Class today, talking about what makes art. Is it the amount of people that like it? The theme it's centered around? Does it have to be gloomy? Does it have to be familiar? Unfamiliar? Lots of questions and no apparent right answer. Each person has to figure that out for themselves.
Then we hung around the house finishing up some homework. After that, off to the British Library!
The British Library has a copy of every book published in the UK, going back years and years and years. It has original sheet music, original manuscripts, the Gutenberg Bible - you name it, they have it!
Although we didn't see any of that today - we saw the special Magna Carta exhibit.
In 1215, King John ruled England. If you're thinking of Robin Hood, he's the Prince John that everybody wants out of power because they like his brother King Richard Lionheart better.
King Richard died though, and Prince John became King John, and ruled like a lot of other kings - he levied taxes and fought wars and lost land, and fought more wars to get back the lost land, and lost more land in those wars...
He wasn't exactly popular. So a bunch of lords got together, fought him, took control of London, and met him at Runymeade (or Running Meade or Runnymead - spelling seems to be as fluid as its name).
They worked out a document and King John attached his seal. This document was the Magna Carta. It only was acknowledged law for ten months before the pope (who got a lot of money from King John's taxes) declared it invalid. Still, some of those ideas have stuck around for years and years, down to today. These ideas include the right to a fair trial, and that the king was not above the law - he had to obey it just like everybody else.
This limited the king's power, and that's the idea everyone kept coming back to.
This exhibit had documents leading up to the Magna Carta (yes, pre-1215 documents), documents showing the effects of the Magna Carta, memorabilia throughout the ages that referred to the Magna Carta, and finally two of the four existing copies of the Magma Carta itself.
I particularly liked the family tree of King John. My mother's line taps into his, so some of them were names I've seen on my own family tree! Speaking of which, family trees haven't changed all that much in a thousand years. They're a little more standardized and less colorful, but that's about it. I really wanted a picture of this one.
Anyway, then we found a copy of the Declaration of Independance! It was one of the printed copies. I stood and stared in joy and quietly whispered the scene from A More Perfect Union: America Becomes a Nation where John Adams slaps a copy of the Constitution on the British Ambassador's desk. I know they were different documents, but I don't care.
!!!!
One of my favorite scenes from all time!
Anyway, they also had Thomas Jefferson's original draft of the Declaration, including bits that were taken out by the Continental Congress. And they had a copy of the Bill of Rights. Those two were on loan from the USA.
Fun fact: did you know that during WWI the British Government considered giving the U.S. the Magna Carta as incentive to join the war effort? Needless to say, it didn't work out.
Anyway, after that, we had dinner and then went out as a group to watch a play.
It's called The 39 Steps. I was expecting a thriller from the title, but we quickly realized it was a comedic commentary. Every gimmick was used, including the names of various Hitchcock films.
"No, don't climb out of the front window! Use the Rear Window!"
There were only four actors, so each wore many hats, quite literally. If got super criminal, and they used every cheesy, overused trope they could think of. It was hysterical!
I tried to catch the curtain call here. They had bubbles come down like snow!
Then home. This is an advertisement from the train. I could do that!
Well, that's it! So long for today, folks!
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