Posted on

Theatre review: Daddy Long Legs

Note: the production is the second in the St. James Theatre’s opening season and opened last night, October 31st. I attended a special preview performance yesterday afternoon.

DADDY LONG LEGS is, in one word, a charming musical. A two-hander, the show is carried equally by both players, though Megan McGinnis as Jerusha Abbott is certainly dominant to her anonymous benefactor “Daddy Long Legs” – Jervis Pendleton, played by Robert Adelman Hancock. Paul Gordon’s music seems familiar – not in the plagiarism sense, I should say – but that it is almost never intrusive to the story, it complements it; there are no song and dance numbers here. It is often catchy and yet in the background. We are taken out of the story only twice: in the interval and at the curtain (though there is none) call.

Set just after the turn of the last century, the convincing performances allow us the privilege of being in the moment with the characters. We never once feel superior to Jerusha’s innocence and naivety in the world she discovers, from our own knowledge of everything before and indeed since that time. The story is heartbreakingly sad, clever, amusing and beautiful all at once.

Robert Adelman Hancock and Megan McGinnis in a scene from Daddy Long Legs
Robert Adelman Hancock and Megan McGinnis in a scene from Daddy Long Legs. Photo: Rubicon Theatre Company/St. James Theatre

David Farley’s single set, a floor area containing books and a set of trunks, and an upper deck with a library and office desk is functional – costume changes are carried out without fuss with items being taken and put back in the trunks, for example – and with no scene changes, remains much the same throughout the story. As both characters are always on stage, the set is usually divided with Paul Toben’s lighting separating the two locations. The use of projection to show the dates and locations of Jerusha’s letters at the top of the wood panelling is clever and reminds me of a similar technique Sam Mendes used in his production of RICHARD III last year. Being in a handwritten style, it is unobtrusive, unlike Mendes’s bold use of lettering to characterise scenes.

The lack of any break between scenes allows the story to flow much more readily, perhaps truer to the diary format of the Jean Webster novel that John Caird’s book is adapted from. An idea that would seem to drag on paper – two actors reading letters aloud – works perfectly on the stage and never does slow down. Certain songs, or letters I should say, for these make up the bulk of the lyrics – are sung in counterpoint, or with Jervis harmonising or echoing what Jerusha has written to him. As he reads her letters to Daddy Long Legs and Jervis – who of course are one and the same – the two will sing alternate words, sentences, sometimes overlapping but never confusing. It’s very cohesive, tight, and well-rehearsed. These actors clearly know the material well, having been in the original production in 2009, and it shows.

DADDY LONG LEGS is produced by St. James Theatre Productions and the Rubicon Theatre Company (Michael Jackowitz). Megan McGinnis and Robert Adelman Hancock are directed by John Caird (LES MISÉRABLES, CHILDREN OF EDEN) and music is by Paul Gordon (JANE EYRE), with lighting by Paul Toben, set and costumes by David Farley and book by John Caird. 31st October – 8th December 2012 at the St. James Theatre, London. You can book tickets online.

Posted on

Social Media call for Much Ado About Nothing

Update, October 2017: due to a five year agreement between the RSC and Equity expiring, I have had to remove the video of the Q&A session.

For a while now, I have had a half-baked ambition to see all of Shakespeare’s plays performed live on stage; the medium they were created for. This is not some kind of challenge to be rushed through, but something to be enjoyed and appreciated at my leisure. I saw the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Julius Caesar in August 2012 and documented that here on my website. The RSC’s London season continued at the Nöel Coward Theatre with Much Ado About Nothing, again transferring from Stratford. I was reading about the play and discovered a page on the website advertising what the RSC described as a “social media call”. It’s been two years since I graduated with a degree in Broadcast Journalism, and I haven’t worked in the industry since. I thought attending might be a good way to combine these two ideas, as friends and colleagues often ask why they haven’t yet heard or seen me on BBC News, or doing anything related to my degree. Well one – it’s tough and competitive out there, as is the jobs market. Two, that’s not something I’m entirely certain I’d enjoy. I thought I would try this though, as I’ve said. I let the RSC know I was interested in attending, and they confirmed my place.

At the theatre, we were given the opportunity to watch the actors and crew rehearsing before they were ready for us. We then watched a full dress run of act two, scene three, which includes Balthasar’s song “Sigh No More”, and Benedick’s soliliquoy. We were encouraged to take photos and video during this time, which I did, although I didn’t have a camera so had to use my iPhone. Most of the photos and videos are disappointing and can’t properly capture the vibrancy of the lighting design, nor the impressive set, complete with full-size tree, but I shall include some anyway.

Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Scene 3
Madhav Sharma (Leonato), Paul Bhattacharjee (Benedick) and Shiv Grewal (Don Pedro)

What I did see of the show – I was unable to attend the evening performance I was invited to – was stunning. It is so easy for Shakespeare to be used as the height of drama, with wannabe Oliviers or Kenneth Branaghs giving their best RADA-taught performances. The RSC isn’t like that, and I liked the subtlety of what I saw, despite the scene being high-energy in parts, and even including singing and dancing. It was naturalistic Shakespeare and characters not only acted but re-acted to what was happening in the scene. Every performance the audience should feel as if the lines are being spoken for the first time, thought up in the brains of those on stage, not 500-year-old sentences. This production achieved that effortlessly.

Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Scene 3 - Anjana Vasan and newcomer Raj Bajaj
Anjana Vasan (Maid) and newcomer Raj Bajaj (Balthasar)


Once the scene had been performed, there was a question and answer session. The scene had taken longer than anticipated, meaning there was less time for the Q&A, and I didn’t get to ask any of my questions. Some similar ones were asked by others, however.

The actors and director Iqbal Khan were knowledgeable about what they were doing, and insightful in to the relevance of Shakespeare in 2012, following on from this year’s World Shakespeare Festival. One person attending the social media call asked the group about their experiences with “traditional Shakespeare” – making the unfortunate supposition that Shakespeare should be performed by white English actors. The late Paul Bhattacharjee, playing Benedick, was the first to respond in a video I’m no longer able to show here, but here’s a quote:

“You used the word tradition – you should be really aware of what you’re talking about, because there is a level of education in India that far exceeds our expectations… Why it’s such an easy fit is because [for example] Much Ado is a family tale. Now if there’s anything that we grow up with in India it’s great big epic family stories… I would say this is tradition”

Overall, I was very glad I had the opportunity to attend the social media call. It was only the second occasion I had been able to work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and I am grateful for both of those times.

Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Scene 3
Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Scene 3
Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Scene 3 - Newcomer Raj Bajaj sings Balthasar's song Sigh No More
Newcomer Raj Bajaj (Balthasar) performs Sigh No More
Posted on

Theatre review: Julius Caesar

“Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare

  • Producer: Royal Shakespeare Company for its London season
  • Director: Gregory Doran
  • Theatre: Nöel Coward Theatre

This modern-day production of Shakespeare’s play takes place in Africa and features an all-black cast. Many familiar faces from TV and stage feature here, most notably Paterson Joseph as Brutus. It’s not specified where in Africa we are supposed to be, but the actors, some of whom were born and grew up in the UK, affect an east African accent according to director Gregory Doran. It’s the sort of accent you might hear in programmes that stereotype the continent. This in itself is not a problem, but combined with the acoustics in live theatre and the highly-charged emotion of several scenes, it sometimes made it difficult to make out words and even whole sentences.

I wasn’t familiar with the plot of Julius Caesar before the performance, but found myself picking up the odd phrase here and there that has entered popular culture over the years, the most famous of which is Shakespeare’s interpretation of the historic Caesar’s reaction to his friend’s betrayal: “Et tu, Brute?”. Each one of these was like a little tap on the shoulder taking me out of the play, but this is hardly this production’s fault; merely an observation on my journey to seeing all I can of the Bard performed live.

I left the theatre pleased that I was now closer to that goal. I had lots of questions about how the story documented by the play compared to what historians know about the real Caesar, so I did some research over the next few days. I discovered that Caesar was assassinated on the steps of a theatre, the ruins of which I soon realised I had visited, lying innocuously in one of Rome’s many cat-filled squares. This one features a sanctuary whose aim is to help the city’s strays. I sat on a wall surrounding the ruins – not open to the public, and a haven for the cats – for about fifteen minutes, trying to attract some of them to play, not realising the significance of what I had barely noticed behind me.

The last Shakespeare I’d seen was Richard III (Old Vic, directed by Sam Mendes, 2011) and the previous RSC production I’d seen was Hamlet (Novello, directed by Gregory Doran, 2008). I was excited to see the two brought together again.

Together with BBC Two, the RSC produced a film version, shot on location, of Doran’s Hamlet which was broadcast on Boxing Day 2009. Partnering with the BBC again in 2012, a TV version of Julius Caesar was broadcast on BBC Four, again with the same cast as the stage production but shot on location.; the joint trailer for both this and the stage production is below. This idea of creating a show for two different mediums is something I know the RSC wants to do more of, and Doran particularly seems adept at. Allowing the widest possible audience access to the work is very important, and these efforts, this time as part of the World Shakespeare Festival, are to be applauded.

Trailer for the production

Posted on

3D TV – must-have gadget or modern gimmick?

Article first published as 3D TV; Must-Have Gadget or Modern Gimmick? on Technorati.

3D TV is the latest idea to move out of the lab and in to the home. At the beginning of this month, Rupert Murdoch’s Sky TV launched Europe’s first 3D television channel, showing 14 hours of content daily. So far this has been selected films and Premiership football matches, following on from trials of the service in pubs across Britain.

Just like when you see a 3D film at the cinema, you need to wear special glasses. But gone are the plastic blue and red specs you pay more for at the flicks. The new generation of 3D TV uses sleek, futuristic-looking glasses. They’re not cheap, at around £100 ($158) a pair, but are of course more sturdy and reliable. The old glasses will still let you see in three dimensions, just not as well.

However, the cinema is a place where, over the last few years, people have become accustomed to picking up a pair, sitting down to watch the film and looking a bit silly. The living room is a whole new arena – are people ready to adapt?

Where is the market for non-fictional 3D content on TV? I’ve seen one or two films marketed as “3D”. One was Coraline, Henry Selick’s computer-animated adaptation of the Neil Gaiman novel. I remember a few things seemingly coming out of the screen towards me, which I presume is scary for children. But is it entertaining? Does it add anything to the plot, or is it just a gimmick? I think the latter. Warner Brothers announced last week that the planned 3D release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One had been cancelled as the studio was unable to ready it in time for the November release. As such, the film will only be seen in cinemas in 2D. Part Two, to be released in July next year, will also be in 3D.

I cannot see 3D being employed as a serious tool by, for example, news broadcasters, talk shows, comedy programmes or any drama series. It would ruin the feel of the programme by figuratively and, literally via technology, breaking the fourth wall.

Then there is the actual capability to view the programmes. For this, a TV with the necessary hardware built-in is required. Many people have forked out for expensive high definition televisions, and these are just now becoming the new standard available in shops. Consumers set them up to find that the quality on a small selection of programmes is only marginally better. It will be some years before HD becomes standard on the majority of television output, and surely many more years later before 3D is so – if it ever takes off properly.

Also this month, the first hardware supporting Google’s upcoming TV offering will become available, with Logitech’s Revue set to ship on October 21st and offerings from Sony and other companies debuting later this year or in early 2010. Apple also started selling its relaunched Apple TV box, first shown in September.

It seems there is a future in television, despite what the online future media nay-sayers might claim. But the content and format is certain to be very different to that seen today.

Image by user pcs007 on Flickr, used under a CC-BY-SA license.

Posted on

A great day

Late last night – or possibly very early this morning, I saw what looked like a photo of today’s Daily Telegraph*, showing Andrew Lloyd Webber, Danielle Hope and Michael Crawford together, with a headline about Michael “following the Yellow Brick Road”.

For the uninitiated, Lord Lloyd Webber has been using BBC talent shows to cast the leads in revivals of musicals he’s been doing over the last few years; Danielle Hope won the role of Dorothy for a new production of THE WIZARD OF OZ.

So I Googled and searched Twitter and so on but couldn’t find anything about Michael and Oz. This morning brought the news that he’s been cast as the Wizard in the new production, previewing from February next year. I wasn’t really interested in seeing it as don’t know the story, but come on, Michael Crawford! The West End legend – an oft-overused term, but appropriate here – is returning to the stage after seven years away. I now have my ticket for the first preview.

The second thing is this, a photo of writer Neil Gaiman on the TARDIS set. Who else is excited for his DOCTOR WHO episode next year?

The third thing is the return of THE OFFICE last night. I’d seen the cold open in full yesterday afternoon, but the full episode was amazing. I know friends who haven’t seen it yet, so #nospoilers as usual, but you should get on that quite soon. It’s going to be a wonderful send-off season for Steve Carell, whilst not being all about him, as it should be. I can’t wait to find out what’s going to happen and I’ve already watched last night’s episode three times.

* at the time, there was just the first post in the thread. I don’t know why people are being negative there. No matter what you think of Phantom or anything else Michael’s done, there can be no denying his fantastic voice, and casting proper musical theatre actors is surely better than random people like Amanda Holden and Nigel Harman in SHREK THE MUSICAL – no matter what their other talents may, or may not be.

Update: about thirty seconds after I published this entry, I saw this photo of Charlie McDonnell with Neil on-set. What?! The world is WEIRD!

Posted on

Last day in Florida

My final full day in America was last Friday. In the morning we had breakfast at a place called Sizzler. We’d had dinner at another branch a few days before and it was nice. This all you can eat style of eating is not something I am used to at home – you get it perhaps in Chinese restaurants, that sort of thing, but it’s not common. So I took advantage and had the equivalent of two breakfasts.

We went to a place called Ripley’s BELIEVE IT OR NOT. There are other ones worldwide, there’s one in the Trocadero in London. It’s just a museum of weird stuff, facts, unusual things. Like a full-size Rolls Royce made out of matchsticks, a shrunken head, world’s fattest man and so on. It wasn’t that great and a lot of the things I already knew about. The sort of museum that should probably be free.

Then we went to the Titanic Experience on International Drive. I was excited to go here. Outside, the track “Rose” from the 1997 film was playing on speakers, which was a bit odd I thought, an albeit wonderful instrumental piece about a fictional character when the exhibition is about the ship, not the film. But on the other hand, what other music is associated with the ship in people’s minds? James Horner ftw.

We were led around the exhibition, which consisted of reconstructions of rooms on-board and rooms with models and genuine artefacts, by a man who I presumed was an out-of-work actor. His story was that he was a worker at Harland and Wolff, the Belfast shipyard where Titanic was built. This worked, although it was hammy, up until the point where we were taken “on deck”. He then turned in to a historian aware that the ship had sunk and doing the “it gets me every time” act.

The exhibition (which I must stress, I did enjoy, as far as one can enjoy such a thing) then turned bizarre as we watched, on a TV screen, a shortened account of the sinking using clips from the 1997 film. This was set to not the Rose music, nor to any other music from the soundtracks, but to Orff’s O Fortuna, most recently popular as the judge’s music from THE X FACTOR. I am sure that part of the exhibition was developed long before Simon Cowell decided to use the piece to announce his entrance on stage, but it still felt tacky. In addition, O Fortuna is a poem about fate and luck. The sinking of the Titanic was due neither to luck nor fate. But I digress!

I liked it though, I really did. There was a large model of the wreck as it was in the early 1990s which was interesting to look at, deckchairs from both the film and the real ship and I’m glad I was able to finally look around. It was definitely better than the Ripley’s place, which to be honest felt more like a glorified thief’s hoard.

The thing about Orlando which is shown most clearly in places like International Drive is that it’s a convenience town. It’s for the people to come and see replicas of things, experience reconstructions of things. The whole place is built around satisfying the tourist – it really is a paper town. It might sound corny to say, but I see Margo’s point now, whereas before I couldn’t understand it apart from a vague awareness that Orlando is extremely tourist-y.

Below is a photo of the first plate I had for breakfast at Sizzler.

Posted on

Phantom from the beach

Today’s blog is not about Florida, because I’m sitting on a beach near St Petersburg and have done nothing interesting.

Instead I’m going to talk about a week or so ago when I saw THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA on stage in London. I’d wanted to see it again ever since I first saw it in August last year. As soon as I got home that night, I downloaded the original London cast recording and it’s become one of my most listened-to albums.

On Saturday, 4th September a few of the cast were leaving and I was determined to see them at least once. Gina Beck who had played Christine when I first saw Phantom was leaving, as was Rebecca Lock who started as Carlotta in September last year, after I saw the show.

I first met Rebecca when she was the second actress to play Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut in AVENUE Q’s London production, two years ago. I really wanted to see her in a completely different role, so I was extra excited.

The show was amazing, of course. It’s always interesting to note the differences between the original cast albums and the current show. Many of the lyrics to THINK OF ME, for example, are very different, and this is something you can usually only see in the live show. So I finally bought my ticket for their last performance, the evening show that night.

Afterwards I went to the stage door of Her Majesty’s Theatre to wait for the departing cast members. There were a few other people there, most of whom I vaguely recognised from their Twitter avatars.

After a while Gina came out and chatted to everyone individually whilst Will Barratt – the current Raoul – did the same. It was great to finally meet her and she said it was good to put a face to a (Twitter user)name at last. We talked a bit about the show and her future plans we both said, almost at the same time, that we hope we’ll see each other at another stage door soon. After hugs and goodbyes, she moved on.

During our time stood outside, Ramin Karimloo arrived from his own stage door at the Adelphi. If we’d been more alert and not cold, this would probably have prompted cries of “He’s here! The Phantom of the Opera is here!”, but alas, it did not.

About an hour later the Diva strolls out. Some people had brought along presents and gifts for both Gina and Rebecca, and these were much admired by all. My turn came and I started to say who I was and she said “yeah, I know”, which made me laugh because I hadn’t spoken to her face-to-face for over two years, but she meant because of Twitter. We spoke a little about her next project, the film SURE FIRE HIT which she is going to be in with Jennifer Ellison and Chris Noth, talked about the last time we met and so on. It was nice to catch up and I hope she doesn’t stay away from the West End for too long. After 24 years Phantom is as strong as ever, but Rebecca was definitely one of the finest Carlottas and Gina a fantastic Christine, and both will be missed at Her Majesty’s.

Here are some photos of my view right now (there’s wifi on the beach, inexplicably)

Posted on

The inevitable WWOHP entry

I wrote yesterday’s blog, added the photos and tapped publish. Between my iPhone and my website, something went wrong and both that post and a draft I was working on about me and my friend Rob wanting to go to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival were deleted. The essence of yesterday’s entry was that I went to the beach, was looking forward to going to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter today, and lamented the closure of Dreamland, a theme park in Margate, south east England.

So on to today. Not going to dwell on this but WWOHP was a massive disappointment for me. As I discussed in yesterday’s vanished post, I don’t enjoy rides at theme parks, so I don’t go on them. There are three at WWOHP. The one which I sort-of did want to go on had an hour’s queue time, so I didn’t bother. So I can’t judge the park on its rides, as I didn’t experience any of them.

The buildings are all topped with snow-covered rooves. This I have never understood. However far up in Scotland Hogsmeade is supposed to be, it wouldn’t be snow-covered all year round. Amusingly the castle – much higher up than the village – is snow-free. Riddle me that, Mr Park Designer.

I started off in Zonko’s Joke Shop. The inference by the production designers of both the films and park – same people – is that because wizards don’t use electricity, they are unable to light their shops properly, or clean anything. The passageway to the toilets was dark and the walls were covered in greenish muck, or something. Speaking of the toilets: America, seriously. Why do you have large gaps between the door and the cubicle? People can see inside the toilet!

I was now in Honeydukes. I left quickly and walked back in to bright sunshine. I saw The Three Broomsticks, which again looked very dark and like Madam Rosmerta had given up cleaning the place decades ago. Nothing like the jolly pub I was expecting.

I moved on, seeing a few fake shop fronts like Scrivenshaft’s then past the long queue for Ollivander’s up to Hogwarts Castle. The castle was impressive, I’ll give them that.

Briefly – I queued at a Butterbeer cart and asked for frozen. This is apparently the good stuff. A lazy American drawled that I couldn’t have any, but “maybe in 15 or 20 minutes”. Fine, whatever. I waited and went back. $4.25 and it wasn’t even that nice, just a bit like a fudge Slushie or something.

There were Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students doing some sort of photo opportunity and then some Hogwarts students did some singing, that song from one of the films where an absurdly young Flitwick conducts the never-before-mentioned school choir.

I left after having my photo taken (below) with the conductor of the Hogwarts Express, who was nice and said he knew Kent (where I live) very well – i think he was actually English, not just one of the Americans who bothered to try to effect the accent. I then went to the adjacent Jurassic Park land. This was lots of fun, because there were things to DO, as opposed to just things to buy at inflated prices and rides to ride. I learned about dinosaur fossils and merged my “DNA” with that of a dinosaur to make an amusing hybrid creature (photo below).

We then went to a live magic show. A man did card tricks, showed us a wallet which produced flames when opened, a thing which allowed you to levitate objects, and some sponges he did funny things with, appearing and disappearing and multiplying. It was more interesting than anything I saw in WWOHP, because it surprised me. There was nothing interesting or magical about WWOHP for me, sadly. Although, yes, I acknowledge I didn’t go on any of the rides.

A bit later I went on a boat that is meant to Popeye’s, or something. I have no idea what most of these lands and attractions are about because I’ve not seen/read what it’s based on, but that was fun anyway. I left Islands of Adventure shortly after this.

Going to end this entry on a nicer note and recount a dream I had last night. I rarely remember my dreams, sadly. John Green says other people’s dreams are only interesting to them (put far more nicely, of course) but I shall put it here because I don’t know where else to.

I was arranging a gig for Lucie Jones (currently Cosette in LES MISÉRABLES in London) and Tom Jones. I went in to bar and Cheryl Cole was there. I then went upstairs to a cinema and it was a screening of Deathly Hallows. June Ackland from THE BILL was there, as were the fighting girls from THE X FACTOR the other week, both naked, unfortunately.

It was at this point that I woke up. Phew.

Posted on

Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads

Today I went to Universal Studios after eating breakfast at Denny’s for the first time. I thought we were going to Islands of Adventure, (home to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter) but apparently not. I’m sure most visitors have a great time, but as I haven’t seen most of the films the rides, attractions and exhibits are based on, (Terminator, Jaws, Shrek, etc – I know, I know) the park made very little sense to me and was rather boring. I liked the Twister attraction because I’ve seen that film. But Bill Paxton’s video bits made me laugh. He seems to only do one voice – slightly concerned but authoritative adventurer – just like his role in TITANIC. I also found out who Helen Hunt is. So I learned something while having fun and getting wet (write your own jokes, kids).

Whilst my parents watched some sort of Blues Brothers tribute act performing on the streets of what was supposed to be New York City, I wandered off and discovered the BACK TO THE FUTURE DeLorean-based time travel machine. I haven’t seen the film in many years but I recently read two different drafts of the script – the first even worse than the second. That said, I think I like the film and will probably try to see it when it’s re-released in a few weeks for the 25th anniversary. Then I will know I’ve seen and touched the car on-screen. A notice next to the vehicle proclaimed it was the one used in the film, so I assume it is. There should be a photo or two of the car below.

Denny’s was nice. More of the Matilda-style pancakes, all I could eat for $4. I had five, and that was enough. Every time I’ve eaten here I’ve felt full afterwards.

This is Mr Fusion.

Posted on

On the subject of pop culture

Yesterday I arrived in Florida, USA. I have never been here before. My only prior experience of America is four days in New York City – which is markedly different to the rest of “typical” America.

However, a lot of my friends, people I admire, authors (which takes in the last two categories, actually!) and favourite TV show other than Doctor Who are/is American. So I’ve picked up stuff over the last few years, and on the (extended because we were lost) drive from the airport to the hotel, I made a list of places I recognised, and from where. Here it is!

Chili’s – The Office
Publix – Paper Towns by John Green
Chipotle – Hayley G Hoover, who else?
7/11 – we used to have them in England too
Arby’s – just the name
IHOP – not sure, but my friend Lauren likes it here
Home Depot – Daxflame video and Michael Buckley
Denny’s – Buck again
Target – Let It Snow by Maureen Johnson, John Green and Lauren Myracle. But, y’know, everyone knows Tarshay, right?
Forever21 – Jocy’s mentioned it I think
Olive Garden – my friend Lisa eats here sometimes. Also MJ’s mentioned it.
Waffle House – Let It Snow again
Wendy’s – generic
Taco Bell – I’m at the Pizza Hut… xD
SunTrust Building – a location in Paper Towns (#nospoilers). But didn’t see the Asparagus!

That’s it so far. But in an hour’s drive, that’s quite a lot I think. It’s interesting what sinks in to the subconscious, and the little bits of Americana you recognise from the media, like huge ads for realtors and personal injury lawyers. I’m not saying culture is just restaurants and a building, it’s just what I’ve seen so far. I’ll be wandering around later on today and learning more. Hope anyone reading enjoyed my little insight!

P.s. There should be a snatched photo of the SunTrust building below this line.