This post title kindof sounds like a band name.... not quite like TrolleyBuffer (the band name Brandon and I reserved upon arriving in Heathrow, in the rare even that we start a flat band)...Maybe it's a throwback to the whole Angels and Airwaves thing, but it does have a certain ring to it...
To start off, I'm a bad brother- while i'm usually pretty creepy about knowing anniversaries, birthdays, important dates, I failed to remember my half birthday and the half birthday of a very special sister (no, not special, but special). So, here is my public apology: Katie, enjoy your half birthday, 20.5 is a big step. May all your ......something flowery, cute.......etc..... the end.
After a great run with the croscountry team (it feels good to take initiative and run with a team again), the flat entertained the International Studies office's Rachels (Rachel Jessup and Rachel Buckley) in order that they might have a better understanding of how we live and where we come from.
Two spicy enchiladas and some mango sorbet later, Wine Wedensday was in full swing. Sophisticated as usual, I wore a button down shirt and a sweet hat while Mary made (and later hid) cookies and the gang worked on WINTER BREAK 2K6 plans....
Here is the scaffolding, the basic bare bones schedule so far: DEC 14-18: Chamonoix, France for skiing in the French Alps DEC 18-20: Salsburg or Munich or something DEC 20-22: Prague DEC 22-24: Torino, maybe N Italy or S Swiss DEC 24-26ish: Geneva DEC 26ish-29: Around, who knows.... Amsterdam? More Swiss? DEC 29-JAN 1: Paris JAN 1-7: Who knows? More Amsterdam? France? Spain? London for sure...
Seems pretty 'whirlwind' now, but a few days in each city will be nice, and getting some places under our belt will be good for narrowing the SPRING BREAK 2K7 plans...
Finally, in anticpation of the London trip to take place later today (...about 6.25 hrs, but who's counting...), Mary gave me another haircut. I'm not saying she's better than you, Eda, but it's been awhile, and i'm starting to forget how skilled you were in this dept.... maybe a haircut in Spain this spring will jog my memory....
This weekend is looking amazing- chill tonight in a Londony flat, tomorrow dinner with Heather and Avenue Q at 845, Wicked on Saturday at 2, with museums and sightseeing interspursed. Maybe even a Quizno's run.... Best of all, a Ben Kweller concert in Notts waiting for me when i get back.
that reminds me of Jack's Mannequin, which reminds me that my music is still lost and unattainable..... damned Maxtor3100 external hard drives.....
Otherwise, the past day(s) has been pretty lax. No classes yesterday lead to cleaning, reading, eating, listening to lectures, and more reading.
I'm reading Melville for American Lit, first Bartleby and now Benito Cereno, and the guy is a mystery. He has a bit of a show-off quality to him- no thesaurus remains un-leaved through, no word to big and no synonym too long... Reading Melville is like delving into an entirely different language than English, a language that leaves you feeling stupid and elementary. Such is life. I'm starting to think that all of his work is a lot girthier than necessary. Consider this: Benito Cereno is a 60 page 'short story' that contains a plot capable of being examined and drawn out in as little as 5 pages. To put it simply, the guy is a word hog. Moby Dick could have been 50 pages if someone with a little brevity could have gotten their hands on the plotline first.... eh, such is lit.
Our lecturer last night was a former professor of religion/ canon of the Southwell Cathedral in Nottinghamshire. The guy was everything I hope to be as a teacher and more. He was critical, well read, sarcastic, witty, light on his feet, and able to contextualize and structure the information in a way that flowed- even if he was answering a question that he himself had not expected to be asked. I've never heard anyone throw so many relavent yet random quotes into a lecture in my life. Socrates this, Jefferson that, well known 15th century theologian this, Labour Party member that.....
His talk again stoked the eternal debate about religion in society, the meaning of life, the structure of a society based on a state religion, what it means for toleration in the UK, the future of the Church of England, and what the US's form of 'secular' really means.
To save you the dull and random rhetoric that has been clouding my brain for the last two weeks, i'll hit you with the most interesting point that i came up with from his talk: The Church of England is a state religion. Toleration is obviously touted, but essentially the church is the official religion, and as such has become a novelty, a tradition more than an actual religion. Recent times have hinted that the church and state could split, which brings me to my genius moment of the night: While the UK moves further from state-based religion, it seems as though the US is moving closer and closer to it (not actually institutionalized, but instead integrated thanks to the religious and political Evangelical Right).....
Secularism in the States has meant that certain religion must be left out of schools, etc. But it also means that religion has been immune to debate, immune from criticism from a doctrinal and reason-based standpoint. (See also: End of Faith)
Whew.
In other news, I finally got my spikes from home (thanks, mom), and if i wasn't busy every weekend from here until May, i would be more than ready to join the Athletics team here in running some real live races. Hilary now informs me that recent NCAA rules stipulate we might not be able to run.... whatever, maybe Pasche should read this and get back to me?
In related news, i'm off to my first Athletics practice in weeks- i could blame rain, being out of town, or sickeness, but really i've just been lazy about getting back to campus after a day full of classes (Wednesdays)....
Guests at dinner again tonight- the International Studies Reps from UNott.... ors derves and sherry served at 530... hopefully we'll be back by then.
Otherwise, tomorrow the guys ship off for London where i'll meet up with Heather (BFF from KTC this summer), and hit up Avenue Q and Wicked on consecutive nights.... should be a good time.
crashed hard drive. (70 GB of music, Nottingham photos, all my college work.....) firefox quits after 2hr blog post (biggest post ever). ipod out of battery (could recharge it and be fine, but woe is better in threes). Wasted is a good word to describe how i feel.
My post was eloquent. It was insightful. Detailed, filled with 20+ pictures. I was funny. Witty even. Full of that high-culture banter that only Phil Juggins can pull off.... we're talking Vonnegat-style, Salinger-quick and full of prose. I digress.
Bath. this is painfully frustrating knowing that i've wasted a morning on this and gotten nowhere, and that i'll be writing the same stuff word for word, but that's life. Here goes:
Bath is a city born and raised on tourism. First used by the Romans for its mystical hot springs, and later by the Victorian English crowd as the only place to 'be seen' other than london in the 18th century, Bath is a city set in a valley that seems to gleam with a golden color in the sun. All of the buildings are built to look similar. The same style (Georgian) and the same color (as mentioned before). In a "Wrinkle in Time" sort of way, the place is almost creepy. Architechts designed the neighborhoods to be identical from their fascades, and only distinguished by their inside design. The streets are cobbled, hilly, and teaming with tourists. To call Bath Touristy would be exactly what the Victorians or Romans wanted. Our first moments in Bath were spent getting a feel for the town. The roads were in no way organized- circuitous, winding, and often leading to random dead ends or taking you across the bridge in an out-of-the-way path.... We were lead past greenspaces, giant phallic symbols erected in respect for Queen Victoria (ironic?), and strategically designed roundabouts, Circuses and alleyways. After a lame and unncessary trip to the Costume Museum (really? an exhibit on corsets?) The gang (minus Ana, who stayed back for 2 hrs helping unsuspecting Englishwomen (and men? Ryan?) try on industrial strength rib-crushing devices of beauty)) wandered around the town looking at shops and getting a better sense of geography. Starbucks provided the waste of 2.50 i had been looking for, while Jack Wills provided the answer to the question "What UK store is the exact same as Abercrombie- overly priced and painfully preppy, using popped collars, cologne and black and white pictures to sell its crap?"
My culture explosion continued as i not only ate at a French Restaurant (ok, Alsatian), and attended the London Philharmonic Orchestra concert at Bath's MOZART FEST 2006. Little did i know the cultural experience would only continue tomorrow with an opera, Mozart's Cosi fan Tutti.
Something about live music- especially classical or foreign- really gets my head going.... the music is intriguing, interesting- amazing to watch the musicians work- but at the same time, it almost acts as background music to my thoughts. home, family, England, future, past. It doesn't help that i've started reading The End of Faith by Sam Harris which tackles the issue of faith vs. reason in society and religous moderation. It's blowing my mind.
I only hope that in the future i'll find something that i can dedicate myself to and become as equally involved in as these musicians have been in their work. There is a determination, a fire in their eyes. As the first violin moves with a vigor and intensity that can only be desribed as epileptic, you can tell that he loves his work, and is able to live out his passion every day. it's almost intimidating knowing that there are people out there who have found their niche so perfectly while i'm totally lost.....
whew. i'll try to keep it light. Mozart got out at around 10, and the gang began to wander. Past the river, past the rugby pitch, past the Royal Crescent, and past a few phallic symbols. We discovered what might be considered THE BEST PLAYGROUND EVER. Zip lines, climbing walls, spinny platforms that inevitably lead to broken arms, and a contraption that combined a teeter totter with a tire swing with a merry go round. We laid down (lay down? lied down? lie down?) on an angled climbing wall in silence for what seemed like hours. The group has a tendency to find secluded places in the middle of English villages and sit. Usually talk, maybe not. It was nice to just sit, but sometimes my thoughts get the best of me and i get lost in random circular logics and alltogether too deep questions for my own good.
I wish the night could have ended like that, but we still had to find our way back. For my own theraputic good, i won't get into it. After the whole blog crashing thing, hard drive failure, etc. I don't think my blood pressure needs another go around. Let it be known that, although it took awhile, we found our way back.
Still in a funk from the previous night, I stayed in the hostel until 1030, reading my book, while others explored the city. Church at 10.45 provided my 'painfullly cliche' moment of the day, as the minister delivered a pre-packaged, dull sermon about the impact that loving thy neighbor can have on global affiars. In the meantime, my mind was thinking about how possibly the Jews during the Holocaust might have a different view of isolationism and small-scale love that he was preaching about. WWJD about Darfur, Kosovo, Cambodia, Auschwitz, etc. Maybe what we need is a little Old Testament Angry God instead of the Turn the Other Cheek that this minister was preaching about. I'm a pacifist, cut-and-run kind of guy, but in some cases (like WWII...) I'm thinking something had to be done, and no amount of prayer was going to solve it. Thank God (would that be considered a pun?) for the street performers and Cornish Pasties waiting outside of the Abbey, as they lifted my spirits (ok, i'll quit with the puns) and made me forget about all of the C of E business. These guys were great. Irreverant, unclothed, and unequivically the best street peformers i've seen this side of Pearl Street in Boulder CO. The video speaks for itself, but just know that those are in fact sparklers stuck in their be-thonged asses....
The Roman Baths were next on the agenda. The baths were seen as a religious, spiritual mystery first and later taken advantage as a place to relax and get naked with your closest friends. There were steam rooms, tepid pools, hot baths, and massage rooms. Not a bad deal really. The tour was accentuated by some commentary by Bill Bryson, and finally by a trip up to The Pump Room. The Pump Room is an extremely fancy tea room where an afternoon tea is around 25 bucks a person. Tiny sandwiches, little scones, clotted cream, baby jams, and two mini desserts later, Mary and I downed our mineral water (straight from the baths....warm, tasted like well water), and were taken in by the joys of consumerism. I am now the proud owner of some sweet EuroNikes, and have yet to find a winter coat. Opera was the name of the game on Sunday night, and Mozart again did not dissapoint. Operas have a bad name in the states- rich, pretentious people dressing up to listen to words they don't understand and clap at random intervals. Well, i loved it. The actors were amazing, the songs were at times long but mostly appreciated, and the story was hilarious. If there are cheap Operas in London this week, i'm game.
We met up with our non-opera buddies in the street and wandered around before hitting up a dirty fast food place where i ordered my first BRITISH CHEESEBURGER. all in all, not too bad really. at least i hope it was beef.
This All-American Night (opera, cheeseburger, nikes) was topped off by yet another bonding/emotive flatmate talk followed by AMERICAN FOOTBALL. BBC Five US shows pretty much all US programming, and late at night Sunday Night Football comes on. Giants v Bears, 2am. I can't tell you how beautiful it was to hear Al Micheals announce the starting lineup for the Bears.
Monday was an early start, but yet another trip to the seemingly ubiquitous coffee machines in this country (EsspressChoc is my favorite so far) provided me with caffine for our drive.
We met Kevin Murphy, pretentious Luther grad who now teaches clarinet at the Wells School, at Wells, where we were able to tour the Cathedral, tour the school, and sit in on classes. Through his thick MinnesotAnglo accent, Kevin explained how the US sucks and the UK's system of education (at least at his 24,000 us dollars a year school) would embarrass us. He claimed that no US high schooler could survive in his school, and maybe he was right. No US highchoolers i have ever met are that pretentious or wealthy.
All in all, he was a cool guy. A few statements caught me off guard: "The Luther Orchestra couldn't hold a candle to these kids" or "Europeans see things for what they are, Americans see things for what they aren't" (btw, awesome quote, i'll probobly reflect on that one later)....
The Cathedral was amazing- very striking carving work, amazingly inventive 'scissor arches', and an awesome tourguide who reminded me of your typical StNick-like grandpa.... The Cathedral brought up interesting points about the accessability of the church in early times- the idea that a Bible written in English in the 1300s would have gotten you killed (only the priests could talk to God or know God)... it's an interesting parallel to the current "In your face" missionary work that goes on... not to mention a blatent example of how Biblical interpretation and theological opinion has changed......
The last chunk of our trip was dedicated to large rock formations. Stonehenge and Avebury, two well known formations, were our final stops. Stonehenge is comically situated 100 meters from a highway, and is only accessable by paying money and going under the highway via a tunnel. F-that says Luther, as we ran across the road and took pics through a fence. classy. Avebury is a town within a hilly, stone monument- dotted enclosure, and by the time we got there, it was dark. A packed lunch filled with delicious Juice (no junk, just juice) provided the energy we needed to listen to the new Josh Groban Cd and other interesting crap on the 3 hr drive home..... This Week: -Paidiea lecture, book bus tix for London on Thursday, write some essays or something, run for once, look into tattoo ideas...in London?...
This is what HAPPENED when 9 students from the middle of nowhere WERE picked to live in a flat in the middle of Nottingham, England.
This is what HAPPENED when people stopped being polite, and start being REAL.
This WAS Luther- Nottingham Campus, 2006-2007
...And now I'm back.
