rtw09"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"How I Met Your Modern Warfare"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_88RoabsTacs\/TB1rPkEaZJI\/AAAAAAAAC3Q\/VeycMvKwG9w\/s1600\/IMG_6510.JPG\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_88RoabsTacs\/TB1rPkEaZJI\/AAAAAAAAC3Q\/VeycMvKwG9w\/s320\/IMG_6510.JPG\" alt=\"\" id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484657836331525266\" border=\"0\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EToday – was a day – of nothing.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut one of those good ones.  One of those ones that you crave, and want, and embrace – because it was your choice.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI got up, had some oats, turned on the bed heater, and proceeded to watch four hours of How I Met Your Mother, catching up on the current season until its finale.  Now – never mind that they didn't really introduce the Mother character.  Never mind that the writers and producers are full of lies.  My fear is that this will become LOST.  Somehow, despite the fact, that in the first episode they made it so the character Robyn can not be the kids mom (and thank goodness they did that, otherwise they would have – for sure – just become lazy and ended it as such) I still feel it's going to end that way.  If the Lost writers can reneg on their “it's not purgatory” ending, well then so can these guys.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESo that was a good chunk of my day – but when will such blindingly fast internet access be available to me again?  And without having to pay terrible amounts for it at hostels?  Curse the strange internets in this part of the world.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESo, what did I do when I emerged from my hiding place?  I'm not too sure.  I have no memory of those few hours.  Certainly one internet event couldn't lead into the other – but I think it did.  I started adding photos to past blogs.  Lordy are there a lot that I neglected.  So from Hong Kong to the end of Shanghai now has images up.  Mind you, two days in Hong Kong still seem neglected, but it may just be their luck in life to stay that way, lest I can find those pictures once more.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd then it was time to eat.  I was taken out to a Japanese restaurant which – yes it did – served Okinomiyaki.  My most favourite of all foods, with delicious brown sauce of mystery!  I love this food very much.  It was Osaka style, not Hiroshima, but who can hold that against such a tasty treat?  But what was it called on the menu – because, as I said, no one outside of Japan would go for the real name.  Here?  It was called Japanese Pizza.  Sure – whatever, just fill me with your goodness!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOh and it was good.  And there was unlimited miso soup.  And I love Japanese food so, so, much.  Why is it the best?  And why am I just now learning of it?  If a month of it didn't bore me, and I still think to it and crave it, well then it must be doing something right!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd then it was back home.  My host had to go study – apparently exams are important, being with 90% of the final grade (who does that?!) but her brother was around – and trading back and forth we powered our way through Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in five hours.  Sure, it was on easy mode, but I just wanted to get through the story.  There will be time to play and enjoy when I have it, myself, later on.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd oh lord was that a fantastic game that made some bold choices.  There is the one level that you always hear about, if you're into hearing about such things, that takes place in an airport.  You are undercover as a terrorist, and you slowly march your way through shooting everyone in sight.  Women, children (there probably weren't children – but maybe), and men with suitcases all run, and fall, under your gun.  You then fight your way through the police, and try to escape.  The terrorists you are with, however, know you're an American agent, and shoot you in the face, leaving you to die, and spark an international war.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ERed Dawn approaches, and Russia launches a sneak attack on  America.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EStarting in Afghanistan, you wander through a base there, listening to soldiers talk about the war, and watch as some play basketball before their next patrol.  You run through training, and you see the helicopters fly above the desert.  Another level puts you in Brazil, where you run through slums – fully developed, with houses, and decorated hotels, courtyards, posters at bus stops.  But there's no time to fully look around, as you dodge a hailstorm of bullets.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThen there was the aforementioned airport level – which is in every ways a fleshed out airport.  The levels are beautifully designed – including one on an oil rig in the Russian arctic, which reminded me of my time spent amongst the icebergs down south.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut it's the levels in America that strike me most.  The ones where you fight through suburbia, and hole up inside a Burger Town (Burger King).  The ones where you make your way through the streets of Washington DC, and fight to reach the White House.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPlaying through these levels – a world only available through artistic expression, and hopefully it will stay that way – allows a glimpse of what life could be like.  And what it is like for so many other parts of the world.  It's hard to imagine fighting in the streets of Suburbia, but all through the European campaigns of World War II that's exactly where the battles were.  Still – there was no porches with swinging chairs, and energy efficient fans there.  No tanks rolling into fast food parking lots.  No modern life turned upside down.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd no Washington Monument shot to pieces, white house in flames, capital building destroyed.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAgain – I'm not sure how these games can be anything but art.  It's not just that you walk and shoot, but there is a world all around you that seems to move and live, from the highly animated actions of a solider performing CPR seen only once, and only if you look in the right spot – but still the work to make this happen, to create a living world, was engineered.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThere is nothing else that can put you into these possibilities quite like interactive media such as video games can.  All I'm saying, is if we're going to say that novels are art – that giant science experiments are art – that movies are art – well these works of fantastic exploration and engagement that required years to construct, with a team of many many people, well...  it's art too.  I've still not heard a good argument from Ebert why they are not, but – he'll say what he'll say to stay in the press, and stay relevant.  If he's not bashing Twilight though, I've had enough of him.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESo that was my day – in one room, but exploring the world nevertheless.  And for some people, this is the only way they'll see the world outside.  And what's so wrong about that?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMy one complaint – and it's not a complaint as much as something that could be easily accomplished and add a new perspective – put a living mode into the game.  Either strip the game of enemies so you can just wander around, or add pedestrian AI.  In the levels such as Brazil, or the airport, they could be wandering around, just living their life, allowing you to explore the levels that have been painstakingly crafted.  In the destroyed parts of the world, you could have people trying to rebuild.  Workers on the oil rig.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMuch like the passive characters in the first level, before war breaks out, that would add a new aspect to the game.  And one that would take away the only real defense people have, claiming art can not be a, “murder simulator.”  And – again – it would let me see all the work that went into the project, rather than trying to avoid being blown to little bits.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThat was my day.  That's how I spent my last full 24 hours in New Zealand.  And, it was lovely."},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.oneyeartrip.com\/feeds\/260985784851931057\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.oneyeartrip.com\/2010\/06\/how-i-met-your-modern-warfare.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/4453582688315838952\/posts\/default\/260985784851931057"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/4453582688315838952\/posts\/default\/260985784851931057"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.oneyeartrip.com\/2010\/06\/how-i-met-your-modern-warfare.html","title":"How I Met Your Modern Warfare"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"oneyeartrip.com"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/02942033055663818067"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_88RoabsTacs\/TB1rPkEaZJI\/AAAAAAAAC3Q\/VeycMvKwG9w\/s72-c\/IMG_6510.JPG","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4453582688315838952.post-2710199781480192763"},"published":{"$t":"2010-06-10T21:38:00.001-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2010-06-19T21:12:37.402-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"australiaCT"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"christchurch"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"New Zealand"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"rtw09"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"High Art in Christchurch"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_88RoabsTacs\/TB1q573zRtI\/AAAAAAAAC3A\/VcFsuCuldmA\/s1600\/IMG_6508.JPG\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_88RoabsTacs\/TB1q573zRtI\/AAAAAAAAC3A\/VcFsuCuldmA\/s320\/IMG_6508.JPG\" alt=\"\" id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484657464763958994\" border=\"0\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EToday was a day for art.  And a day for sun.  Of course it's only the one day that I decide to walk where it rains.  The rest of the weather here has been just lovely.  But never mind that: Art!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOff I went in search of the Christchurch Art Gallery, and stepping inside I was – underwhelmed.  I'm not going to lie.  Me and art have never really seen eye to eye.  I like graffiti, I like comic books, I like video games.  These are art to me.  Why some people claim that video games aren't art (I'm looking at you Ebert) is beyond me.  If Saving Private Ryan is art, how could anyone deny that games like Modern Warfare 2 (which I happened to play some multiplayer recently of) are not?  They're no different – except for perhaps that the video game allows you to enter the world, and creates more fear, tension, and emotional connection with the characters as you feel partially responsible for their safety.  But never mind that – more on that tomorrow, when I sit down and give it a good go.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThis art gallery?  Some pictures.  Some paintings.  Some sculptures.  And then there was an exhibit that made me reconsider things.  As I've mentioned before, I don't like reconsidering things, or have new ideas brought to me – well I do like it, but if I've missed this, what else am I failing to consider?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThis room – it presented science as art.  It had basic experiments, some shooting little sparks as a pendulum scored oak like a giant wood burning kit – everyone's favourite childhood toy, until safety became an issue somewhere in the early nineteen nineties.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EScience as art.  And why shouldn't it be?  Again – I didn't really like any of the pieces here, but as a concept, I thought it was very interesting.  Much like the blue room upstairs, which features art of all types and forms that happens to be blue.  This would have impressed me much more if I'd seen it before google added the  colour filter to their image search program.  Looking up “green” and then clicking to find all “red” results?  That entertains me far more than it should.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAs I made my way from the art gallery I headed for food – food that could be purchased with a credit card, as I'd been trying to avoid taking another withdrawal hit from the bank my whole time in country.  Plus, I remembered that I earned points with my credit card.  I don't really know what I'm going to do with these points, but I'd rather have points than no points, so credit card seemed to be the way to go.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_88RoabsTacs\/TB1q6pZ_msI\/AAAAAAAAC3I\/pCOX5nJr-WY\/s1600\/IMG_6509.JPG\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_88RoabsTacs\/TB1q6pZ_msI\/AAAAAAAAC3I\/pCOX5nJr-WY\/s320\/IMG_6509.JPG\" alt=\"\" id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484657476986968770\" border=\"0\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EBurger King.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMan, I tell you – I have probably tripled or quadrupled my lifetime Whopper intake in the last few months.  Who knew it was so good?  Who knew.  If one graphed it, there would be a huge 2010 Whopper spike.  But moving on, I made my way to the library after eating, where I planned to read the four “Sleeper” trades.  Unfortunately, shelving them together yesterday may have been a mistake as all four with now withdrawn.  Never to fear, I found the two Vinyl Underground trades.  These are comics I'd been meaning to read for some time, and ones that came back on my radar a few months back while reading the news for such graphic-novel magazines.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EVinyl Underground:  It's about these kids in London being paranormal detectives.  But it's better than that, in that it gives you a really good history of some of London's prominent, and less prominent, locations.  And, as it was canceled early -  but with warning – it tells a nice complete 12 issue story, that feels only slightly rushed towards the end.  Better than the hanging ending of Books of Magic though.  Poor, un-concluded, Tim Hunter.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAfter spending a few hours digesting, and once more falling comfortably under the spell of, the comics I headed out of the library to find the contemporary art gallery before it closed.  Just down the street from the public library, it was not a hard challenge.  But the gallery itself?  Also less than impressive.  What was a good selling point, thought, is that this was a sales gallery.  Sure it was an art gallery, but one where every piece had a price tag attached to it.  Just as the – dare I say – heroine in Shopaholic craved so much for.  You could see the pieces, and then think, huh?  Eight thousand?  Really?  Before coming across much better pieces prices at the still unreasonable one thousand.  I think that artists must be the most ridiculous of people.  I mean, honestly, either their audacious or mad.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOne piece was a number of Warhammer figures, uncut from their grey square containment, unpainted, lined in a row.  The price?  Five thousand.  Anyone could recreate this for one hundred dollars.  Therre was nothing special, no deeper meaning, much like a construction paper book opened and framed.  Now – to as that price, they either believe that they've created something profound – mad – or they know it's crap and they're trying to pawn it off – audacious.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EArt.  Modern art.  Ridiculous.  Now drawings, paintings (that look like something – even if stylized, that look like SOMETHING) those I can go with.  An if you show me some original Humberto Ramos sketches?  Well then we'd be talking – but Warhammer figurers?  No thanks.  If that's art, then just about every geekshop in the world is an art gallery.  They cut, and paint theirs too.  Line them up and put them on sale for tens of thousands!  That seems about right in this market, yeah?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOnly so long could be spent around such foolishness before I tired, and took the bus back home, where more Modern Warfare 2 was played in terrible multiplayer action, leaving me quite defeated more often than not.  I remember when I was the young one, and – you know – good at these things.  How times change.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhatever, I've been around the world!  (And thus the travel snob begins to emerge.  I must beat it back away into the dark where it belongs.  No one likes a travel snob.  Any story that begins, “when I was in...” is destined to fail.)"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.oneyeartrip.com\/feeds\/2710199781480192763\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.oneyeartrip.com\/2010\/06\/high-art-in-christchurch.html#comment-form","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/4453582688315838952\/posts\/default\/2710199781480192763"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/4453582688315838952\/posts\/default\/2710199781480192763"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.oneyeartrip.com\/2010\/06\/high-art-in-christchurch.html","title":"High Art in Christchurch"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"oneyeartrip.com"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/02942033055663818067"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_88RoabsTacs\/TB1q573zRtI\/AAAAAAAAC3A\/VcFsuCuldmA\/s72-c\/IMG_6508.JPG","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"1"}}]}});