London Trip

Thursday:
John and I arrived in London, chilled out at our hotel for a little while, then had dinner with Sarah, Jesse, and Barin (friend of Sarah's who is studying at the London School of Economics).

Friday:
Stonehenge. Fatality of the train tracks that held up the trains for about an hour. Oxford. Back to London to see Barin's flat.

Today:
Back home and worn out. It was great seeing people and having more adventures around England. But I think my next "vacation" is going to be a day spent sleeping on the beach. Lots of sun and no walking.

Hope Sarah and Jesse had a good flight home!

1960s

What I learned today about demonstrations in Britain during the Sixties:

There were three protests held at Grosvenor Square in '67 and '68. During the last one, protesters broke into the American Embassy. One of the men who was behind the protests, Ali Jordan, said he wanted the Embassy occupied “for just as long as the Vietcong held the American Embassy in Saigon.”

Although the people involved were more interested in having a "weekend revolution" than in peace, these protests were considerably more tame than in other parts of Europe.

In June of 1968 the London School of Economics and the BBC hosted an international debate called "Students in Revolt." Several of the speakers were stopped by immigration, but were ultimately allowed to enter the country.

There is a Pinky and the Brain episode in which the Brain uses a circle of hippies as some sort of transmitter, maybe for a radio signal. Anyway, he reveals that his plan has worked because all hippies have braces. They have rich parents.

It is kind of funny to think about all these college kids discussing Marx at the pub and trying to change the world with their idealism and half-formed philosophies. Not that different from what college kids do now, actually. Well, with more debates and less breaking into Embassies.