Leg 4, Interlude 1: London

We had two days off here in London. We did this because we wanted to be conservative and give ourselves time to recover from any injuries/soreness/weakness from our long ride into town on Wednesday. As it turned out, we didn't really need two days, as our legs coped with the ride pretty well, and our ride tomorrow is quite short.

Our first stop was the Banting House Museum. Banting was the person who won the Nobel Prize for discovering insulin. He was living here in London at the time of his original inspiration, although he did all of his actual lab work in Toronto. They have a museum here where his bedroom is set up just as it was at 2AM when he awoke and wrote down "Suppose we puree a dog's pancreas and inject it into another dog?" (I'm paraphrasing). There is a continuously burning "flame of hope" here, which is specifically not an eternal flame. It is to be extinguished when a cure (not just a treatment) is found for diabetes. We were told that there have been promising results in stem-cell research recently which may lead to a cure before too many more years pass, at least for Type 1. We'll see.

On the first evening, we want to Museum London, which is a combination art and local history museum. And at night, of course, was the Napalm Death show (more on that below).

On the second day we figured out the city bus system, which is a real throwback to the 90s! No app, no tapping credit cards. You pay exact fare in coins, and the driver tears you off a paper transfer. Or, you can get discounted tickets by buying a pack of 5 in advance at a convenience store.

Anyhow, we took the bus over to the south side of town, and we took a short hike on a trail beside "The Cove", which is an old river meander that has been closed off at one end. We also got some quite good fish and chips, and then went to a movie matinee at the Hyland Theater. The Hyland is not some grand old downtown art-deco place. Just an unassuming neighborhood theater from the 1930s, that has somehow still survived as a single-screen theater. So, even cooler, in a way. They show first-run mainstream and art films, and also do revival/repertory stuff. We saw Tuner. It was pretty good.

We finished up by catching a minor league baseball game. Final score: Your London Majors 8, Kitchener Panthers 4. The Majors play at Labatt Memorial Park, which was built in 1877, and is the oldest baseball field in the world.

I guess I'm probably not qualified to say whether there is a big fentanyl problem in London. But I can say that people here sure do a lot of lurching, leaning, slumping and carrying aluminum foil. Walking down Dundas St. at night feels like being in a George Romero movie.

On our ride into town, we happened to pass by a music venue and I saw Napalm Death on the marquee. Grindcore is not exactly my favorite niche genre, and I'm not super familiar with this band's stuff. So, I wasn't sure about whether or not I should go. But, I did go, and boy I'm glad I went. The band and the atmosphere were both great.

I saw a post online somewhere a while ago that went something like this... Whenever I read about the history of a hippie band from the 60s, it's always something like "Rainbow Love Orchestra broke up in 1971 due to internal conflicts which began when the guitarist began sex-trafficking the 14-year-old girl that the lead singer had been using as a heroin mule" But, then when I read about death metal bands, it's more like "The band Pus Filth got its start when singer Thröatripper Aalberg and guitarist Jürgen Trashmaggot met when they were both volunteering at a homeless shelter in Rostock."

And, the spirit of that is 100% true. Between-song banter: "Just remember, as tough as it is for people today... we can always make our lives a little easier and better. Remember, it's what's in our hearts, it's how we interact with one another, that does the most to make the world a nicer place. Anyhow, this next one's called 'Scum'" Today's underground metal scene is so welcoming and inclusive, and I never would have predicted this 35 years ago. I'm so proud of the metalheads. 💕Luv u all💕

Related story: When I was in my early 20s, I worked at a record store. A sweet little old lady came in and asked if I could help her find an album for her grandson. She said "I have the name written down here", and she hands me a post-it note that is baby blue and in the shape of a teddy bear. On it, in little old lady cursive handwriting, it says "Cannibal Corpse". And, I was like of course we have Cannibal Corpse. Which record does he want? And she asked what I would recommend and I was like "Well, I would recommend Tomb Of The Mutilated". And, she bought it and we both walked away happy. We kept that post-it note on the cash register for months.