Totally Rad Show is coming to London!

[wideawakewesley]

Okay gang, not sure if I'm supposed to reveal this bit of news yet, but hey - it's the forums, you should get the scoop first!

TRS is going to be in London!

We're planning a big announcement in episode 24, but basically the news is this: a VERY generous fan of the show offered to donate our plane fare so that Dan, Steve and I can join Alex and Kevin in the UK. We're very excited.

BUT! We are still looking for lodging. If anyone in the UK has a hook-up for cheap hotel rooms, or knows of anyone who does, PLEASE email us at fans@totallyradshow. We basically have no budget for this trip (and Rev3 isn't helping ), so we're trying to find some deals.

Of course this also means that we're going to be in London, doing segments and show stuff, and at the Diggnation taping. We'd love to see and hang out with TRS fans. And give us suggestions on how to spend our time in London! Tell us where to go! What would you like to see for a UK episode of TRS?

-Jeff

Started this seperate to the Diggnation London thread to get word out that the TRS guys will also be there!

Oh and guys, I'd be more than willing to take you to visit Stratford Upon Avon (Shakespear's Birthplace - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratford_Upon_Avon) and Warwick Castle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warwick_Castle, entrance is approx $35 each) if you want to get out of London and see a bit more of the UK. We can do them both in a day and I can fit four people in my car alongside me.

Wes

[milamber_cubed]

Started this seperate to the Diggnation London thread to get word out that the TRS guys will also be there!

Awesome - they are getting to make a trip they Cannata ford... Best line ever.

Seriously though, the generosity of some of the viewers is amazing. Well done to this guy and the guys that sent the Wiis. Makes me feel cheap for not helping out some how myself.

As for things to do - whenever I'm in London, I end up around Leicester Square. The Trocadero centre has a video game arcade, bowling alley and pool tables (with a bar :) ) all in one place. There are also a ton of places to get good food around there - Chinatown being nearby is a great help (there's a great okonomiyaki place), but not the only choice. I sometimes make a trip to Forbidden Planet as well (www.forbiddenplanet.com) for a sci-fi/manga/comic book fix.

Not as cultured (or as generous) as your suggestions Wes, but I manage to have a good time of it when I'm there.... then again, I guess that's the kind of thing they can do at home. I imagine that people would want to see something unique to the country while here.

Like, er... go to Scotland and re-enact a scence from Highlander? Ha ha ha ha. I just totally had a picture of them doing the Wayne's World scene:

"Here we are - Piccadilly Circus"
"Wow, what a shitty circus"
"Good call. There's no animals or clowns! What a ripoff!"

Plenty of other movies to choose from as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_in_film

Ideally I'd choose to re do the underground scene from "An American Werewolf in London", but I doubt very much that they'd be able to get an empty platform to work with. Would be cool though.

Anyway, enough rambling from me. Looking forward to the show even more now :)

[puddlefish]

Surely the porn theatre scene would be better...

"Mr. Goodman is your good friend, whereas I am a victim of your carnivorous lunar activities."

[wideawakewesley]

I definitely second the call to visit the Trocadero and Forbidden Planet if the guys want to do show related things. Also there's the London Dungeon if you fancy visiting a scary attraction. Unfortunately there's sod all that appears to be worth seeing at the cinema that week, but hey, the guys can watch movies anytime.

For standard tourist fare in London, you have Trafalgar Square, Oxford Street, Buckingham Palace, The London Eye, Shakespear's Globe Theatre, The Tower Of London, Houses Of Parliament, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Highgate Cemetary, Royal Albert Hall. Most of these you could see on an open-top bus ride if money and time is an issue (and you're not fussed about going inside).

Then you've got museum's and art galleries...

On top of all that you could do a Jack The Ripper walk or just a plain old Ghost Walk.

When it comes to food and drink, you need to try some British Ales (at a pub obviously), a full English breakfast, Fish & Chips, Cornish Pasty, Yorkshire Pudding and my favourite dessert, Treacle Sponge.

Wes

[quorumcall]

Damn, this'll be quite a week for you Wes. Show the guys a good time. lol

-Bret


P.S. Have you any idea where the St. Peter's brewery is?

[tamtamg]

For standard tourist fare in London, you have Trafalgar Square, Oxford Street, Buckingham Palace, The London Eye, Shakespear's Globe Theatre, The Tower Of London, Houses Of Parliament, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Highgate Cemetary, Royal Albert Hall. Most of these you could see on an open-top bus ride if money and time is an issue (and you're not fussed about going inside).


Honestly, I'd recommend avoiding The London Eye. 1, Its expensive as all hell for a overhyped ferris wheel. 2, It gets hot as hell if you are lucky enough to be in london during a nice sunny summer day. 3, You spend the ride to the top trying to convence yourself that the eye is worth the money you spent, then on the way down your depressed that you spent so much money to be locked in a glass jail with a bunch of smelly ass tourist. Save the money and enjoy some pints in a pub instead.

Also avoid shakespear's globe theatre, its just a plaque in the middle of a bunch of houses.

But for sure check out the house of parliment, especially if the house of commons are in session. Nothing better than watching a bunch of old British dudes bickering and making fun of each other. London Towers, is also really cool except for the fact that I was expectiong a tower, not a castle complex(call me stupid). Do the tour, its definantly worth it.

Wish I could go.

[wideawakewesley]

The London Eye is definitely extremely expensive for what it is and not for everyone, but I was suitably impressed with the view of London you get at the top. However, my trip was all paid for by my work.

As for the Globe, that'll be this plaque...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Southwark_reconstructed_globe.jpg

;)

[travisbarkerrules]

YAY! Will be cool to see / meet all of you... Even worth coming down from sunny (i use the term ironically) Manchester :D

[nobodysleeps]

/jealous.

Something cool has to happen in Fairbanks , AK right?

We have our Supercomputing Center on campus using PS3s for program testing...

[sgtkabukiman]

the episode should TOTALLY have more cut scenes and "on-the-street" scenes. You should start with a clip in front of the green screen in Steve's garage with a video of London in the bkgd, and then you should walk off camera in the garage and then walk back in camera in London! woo!! haha.

as for the opening. this is easy. do it on the plane on the way there and make it something from AIRPLANE!!!!

[tamtamg]

As for the Globe, that'll be this plaque...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Southwark_reconstructed_globe.jpg

;)


Thats just the rebuilt tourist trap, I was talking about the original site.

[wideawakewesley]

Shhh, don't tell the guys, I was gonna pass that off as the real thing.

;)

Wes

[ramshaw]

I will probably be up for sightseeing Wes since I have never been to London before and I'm going with my parents so I will probably want a break from their company eventually :p

[wideawakewesley]

Sightseeing's not high on my agenda, beers and a good time definitely are. However, if the guys want some TRS (non-rabid) fanboy company in whatever they choose to do, I'm available at a very low rate (and I also do children's parties), plus I haven't even seen some of those places myself yet.

Hope they can stay long enough to make the most of the trip.

Update 1: I just found this voucher (valid when the guys are in London) for 2 for 1 entry into the London Dungeon.

http://www.myvue.com/images/VueDungeons.pdf

Update 2: There's also this offer that would give 2 for 1 entry to London Dungeon, Warwick Castle and various theme parks, should the guys want to go to any.

http://www.gosummer.com/

I better go buy a load of soft drinks (soda).

Wes

[limeygeeza]

Well the boys asked for some suggestions of places to visit in the latest episode, so here are some thoughts from myself.

I know I live in Canada, but by birth I'm a Brit and have only lived in Canada for 10 years, so my thankfully misspent youth was spent in London, where my parents still live.

The less 'touristy' places are tough to come up with, as pretty much all of London is geared towards it.

First off a cool pub in Leicester Square called 'Waxy OConnors' which has a 50ft tall tree growing through it, is 3 floors, and serves a mean pint of Guiness is pretty rad. Check it out here. (http://www.waxyoconnors.co.uk/london/vtourf6.asp)

Also the 'Trocadero Centre' which is also in Leicester Square, has inside something which was known as 'the biggest Video Game Arcade in the UK' Funland! So head there before or after your pint(s). Check that out here (http://www.funland.co.uk/index.html)

As for Castles...not many (that still stand) in London really, other than the 'Tower of London' which really is pretty touristy, but still awesome to see (it's right by Tower Bridge too). Probably one of the better castle's in the UK to visit is Bodiam Castle (http://bodiamcastle.co.uk/), has a moat and everything, including a nice Country pub :D. Expect to take a couple of hours drive outside of London to get there though.

Someone already mentioned Forbidden Planet (http://www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/)- this used to be a 'weekly' go to place for me for Comics/Books and movie stuff, just a great place, you HAVE to go there.

And finally if you are at all interested I have an 'in' with the head of one of the production crew that works on none other than 'Doctor Who' - he is actually is head of the Prosthetic/Make up Effects on all the shows.

They film most of the shows in Wales, which might be a bit far for you to get too, (but doable if you can make it in the time you have there) but his studio is just in the outskirts of London, and he says 'that's where the magic happens' anyway ;). If this is something you are at all interested in doing, let me know and I will sort it out with him and get you in touch - a TRS bit from the Doctor Who set would be Totally Rad in my book.

Thats all I can think of right now, I'll post some more if I think of any...

[dragonbladev]

where to go? hmmm.... Amsterdam? :D

[wideawakewesley]

Guys, you might find this link useful, http://wikitravel.org/en/London, take special care to look over the youth hostel section, http://www.yha.org.uk/, if you need the cheapest accomodation available in London.

Wes

[iluciv]

Hey
I just thought I'd start a thread to help the guys with suggestions for low-cost things to do whilst in London. If its one thing London does exceptionally well its eat money!

Luckily for the guys London is a venerable cornucopia of low-cost rad things to do.

First things first Transport = tube buy a daily ticket (all Zones); as it says it lasts all day and you can use it on the buses and even the ferries and you just don't have to worry about how to get where etc.

Next grab a copy of TimeOut http://www.timeout.com/london/ Bible of whats happening in London and has heaps of free theater, music and things to do and see. There are also heaps of other free mags just look at the tube stations for the free mag racks.

I know you said no tourist stuff but The National gallery is well worth it and its free its in Trafalgar Square

Whilst on the tourist things look in a newsagents for the low cost walking tours they have through the city; Sounds cheesy but seriously they are well worth it as they have really rad walks and details of London most people would over look. They really strip layers of London, providing history on some amazing history on ordinary objects that you would overlook normally. There are also self-guided free walks as well if you don't want to feel like a tourist lol.

Parks Parks Parks: London has heaps of Rad parks to soak up some rays and just hang out in; Might sound odd, did to me but heaps of folks go to parks, they're massive, one in the south even has herds? of deer in it! They're still a great place to meet up for a cheap lunch i.e. supermarket picnic lunch :)

Soho: well what can I say pubs, clubs, west end as it is. $$$

If your there on a weekend get up to Camden Town its a cool place to check out and they have a pretty rad market (clothing) as well as pubs and clubs

Notting Hill gate is an expensive part of town but they do have this awesome indie cinema (well at least they had) where they usually have independent films on but there are plenty of places like that just scan the time-out.

Pubs: damm there are a friggin lot of pubs in London my suggestion would go with a theme lol i.e. Oldest Pubs first or Only pubs underground cause really there are so many pubs I don't know what to suggest; If your really broke I suggest water rofl! Beer costs shed loads. Edit: Oh yeah find a quiz night at one; again might sound a bit lame but English Pubs and Quiz nights are fun.

I'll try to post some more if I think of anything

Hope it helps

Sorry guys didn't see this thread :S

BTW forget YHA's they are a family orientated establishment that usually have stricter rules regarding comings and goings (read curfew sortofish) drinking not allowed noise after certain period etc. If you require hostel accommodation your better off looking into the backpacker areas of London i.e. Earls-court, Shepards Bush but you'll run into droves of rowdy drunkin southern hemisphere ppl :D

[amardilo]

If your going to London I have heard loads of good things about the o2 (http://www.theo2.co.uk). It used to be the Dome but it's now run by o2 and full of strange looking bars and places to eat.

It's also a bit of a techy place. The cinema in there broadcasts digitally (they store films on hard drives and run films from the hard drives or something like that - how cool would it be to show TRS on those) and they have all kinds of mobile phone stuff in there too. Although I guess the 02 maybe a bit touristy.

As for pubs. If someone wants to visit a British style pub they don't seem to be too hard to find, just look for pubs in old style buildings if you want traditional I would avoid chains like Llyods or Wetherspoons unless you want cheaper drinks and those bars tend to be pack too (guess that's not a bad thing).

[wideawakewesley]

Not sure whether this will interest the guys or not, but China's Terracotta Army will be on display in the British Museum while they're over visiting. Not since Tutankhamun's mask was on display has the museum played host to such a breathtaking display of timeless antiquity.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2945350.ece#2007-09-10T00:00:01-00:00

http://www.britishmuseum.co.uk

Wes

[uwatmate]

Ok I have never posted before and hope i get this right
I am a londoner and your unofficial guide to all things london

First off log in and check out Travelcards and read the pdf on zones they cover you will find it at
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/faresandtickets/1059.aspx

No one has mentioned this but i know Dan likes his action figures so on your way to the trocadero stop off at Hamley toy store on Regent street reputed to be the largest in the world (or used to be )
Next Camden Town as mentioned look out for mega city comics on one of the back streets of camden high road and you will find a lot of record fairs and some rad clothing plus check out the stalls in camden market ( at the lock ) If your lucky you may catch the comic book author of Brodies Law and be able to get a few signed copies of art and comic books . he should be upstairs in the market
http://www.brodieslaw.com/

Next i have added a few website this is london and london tonight and whats on london which will help you plan a few nights out

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/home/

http://www.londontonight.com/index.htm

http://www.itvlocal.com/london

Last tips are check out Shoreditch it is trendy and happening place in london now lots of eateries and bars and clubs check out the 333 club on a friday night ( but do not venture into Hackney by mistake ) it is mainly a student university crowd

Also for comedy try the kings head pub in crouch end the W7 bus from finsbury park will take you there also the victoria stakes pub bottom of Ally Pally and Muswell hill the same bus will take you there just tell the driver where you want to go

For cinemas check out the electric cinema 191 portobello road
http://www.electriccinema.co.uk/index.php
They show mainly off beat movies as do most of the independent cinema's you will find a list in the london guides i added

Don't miss a trip to any of the markets petty coat lane on sunday morning portobello road market or any of the other

Lastly a trip to the top of Ally Pally ( Alexander Palace ) which gives an excellent view of North London and has a nice pub on top the hill called the Pheonix. It is also the site of the place they broadcast the first television signal from the bbc.

Any questions or help just drop me an e-mail anytime
Keep up the good work on a Rad show