Mnemosyne Lab: The London Chronicles: Miscellany

I have 1 more week left in delightful London. While I've done my best to cram all sorts of activities afterhours here, I still have this nagging feeling that I shoulda done something and I'm forgetting to. Tonight I'm going to yet another museum to experience the Reinbach Fall. I have no idea how, but I wore a floaty skirt so it can look something like this, instead of falling to my death with zero flair.

Castle in the Sky

As this entry is conveniently titled "Miscellany", I'm going to go in random order. I have very loose plans this weekend, mainly around sourcing some good booze to bring back, and then checking football scores on Monday morning. How tight are yours? Either way, have a lovely weekend!

I put on an accy!
Today during lunchtime (London is tasty, people. I don't know why we were so unlucky on our last visit), my Brit colleague took me to a betting shop so I can put on an accy. What the hell are you talking about, you say? Accy stands for accumulator. London lets you bet legally! So I went to a betting shop (not even a chain like ladbrokes, man, some real, scary looking little place) and randomly scribbled lines on a piece of paper (the people in the shop scoffed when they saw that my odds are 1/6000 or something awesome like that) which ~~socc~~ football teams would win the match this weekend. We then placed a bet on a horse race that was being broadcast live. Once again, I didn't know what the hell I was doing, but I picked a horse whose name I liked ("Jolly's Cracked It"), and after a nail-biting 2-3 minutes or so, my horse won! I won 1.25 gbp. With all this side money I'm earning at pubs and betting shops, I may have some extra paperwork to do when I return! "Welcome to London!" said the old man behind the bulletproof glass when I told him I'd won. The race at Ascot was also interesting, because they jump hurdles along the way, and my horse stumbled on the second to last one but still made it to the finish by a good margin. Good show! Jolly good show! It's also really distracting because they split screen and show another race starting (greyhounds), and man they are fast and gorgeous to watch. When I return I'm inclined to teach my dog how to run and jump hurdles like that.
Random Celebrity Sighting
In addition to seeing Trevor Lock live (and getting a selfie with him to ensure @OngEmil gets jelly), I saw Mr. Timothy Spall who kindly stood by the door to chat with two eagle-eyed ladies who were obvious fans. He was very gracious, despite being in a rush. He looked just like he does in the movies.
West End Musical, Check
I went to the American musical in London and had so many "OHGOD" moments, but I quickly learned to turn it off, like a light switch. I'm glad my friend made me go, because I wasn't feeling like musicals this trip, and I would've regretted not catching this. Tickets sold out in SF so quickly, I remember it was lottery towards the end. The young actor who played Elder Cunningham was amazing (and convincing), as was Elder McKinley.
Buckaroo & Tas
At the comedy show, I learned about a game called "Buckaroo", where someone pretends to be a donkey, and then players put tons of stuff on him/her and then tries to make them buck (by using all sorts of things, like dirty socks, etc). Apparently Drunk Buckaroo is something you do at University, to passed out people as well, as evidenced here. My French colleague got excited at this, and said that in France, they have something called "Tas", where people randomly fall on the floor at parties and people basically dog pile over him/her. I'm learning SO much every day.