Toque

Here is a picture of my fellow PhD student, Alex, wearing Paul's toque (a Canadian term for a winter hat with flaps):

 

Viking Metal

So this past Wednesday I went to this gig at the Rio in Bradford with the other resident metalheads among the postgrads in medieval studies: Nicky, Thom, Ralph and his friend Lev (short for the Leviathan). We saw three viking metal bands: Týr, from the Faroe Islands; Winter Sun, from Finland; and from Sweden, Amon Amarth. Týr was the main reason I wanted to go to the show. Ralph gave me a copy of their album, Eric the Red, a couple of weeks ago and I loved it. It reminds me of early Metallica. Half of their lyrics are in Faroese, so I can't understand much of it, but their songs are mainly based on the old viking sagas, such as Regin the Blacksmith. They also do a cover of "The Wild Rover" that is absolutely fantastic, and another, prophetic, song about the Greenpeace vessel, Rainbow Warrior, calling for it to sink.

Anyway, the concert was great! We walked in just as Týr began "The Wild Rover", and ran up to the stage, horns in the air, hair flailing everywhere. Unfortunately, Týr's set was quite short, only four songs, but I got to hear my favourite song of theirs ("The Wild Rover"). Here are a couple of pictures of Týr performing:





You can't see it in the photo, but the base player was wearing a chain mail shirt.

The second band up, Winter Sun, was mediocre at best. They are your generic death metal band, that look and sound more like a parody than the real thing. Their music is rather uninspired. I would much rather have had Týr perform a longer set than listen to Winter Sun. I didn't take any photos of them.

The headliners, Amon Amarth, were phenomenal. The lead singer could be a real viking. I think if you gave him a sword and a ship, he could do some serious damage. He had a drinking horn attached to his belt that he drank from throughout the show. By the time they came on, the place was more crowded, so I was further away from the stage. Therefore, my pictures of Amon Amarth and as good as the photos of Týr.



Much fun was had by all. My neck and throat are still sore though. That's partly because I haven't given them a chance to recuperate, considering the shenanigans that occurred at the Thanksgiving party Kat and I went to last night. Go read her blog post about it. She describes it much better than I could.

Vader informs Palpatine about the Death Star

My favourite quote concerning the elections

"And nowhere did the American people make it more clear that we need a new direction than in the war in Iraq. 'Stay the course' has not made our country safer, has not honored our commitment to our troops and has not made the region more stable. We cannot continue down this catastrophic path."

Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House

View from the Le Patourel Room

Working late on a Sunday in the Le Patourel room, I look out the window and see this magnificent sky view:

Leeds

 

The pictures didn't quite capture the depth of colour, just an inferior representation of reality. Enjoy these photos.

Happy Hallowe'en!

Follow this link for your treat!

Spamalot!

Kat and I went to see Spamalot down in London this past weekend. It was fantastic! The second act wasn't as strong as the first, but it ended with the entire audience on their feet singing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". Tim Curry was, not surprisingly, phenomenal, and Hannah Waddingham was stunning as the Lady of the Lake. The new songs aren't as catchy as any of the original Python songs appearing in this show, and I was disappointed that a few of my favourite scenes in the film are missing in the musical, such as the bridge of death and Castle Anthrax. But the new scenes do add to the story and character. I loved it and I would love to see it again. Here's a link to some photos I took at the theatre.

Spamalot

Nov 6, 2005 - 10 Photos

Captain Kirk and the Holy Grail

Green in Blue

The fall semester is steadily approaching, and after a somewhat busy summer, I just realised that this term is quickly turning into what could be the busiest term I've ever experienced in my academic career. My contract at the International Medieval Congress ended 31 July, and was not renewed because it was decided to eliminate several part-time positions and combine them into a nearly full-time position. I simply don't have the time to do a full time job while working on my thesis. So, I've been looking for other part-time jobs. It's been going well. I've been offered some occasional work at my favourite cinema, the Hyde Park Picture House, picking up shifts of regular employees when they take vacation time. I also applied for a weekend customer service assistant position at the university library. My interview was yesterday, and I think it went rather well. I haven't heard back yet, but I was told they might not contact me until the beginning of next week. I have a good feeling about it though. I did find out this morning that I've been slated to teach some seminars at Sheffield University this term. I'll be leading tutorials for History 112: Paths from Antiquity to Modernity. I am excited about teaching a general history survey course and the opportunity to warp more young minds, or at least those that pay attention in class. I'll also be teaching a couple of Anglo-Saxon Culture seminars here in the IMS again.

After I posted a Call For Papers for the International Medieval Congress 2007 several people sent me good abstracts that will make an interesting session if it is accepted. I am in the process of submitting the proposal. I also still have to write the book review I mentioned here in my first post to this blog. Fortunately, the deadline for it has been pushed back a few times, not by my request, but because of other delays. The new deadline is the end of this month.

Outside of academia, things have been going well. Kat and I celebrated our anniversary last week by going to YO! Sushi, which serves the best sushi we've found here in England. Kat's birthday was Tuesday, and we had a party for her at Hukaz, a great little restaurant just around the corner from our house. This weekend we'll be seeing a couple of films I've been looking forward to for a while: A Scanner Darkly and The Notorious Bettie Page.

As far as my surgery goes, I feel almost fully recuperated. All my strength has returned. I still occasionally feel a little pain where they made the incisions. The scars are healing quite nicely, and will hardly be noticeable once all my chest hair grows back.

Life on Mars

Correction. In my last post I mentioned that Kat would be on BBC Radio 4. I was mistaken. We had faulty information. She was on BBC Radio Leeds. Here is the link to the show with the segment in which she is interviewed about the Hyde Park Picture House project. Her segment begins at 2 hours and 23 minutes into the show, so you will need to fast forward a bit. You'll also need RealPlayer. I don't know how long this will be available. Probably only for the next 24 hours. So go and listen.

When the Levee Breaks

I have double the good news to announce. Yesterday saw me discharged from the hospital about the same time my sister was being admitted to give birth to my new nephew, Landon Edward Cuevas, who came into the world at 2:59 PM Central Daylight Time (Greenwich Daylight Time -0600), weighing in at 7lb 11oz and 21" long. Welcome and happy birthday Landon! I can't wait to meet you. Congratulations Joelle and Scott!

So, yes, I said I was discharged from the hospital. I was supposed to be spending this week helping excavate a Roman villa in Norfolk. My appendix had other plans. He wasn't a happy fellow. Last week he became inflamed, causing me much abdominal pain. He was sneaky though, and didn't show any other signs that he wanted to be separated from me, such as nausea or diarrhea. Then Friday evening he threw a fit, creating some of the most severe pain I've ever experienced, at which point I decided it was a good idea to go to the Emergency Room of Leeds General Infirmary. I was admitted, and Saturday afternoon, around 2 o'clock, the surgeons sucked out my appendix and stomped that puppy flat. This was the first time in my life I was admitted to hospital as a patient. I made it 30 years in life without experiencing the joys of being a hospital patient, the wonderful cuisine, sharing a room with 5 other sick people, the courtesy of leaving a light on for you all night, and the hourly visits from the nurses to poke you and squeeze you to make sure you're still alive. I hope I make it another 30 years before I am lucky enough to be admitted to hospital again. I'm recovering well though. My stomach has three holes in it from the laparoscopy, and is a bit tender and sore, but I'm quickly regaining my strength. I intend to spend the next few days surfing the net or parked on the couch watching westerns and samurai films (I am rarely at home alone with enough time to watch the films that Kat doesn't like to watch). Needless to say, I won't be digging trenches or lugging buckets of dirt anytime soon.

In other news, Kat will be on BBC4 Today programme tomorrow morning around 8:30AM talking about her book project on the Hyde Park Picture House. Tune in! If you don't live in an area where your radio picks up BBC4, then use the listen again feature on the website.

Call for papers: Saints in the City

Special Session at the International Medieval Congress

University of Leeds, 9-12 July 2007

To complement the theme of the 2007 International Medieval Congress, Medieval Cities, I am organising a special session devoted to the relationship between saints and cities. For example, early Christian saints sometimes shaped the geographic evolution of medieval cities. Early saints’ cults often developed around the tombs of martyrs; therefore shrines were constructed in cemeteries that lay outside Roman towns. These shrines occasionally became the nuclei around which churches expanded, with communities in turn developing around them. This shift away from the Roman centre of settlement is evident at, for instance, Bonn, Cologne, Xanten, Tours, and St Albans. This demonstrates just one aspect of possible associations between saints and urban centres.

I am seeking papers that explore not only the effect of saints on geography, but any aspect of the relationship between saints and cities in the early medieval period.

Please note that I am only organising a session proposal. The International Medieval Congress Programming Committee determines which sessions are accepted, and they usually make their decisions in November. It should also be mentioned that all session speakers and moderators at the International Medieval Congress are required to pay their own travel, registration, and accommodation fees. Information and applications for bursaries are available at http://imc.leeds.ac.uk/imcapp/Submit/BursaryApplicationForm.jsp.

Organiser: Michael Garcia, PhD Student, Institute for Medieval Studies, University of Leeds

Please send an abstract of no more than 300 words to Michael Garcia at saintsinthecity at googlemail.com by 1 September 2006.

The fourteenth International Medieval Congress will take place in Leeds, from 9-12 July 2007. For more information on the International Medieval Congress, go to http://www.leeds.ac.uk/ims/imc.

We Can Work It Out

I found this YouTube clip over at That Little Round-Headed Boy's blog. He posted it on his blog in order to counter the depressing events being reported in the news over the past month. If your faith in humanity needs to be restored, I encourage you to watch this. It's not Frank Capra, but is just as inspiring.

Back in Black

It’s been nearly two months since my last blog entry. What happened in that time that prevented me from chronicling my life in this highly anticipated blog? Did I fall off the face of the earth? Was I kidnapped by pirates (again)? Whisked away by the sole-surviving Time Lord and taken on adventures through space and time? Or is that that my life has been so mind numbingly dull that I haven’t had anything to write about. Nope. None of these is true. On the contrary, I’ve been so busy I haven’t had time to blog. I went to Iceland for a week. I returned in time to work ridiculously long hours at the International Medieval Congress, and had enough time after that to recuperate for a visit from my sister, brother-in law and nephew, their first trip to the UK.

Iceland was absolutely fantastic. I won’t go into detail now. I plan on transcribing my notes from the trip to this journal in the near future. In the meantime, pictures from the trip can be viewed at www.flickr.com. I must also tell of the International Medieval Congress. Several interesting developments resulted from some contacts I made there. Furthermore, I just had some family visit me here in the UK, my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. Each of these merits at least one bog entry each.

So last week was my first full week back in the Le Patourel room (the shared office of postgraduates in medieval studies). While I should have been busily working on my thesis and preparing for my next supervision meeting, I spent my time applying for jobs. Why? Because the contract for my last job ended on 31 July, and it wasn’t renewed. This is because it was decided that since several people would be leaving the office, it would be a good idea to combine several part time jobs into one nearly full time job. Unfortunately, I can’t spare more than a few hours a week away from thesis work, so I won’t be applying for the new position. I also cannot afford to not make any income, so I’ve been whoring myself out, looking for teaching opportunities at nearby universities, and also applying for jobs in the library here at Leeds. Wish me luck!

I also spent some time last week composing a call for papers for a session I am organising at next year’s International Medieval Congress. The session is titled ‘Saints in the City’. Yes it is a pun on ‘Sex in the City’, but it is also a reference to a Bruce Springsteen song. I’ve received a few replies so far, and I hope to get more. Maybe I’ll post the call for papers here soon.

By far, the strangest thing that has happened to me since my last blog is that I have lost my sense of taste. Yeah, I know I never had much taste to begin with, but what I’m talking about is my ability to taste food. It’s a very rare side effect of some medicine I was on. It’s been a very strange phenomenon and makes eating an entirely new experience. Everything tastes of cardboard and wax. Eating is reduced to a purely biological function. I went to the doctor, and he said it was okay for me to come off the medication. I am starting to notice the slow return of my taste buds.

Leci n'est pas une pipe

So the World Cup begins today. It doesn't seem like it's been four years since I was getting up ridiculously early to go over to my friend August's house to watch the live broadcast of the matches held in Korea.* And it was four years before that when I followed the tournament from the Bahamas, where I was participating in an archaeological field school. This year, to make things interesting, postgraduates and staff at the Institute for Medieval Studies have started a sweepstakes, where everyone draws teams, selecting randomly from slips of paper in a hat. Gag gifts will be given to those people whose teams allow the most goals. I drew Germany and Serbia, who I will now be rooting for in addition to the USA.

Leeds is currently experiencing a heat wave, with daily tempuratures reaching as high as 75°. Everyone is complaining about the heat. My standard response, if I can refrain from laughing, is to say "I don't care how many times you say it. I will not agree or sympathise with you until it reaches at least 95°."

One of the articles I've been working on has finally been submitted to the editor. It's the paper I co-authored with two other postgraduates and presented at a conference in King's College London back in March. I am still fine tuning the paper for the Iceland conference, but it is in pretty good shape. When I feel confident about it, I'll begin working on a PowerPoint presentation to go with it. I also still have a book review to write, but that's now not due until August.

*August had a dog that would howl whenever he heard bagpipes. I don't know which sound was more grating on the ears.** Fortunatley, living in Baton Rouge, there weren't many occasions where one was exposed to bagpipes. August remedied this by purchasing CD's with bagpipe music with the sole intention of playing them to make his dog howl.

** I am telling a lie. I like bagpipes. I once gave my mother a CD of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards as a birthday present just so I could listen to it. I did leave it with her, though, when I moved over here to England.

De ratione temporibus

My how time flies. I don't know where May went. Come to think of it, I'm still wondering what happened to 2005. May was a busy month, but June and July will make May seem like a walk in the park.

For Memorial Day, Kat and I hiked out to Kirkstall Abbey, on the outskirts of Leeds. It's the ruins of a twelfth century Cistercian Monastery. We were rained on walking there and back, but the weather was cooperative while we were there. Here's a picture of the abbey:


I've put up an album of photos from the abbey, along with a few others, over at Flickr.

My thirtieth birthday was the 14th of May. I don't feel any older. I didn't expect that I would. I really don't have any further comment about my age. I have received some nice cards and gifts from family and friends, mostly gift certificates which I will use or have used to get CD's and DVD's. So far this includes Batman Begins, Serenity, Best of Bowie and Fight Club. With the remainder, I am considering MirrorMask, Star Wars Episode III (that's right, I don't own it yet), Clone Wars Vol. II, Samurai Jack Season 2 and Corvus Corax' Carmina Burana. Kat and I also have a stack of DVD's we've borrowed from friends to watch. We're waiting for the next installment of Smallville Season 3. In the meantime we're watching Twin Peaks.

Did you know that there is a Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists? I thought about applying, but I'm not sure if they consider archaeology a science.

This past weekend, Kat and I went to see the Rocky Horror Show in York. It was fantastic! There were several audience members with perfect timing on the participation lines, and the cast did an excellent job responding to them. At least half of the audience was in costume. Kat and I weren't in full costume, just mildly goth. Kat took this photo of some of the crowd:


David Bedella was an outstanding Frank'n'furter. He's not as good as Tim Curry, but then again, only Tim Curry is as good as Tim Curry. Which reminds me, I'm very much looking forward to seeing him as King Arthur in Spamalot. Kat and I have tickets for when the show opens in London this October.

I found out Tuesday that I was awarded a travel grant from the Royal Historical Society for my conference in Iceland. Thank you Royal Historical Society! I spent a good portion of yesterday obtaining reservations for a hostel in Reykjavik, accommodation at the conference, and train tickets to Stansted Airport. Unfortunately, there are no trains I can take that will get me from Leeds to Stansted early enough to catch my flight. So I will be arriving late the night before my flight and sleeping at the airport. That's going to be fun.

He's more machine now than man...twisted and evil

But there's still good in him. I can feel it. I am referring of course to George Lucas, who has found it in his cold heart to release the original theatrical versions of the Star Wars trilogy on DVD. See the official Star Wars website. Of course there is a catch. The unaltered original films are merely 'bonus material' added to the re-re-re-release of the dreaded special editions, version 2.1. I will of course buy them, increasing George Lucas' bank account which by now must rival Scrooge McDuck's money pool. I wonder what other special features will be on the discs.

Sci-Fi Wasabi

Yo! Sushi is a dangerous restaurant. Kat and I went there for dinner Sunday night. It is a sushi restaurant where the patrons sit at the bar where fresh sushi passes before them on a little conveyor belt. You take whatever you fancy. The plates are colour-coded, and each colour is a different price. Lime is £1.50, blue £2, orange £2.50, pink £3, purple £3.50 and black £5. When you're done, your waiter/waitress counts up the plates and gives you the cheque. If you're not paying attention, you can rack up a heavy bill. This is quite easy to do when the sushi is particularly good, which it was. Except for the fact that the staff were eager to go home and began shutting down early, it was a highly enjoyable experience. It was the best sushi I've consumed on this side of the Atlantic. I am simultaneously thrillled and afraid that there is a new location of Yo! Sushi here in Leeds.
After sushi, Kat and I wondered along the Thames and across the Golden Jubilee Bridge, where I took this photograph:
This picture does not accurately portray the weather at the time. It was windy, and chilly, and threatening to rain. Not surprising considering the location, but still unpleasant if it is the last day of April.

I finished and sent in the travel grant to the Royal Historical Society for the conference in Iceland. I spent all day today working on it, and received an excellent reference from one of my supervisors. I should find out if I will receive it by 19 May. Keep your fingers crossed! Now all that is on my agenda is that book review, a paper for the conference, and that other paper to be published. The other co-authors and I have set and cancelled meetings three times since our last meeting, because as each appointment approached we had to admit to each other that we hadn't actually done anything with our portion of the piece. We were supposed to meet today but postponed again until next Monday.

My final Latin class, ever, was today. I've been doing Latin for two years now and am happy with my level of proficiency. In class we read some fairly easy quasi-philisophical text titled Vir Speculativus. I will continue studying Latin via the postgraduate reading group, but no more classes. And of course I'll use it in my thesis. This may be the last class I ever take as a student. I hope not.

I tried a new recipe for dinner last night, beef panang. It was delicious. The recipe calls for thin strips of beef cooked in coconut milk and red curry paste, with some fish oil and brown sugar. I added some broccoli and green pepper and served it over rice. I think it will be a new regular dish in my repetoire.

Sultans of Swing

I'm glad that this week, one of the busiest I've had in months, is drawing to a close. The meeting with my supervisors on Wednesday went very well and saw much inspiring discussion about where to go with my research. Yesterday's symposium was a resounding success. So tonight I shall stay in with Kat and watch Batman Begins on DVD, an early birthday present. Tomorrow will be grocery shopping, working on my thesis, and a shift behind the concession stand at the Hyde Park Picture House (whose website has curiously been down for a few days now). Sunday Kat and I are going down to London to catch an exhibit, Gothic Nightmares, at the Tate Britain, and an early birthday dinner for me at Yo! Sushi, both of which I'm very much looking forward to. Our return train will be arriving in Leeds at 2am Sunday night/Monday morning. Fortunately, Monday is a bank holiday, so we can sleep in.

Ramble On

So I thought I'd share what passes for humor among post-graduate students in medieval studies. In the UK, Easter Break lasts for one month, and we get no other holidays during term time. Over break, my classmate, Zsuzsa, went back home to Hungary. She left some of her library books here in Leeds, in the post-graduate shared office, AKA the Le Patourel Room. While in Hungrary she received an email notice from the Brotherton Library stating that one of her books was due back soon:

Brotherton Library
University of Leeds
Leeds LS2 9JT
0113 343 5663
20-04-06

Medieval Studies FT
Zsuzsa
INSTITUTE FOR MEDIEVAL STUDIES

Dear Library member,
Another customer has requested this item. Please return
by the due date below. The item is not eligible for renewal.
A fine will be payable if it is not returned by this date.
Thank you.

Kantorowicz, Ernst Hartwig,
The king's two bodies : a study in
CALL NO: Philosophy M-4.2 KAN
BARCODE: 30106000745306
Brotherton Main level DUE: 26-04-06
DATE CHECKED OUT: 07-02-06 05:41PM

8:59

Zsuzsa's solution to returning the book in Leeds while still in Budapest was to email the following message to all other post-graduates in the Institute for Medieval Studies:

Congratulations!
You won!

Participating in the 'Work for Zsuzsa' communal programme you are eligible for the amazing new challenge: The Great Dungeon Experience!

Grab Ernst Kantorowicz and you might be the lucky runner-up for the next round!

All you have to do is find him on the top shelf in LePat and dunk the King's Two Bodies in the gaping orifice of the Great Hall of Brotherton.

Enter our amazing medieval-themed sweepstake by collecting the most dragon-points and gremlin powerscores!

Who knows? You may be the next winner who will have the opportunity to spend an entertaining night out with Leeds's only Hungarian celebrity!

Unbelievable!

You may even be eligible to enter the bonus mega-challenge and end up paying for the superstar's snakebites* too!

Don't miss it! The chance of a lifetime!

To enter the sweepstake report on your successful mission to our headquarters in Budapest.

Many thanks for participating.

To all those not wishing to be involved in the project: sorry for spamming.

The Zsuzsa

*A snakebite is a type of alcoholic beverage, consisting of blackcurrent juice and cider.

Communication Breakdown

So, I had a presentation yesterday evening that didn't go as well as it could have. Just as I began to talk I became very nervous, and consequently abandoned the sequence of my speech. I managed to recover after a couple of minutes, and apparantly aside from the shaky start, the paper was well received. I think the pretty PowerPoint slides I used impressed them. However, I'm a little ashamed about having been so nervous. After all, I presented a paper for a conference at King's College London last month, and I wasn't nervous about that at all, even though that was a more intimidating venue. Ultimately, I just wasn't as fully prepared as I could have been. That will not be the case for the conference in Iceland. The conference organiser requires all papers to be submitted beforehand. So, I've got to finish writing my paper, the travel grant application, the book review, and the other paper I owe to that editor.

Valhalla I am coming

I'm going to Iceland! I found a travel grant that I am eligible for, and really cheap tickets at Icelandexpress.com. So I purchased the tickets, and hopefully I will get the travel grant. The grant is from the Royal Historical Society, and the deadline is May 8th. It was difficult finding a travel grant for which I am eligible. Many funding bodies only give you grants if you already have a PhD. Also, being an American studying in the UK limits my eligibility. Now all I have to do is renew my passport and transfer my visa.

From Roman Provinces to Barbarian Kingdoms

Although it is mid-April the mercury in the thermometer is still hovering just above freezing. We had a brief warm spell last week but now it's back to miserable.
I went to the train station this morning to get tickets to Liverpool for Friday. The university is shut for Easter, so Kat and I are taking a day trip. We'll be going to the Lady Lever Art Gallery, which has many pre-Raphaelite works of art. That evening we'll be taking a ghost walk tour of the city, run by a company called Shiverpool. Maybe we'll see the grave of Eleanor Rigby. Kat and I have been on many haunted history tours in a few cities, including London, Dublin, Edinburgh, New Orleans...and others that escape me at the moment.
I got a surprise in my inbox this morning. A couple of months ago I read about a conference this summer in Iceland on saints and geography, which is closely related to my thesis. I emailed the organiser and asked about the cost and whether or not any travel grants were available. The organiser emailed me back with more details and asked how it related to what I was doing. Being in Iceland, the costs were a little high, but the papers being presented had a technologoical focus, discussing the use of databases, something that is very relevant to my current work. So I wrote back explaining what my thesis is and what I'm working on. The organiser replied and asked if I could give a paper. I explained that I would love to attend and present a paper, but only if I managed to get some sort of travel grant, because I am poor as dirt. I didn't hear anything after that for some time, until this morning a mass email about the conference appears in my inbox. It includes more conference information about travel and accomodation, and the conference schedule. Listed among the speakers giving papers is me! I guess I was accepted, and I think I should start looking for travel grants. The good news is if I go, I can recycle the paper I plan to present to the University of Leeds Medieval Group in two weeks. But I still have a book review to write and work to submit to my supervisors. Oh, and I just rememberd that other paper I owe to an editor.

After Rome

ho hum. I'm meant to be working on my thesis, but the temptation of the internet is too strong a distraction. I've got too much work to do: a book review, a presentation in two weeks, a database to build, a supervisors meeting quickly approaching, travel grants to find, and Guildor to frame for it.
Kat, my wife, and I saw The Princess Bride on the big screen last night, as part of a kids film festival. I don't know but I don't think I saw it when it originally ran in cinemas. Also saw The PianoTuner of Earthquakes. Very strange, like David Lynch meets Jan Svankmajer.
Saturday saw a great live show at the Royal Park Pub, with Frances Rodgers and Curtis Eller, both fantastic musicians.