Brit Boy and I had a great weekend. On Saturday, we relaxed around home and watched movies that evening. Earlier in the afternoon, going into evening, we watched a Dolly Parton special of her performing and telling about her rise to fame. It was very interesting. I love biographies and things like that. It’s so intriguing to learn about peoples’ paths in life. I really enjoyed watching the special.
We rested up a bit and relaxed on Saturday in preparation for our outing on Sunday. We went into London to go to see the Michael Jackson Memorabilia exhibit at the O2, where we would’ve seen him perform back in July. We were quite disappointed like many others that we didn’t get to see him perform, so this was a way to still be a part of things.
At the beginning of January, I was sitting around watching videos on Youtube, and there was an ad that popped up advertising the exhibition and I said to myself, “Oh yeah.” I knew in the back of my mind that the exhibit was going on, but I hadn’t really brought it to the front of my mind and thought about going until then.
So after my “oh yeah” moment, I mentioned the exhibit to Brit Boy and we decided to go. Once we got the tickets, we realized that they were going to be doing work on the tube line that we needed to take to get to the O2 Arena, so we had to figure out another path. Here’s the thing, every time we plan to go to London lately, there is some kind of shutdown or strike. It’s like they know we’re coming. LOL. They love us there ;-)
Anyway, we decided on taking another route and it was a great adventure. We took the train into Paddington as usual and then we hopped onto the tube and took it to the Elephant and Castle stop (I’ve got to research why it’s called that) :-) And then we took the tube to the London Bridge stop.
At this point we walked over to the River Thames to catch a catamaran to the O2 Arena. This was a cool way to travel! We loved it! Here are a couple of short videos of us floating along down the river to our destination.
The first one is when we went under Tower Bridge. You can see my camera and I do one of my things, which is twist the camera to get the action. LOL. So I hope you all don’t get dizzy. The second video was taken when we were at a stop. I thought that the sun shining on the water was just so beautiful. I hope you enjoy them!
Here’s Mini Cam Moments #6 to continue my series ! :-)
We really enjoyed traveling this way and we’ll have to do this again :-) The Michael Jackson exhibit at the O2 was great. We weren’t allowed to take photos, but it was very nice. They charted his early career with his brothers in the Jackson 5 all the way up to him preparing for the concerts in London. They had: several of his outfits, past and present; an early contract from when he was a boy; several awards; plaster replicas of his hands and face that were used for his Ghost mini movie; and various other personal items. The "Ghost" mini movie was quite long, but here's a link to a portion of the film. If you don't have time to watch it all, I totally understand, but if you get a minute please check this out from about 1:25 to 5:00 in this video to see some of his best choreography in my humble opinion. We also saw this white shirt he wears in this piece at the exhibit.
My favorite bits of the exhibit were the handwritten lyrics to one of his greatest hits, “Beat It” and a video that they showed of his influences and how he incorporated them into the style that was all his own. I got the sense even more that his musical genius came from an acute understanding and appreciation of performance history. It is clear to see his homage to James Brown and the Nicholas Brothers and Fred Astaire. He was a true student of performing and an innovator in his own right for sure. I also thoroughly enjoyed the various quotes from him that were scattered about the exhibit.
The thing that gave me a lump in my throat though was a small, unassuming exhibit in the corner of the room. Inside the case there were two plastic containers and a water bottle. These three pieces were from Michael’s children. You see, his children packed him a snack everyday in containers like these while he was in rehearsals for his “This Is It” shows. And I know that people say all manner of things about Michael Jackson, good and bad, but at the end of the day, he was a father to these beautiful children and my heart just broke for them all over again when I saw this simple part of the whole exhibit. A cynic might say that it was put there for effect, but I don’t choose to see it that way at all. To me, this signified love and a part of Michael Jackson that we will never know, but a part of him that his children will carry with them forever. So that’s good enough for me :-)
I came away from the exhibit being very glad that we went. We loved it. The exhibit can never replace the fantastic show that Brit Boy and I could’ve seen, but it was nice to see the exhibit on the very last day on a beautiful Sunday. It was a great weekend :-)
Please check out Brit Boy's take on our day at his blog :-)
12 comments:
Great exhibit, great day, great company :-)
I enjoyed your cam moments! There was a few seconds I felt up side down, but was able to right myself! lol I enjoyed seeing the bridge with movement rather than a still shot. I love biographies as well, and I'm an avid fan of History International. Glad y'all enjoyed the exhibit and had a great time. I'd love to know how the name Elephant and Castle came about as well. Maybe you'll do a post once you find out.
Cool,thanks for taking me alog via cyber-space.
wowww, how lucky you are indeed Dori. I think you are absolutely correct, the plastic boxes certainly do symbolize the same thing we saw at the grammys' last evening when the kids accepted Michaels'award. it was quite stirring.
the 3d movie hopefully will eventually be completed and released so we can see the entire thing. what we saw last nite was breathtaking.
I saw Michaels' exibit at the rock and roll hall of fame and it was also very nice. they had a mini michael jackson exibit here at the charles m wright african american museum and it included lots of rarely seen items of memorabilia. lots of early things and his motown stuff. even some of his clothes, a glove and lots of pics that he took over the years in Motown and at the studios in Cali.
love those videos btw, keep them coming.
So wonderful to travel and see new things. Hugs :O)
Oh you had a great day, so happy for you. You're a lucky girl :-)
p/s: for the record, I love biographies too :-)
I'm glad you guys had a good time. I would have loved to see the MJ exhibit.
Dori-I have an award for you over on my current post. Hope you enjoy!
I'm so glad that you all enjoyed my post and videos about our trip. It was a great day out and the exhibit was truly wonderful :)
And Judy, I thank you for the award. I'll come by and pick it up!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Dori,
I have been enjoying my visits to the recently-discovered Yellow House so much. Since I was late to the party, I have just been reading and not commenting directly. But this post just resonated with me I really want to leave a comment.
First, I didn't realize that you would have been at a Michael show in London until I read this. But of course it seems evident now.
I enjoyed reading about your visit to this exhibit. I had not heard of it until reading this post. His music and the evolution of his career were so much a part of my life, too, from about as early as I can remember, so this exhibit would have resonated with me too. The next best thing is you took me there with this post.
I love that you touched on how he studied the masters and incorporated what they did into his own style. Foundation is so key to any great endeavor, and it strikes me reading that how they described him early on at Motown as being an old soul, like he had somehow done all this before. It was just incredible to hear all the feeling a young boy put into songs like "Who's Lovin' You" and "Ain't No Sunshine" like he had already lived them and what they were about. You know he had so much soul in his voice. It never stopped moving me.
I understand too how you felt about seeing the items his kids had for him. I remember how joyous it was the days Prince and Paris were born, and how beautiful their connection was. He had such an immense heart, and that sadly got overlooked by the incredible weight of the fame he carried. Yet at the end of the day, he was a man and I am glad we got to see those glimpses of that as well as enjoy the tremendous musical legacy he left us.
I am sorry you never got the chance to see him live, but we all know the music never dies.
I got a little long-winded, but I went straight down memory lane with this post.
((hugs)), my friend :)
One more thing I forgot to add about all he learned and the foundation he had to build an epic career. I know that helped set the frame for me in all artists I love: those who build a career of quality, artistry and you can see having a legacy that's real and true, that's about the music. I love seeing people who find the pure joy in their craft, that translates into being amazing at what they do. That is what MJ did, and what was at the heart of all of it. Even when people lost sight of that later, it was always there. :)
Sarah,
Thanks for your awesome comments! You totally got where I was going with this post and I'm so pleased that I could share this experience with everyone! :)
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