six: mostly three

Three was a good day. Aaron, his friend Y and I went to London with the primary objective of acquiring tickets to Bill Bailey's 'sellout' Dandelion Mind tour, with the secondary objective of 'have fun' leading us to the Science Museum's interactive Launchpad exhibit.

We'd tried previously to order tickets via several agencies but as 'sellout' implies, all seats for all shows were sold out. We decided there were definitely still tickets available if we asked nicely though, and so went to the theatre in question in the early afternoon to ask nicely.

"13 standing tickets will go on sale at 7pm for £12.50 each"

Taking into account queueing time for buying tickets, we had around 3 hours to tackle our secondary objective; acquisition of sustanence was first on the schedule, in the form of a footlong sub of the day with salad and チポト dressing.

After redecorating part of the tube carriage with チポト and olives, we quasi-surfaced at South Kensington. 'Quasi' because a tunnel runs underground from the station to the Science Museum's entrance so you hardly have to go above ground.

We started with a quick look around a new (and possibly temporary) Psychoanalysis exhibit, featuring a sculpture made out of penises and a cabinet full of everyday objects with a sound recording explaining common Psychoanalytical assocations with these objects. Items in question included high heeled shoes, diazepam, razorblades and a model Lamborghini. (Maybe not 'everday', in retrospect.)

The Launchpad was our main destination though, and we arrived there with just over an hour to play (/learn). We learned about the properties of liquids of varying viscosity. We learned about electrolysis via a simulated rocket launch. We learned about polarized lenses by watching water freeze (and I asked a question which the Explainer hadn't been asked before!). We learned about the use of kinetic energy as a means of generating electricity. And of course, the Big Machine (formerly the Grain Machine) taught us about pulleys, levers and various other mechanisms. We then gave an Explainer, Pete, an ear bashing about the nature of pulleys and conservation of energy before going to watch the Rocket Show.

The Rocket Show's intended demographic is KS1 aged children, but adults are encouraged to participate as well. We sat at the back for fear of blocking kids' views, then made immature comments and ate custard creams while hydrogen filled balloons were set on fire and kids pushed each other around on chairs to demonstrate Newton's laws. Interesting stuff.

We then returned to the theatre, got our tickets for Bill Bailey (woo!) and had a quick snack at an unnecessarily far away Caffe Nero before returning once more to the theatre for the show.

And what a show it was.

Despite ~20 minutes of below-Bill-Bailey-standard jokes around stock topics (politics, current affairs etc), he quickly gained form and kept the audience laughing consistently throughout. Topics covered included Australian slang, advert jingles, Christian art, French interpretations of 80s classic rock, German interpretations of pop music, and much more. (I won't go into too much detail because a) it's effort and b) you can buy the show on DVD which I heartily recommend!)

Mum, bro and I had lunch at home then went shopping on four. We spoke about their recent cruise; it sounds incredible. There was a climbing wall, a surfing simulator, a theater, a shopping mall and a mini-golf course aboard the boat. We listened to Foo Fighters' Greatest Hits in the car to the shops, then I spent £22 on underwear.

I spent half of five travelling, half at work, and the other half watching TV with Emily and Tom; the only 2 house mates currently back in the house.