Think Progress » ‘Mission Accomplished’ By The Numbers

Think Progress » ‘Mission Accomplished’ By The Numbers

Ilkley Moor - Don't forget your hat!

Kat and I had a good Easter. Last Friday, we went over to Paul's (another crazy medievalist) for dinner. He cooked rabbit in Mexican chocolate sauce, utterly appropriate for Easter. I've forgotten what we did on Saturday. Sunday we went to Marianne's (yet another crazy medievalist, who has attained the title of doctor) house for nibbles, lawn games such as croquet, and an Easter egg hunt. Monday I worked on my thesis while Kat cleaned the house. Yesterday Kat and I went up to Ilkley for a nice hike on the moor. I didn't forget to wear a hat. I've posted photos from the hike to my Picasa photo album. Here's a link:

Ilkley

Speeding Portuguese priest prompts complaint to Pope | Oddly Enough | Reuters

Speeding Portuguese priest prompts complaint to Pope | Oddly Enough | Reuters

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Of course, African swallows are non-migratory

England has been under a cold snap the past few days. Spring gave summer and autumn a turn and went straight into winter. There were snow flurries over the weekend and I don't remember it being any colder than this at all over winter. And then, this morning, on the way to campus, I found a coconut in Mercia Hyde Park. I stopped and contemplated how it got there, continued on to campus, then turned around and went back to get the coconut. I decided that no one would believe me if I told them I found a coconut in Mercia Hyde Park, no matter how clearly I explained the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow. So now I have proof. I think I will add it to the shrine of kitschy religious paraphernalia we keep in the Le Patourel Room, which has been temporarily removed due to the periodic review of the IMS.

Ambrose & Kira

As some of you know, Kat and I have recently adopted inherited two cats, named Ambrose and Kira. Ambrose, the one with black fur, is named after the fourth-century bishop of Milan. He's very friendly and playful. Kira, the grey and brown and white tabby, is not as outgoing, but just as sweet. She's named after the female gelfling from The Dark Crystal. So, without further ado, click on the photo below to see a small photo album with pictures of the cats.

Cats

At World's End

The History of the World according to Undergraduates

I've been sitting on several ideas for blog posts for a long time. Trying to write chapter one of my thesis, among many other things, has kept me from writing them. I am currently at work in the Health Sciences Library. Due to the fact that Easter Break has begun, it is very quiet here. So, I thought it might be time to compose one of those blog entries I've been meaning to do.

Last term I taught a history course that was a general survey of European History from the end of the Roman Empire to the present day. I didn't give lectures, I just lead seminars, which is where the students are broken into smaller groups and they talk about certain topics in depth. I marked their essays and graded their exams. Some of these made me proud, as they demonstrated that the students were paying attention and getting something out of the course. Most of them were mediocre, and a few made me cringe. For their final exams, I wrote down the cringe-worthy ones and share them with you now. Here is the history of the world, according to undergraduates.

Many barbarian tribes joined the Roman Empire due to the benefits they could
receive...King Theodoric received a Roman spin doctor for his cooperation.

Wherever Latin Christendom expanded to, it brought with it Christianity.

The early Roman emperors were considered to be gods on earth.

One of the earliest known multi-nation empires was the first Persian Empire,
which began in the sixth century BC. This empire even included many areas
within Britain.

Modernity must be seen as the final stage in the process of Modernisation, the
stage reached after the varying processes of modernisation have completed and
begun to work together. Modernity is a time, not a definition.

What makes such an essay [defining the characteristics of modernity] hard to
right [sic] is the fact that we are in the process of leaving or are still in
the modern era.

The crusades were steeped with a notion of expanding Christendom into its
spiritual heartland and in turn encompassing the East under a new 'Roman' sense
of identity.

The year 1500 is often seen as a transition to modernity, displaying
characteristics such as improved economic administration and social structure.

The adoption of Christianity would also lead to the Reformation dividing
Catholics and Protestants.

The following four statements are from the same exam.

As Voltaire argued, the Roman Empire was not "Holy, nor Roman, nor an
Empire".

Ferdinand and Isabella sent Columbus as a missionary but his hunt for gold and
wealth in the New World turned the native people into an inferior
race.

The Renaissance beginning around 1200 became the start of a move away
from religion, papacy, and absolute rule.

The British Empire and its success have changed the course of history to the
extent that it may be the reason I am sitting here today.

Unreleased Jimmy Page Guitar Riff To Be Retrieved From Secret Vault To Save Rock and Roll | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Unreleased Jimmy Page Guitar Riff To Be Retrieved From Secret Vault To Save Rock and Roll | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

House Hunting

Kat and I were informed this week that our landlord intends to sell our house. So we are now in search for a new place to live. This is a bit of a shock and very disappointing to us. We really like our house and we don't want to move. It is large enough for us, and is conveniently located near campus, several good shops and the Hyde Park Picture House. To say that having to find a new place and move all our stuff is an inconvenience would be a massive understatement. Kat and I are both swamped with work, and don't know where we'll find the time to look for somewhere new. Thus we come to the purpose of this post. I'm putting out an appeal to any of you who read this blog to let me know about any potential places for us to live. Our contract is through August of this year, so we need something available in September. We are looking for somewhere in Hyde Park (Leeds), close to campus, two bedroom (or spacious one bedroom), double-glazed windows, furnished, for under 600 pounds per month. Please tell me if you know about anything that meets these criteria.

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery

This past Tuesday, 27 February, Kat and I went down to Birmingham to meet a friend of ours from New Orleans, Sandra, who is visiting England with her boyfriend. Birmingham was the place easiest for us to meet, and we decided to go to the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. Kat has been waiting for a reason to go because it holds an impressive collection of pre-Raphaelite artwork. We spent the afternoon there gazing upon works by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones as well as Egyptian, Greek and Roman artefacts. It's a very nice museum. My favourite objects were the giant statue of Buddha, which looks to me like he is standing in a superhero pose, and Rossetti's Proserpine. I took some photos of Kat in front of Proserpine because I think she looks more than a little like Jane Morris, who modeled for the painting. You can judge for yourself by clicking on the photos below, where you can also see a photo of a statue of Lucifer that welcomes everyone to the museum.

BirminghamMAG

Snowed Under

I haven't been keeping up with my blog recently. This is mainly due to my increasingly large workload. At the moment I am working on a rough draft of chapter 1 of my thesis, two entries for the Brill Encyclopedia of Medieval Pilgrimage, and revising the three conference papers I presented last year in preparation for publication. I also still owe a book review to the International Medieval Bulletin.

On top of that, it appears that Kat and I might have to start looking for a new place to live in, as we have just been informed that our landlord intends to sell the house where we currently reside. I don't want to look for a new place. I like where we live and I don't want to have to move again.

Despite all this I have agreed to be interviewed on camera for a project by some broadcast journalism students. They're doing something on paganism, and I agreed to talk about the history of paganism. We'll be filming at Kirkstall Abbey. Hopefully we'll be done in time for me to attend the IMS lecture this evening at 5:30pm, Sea-faring Saints and Land-lubber Painters. After the lecture, the Medieval Film Society is screening Erik the Viking. There's been a lot of other things going on, some good some bad. I'll only mention the good. I have applied for a summer course in Budapest on Late Antiquity. I haven't learned whether or not I've been accepted, but I think I've got a good shot at it. Also, Kat and I went to Birmingham yesterday to meet up with an old friend from New Orleans, who is in the country with her boyfriend. We had a good visit with them at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, which has one of the largest collections of pre-Raphaelite drawings in the world. I'll make another post and include pictures in the near future. I must go and eat lunch now.

Because Neil asked me to

Penn Jillette

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