Books, Films, and Music

10:00am - Our Tolkien class met with Dr. Snyder at WISC office this morning.  Today's discussion centered on C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams, both members of the Inklings literary circle along with J.R.R. Tolkien. Lewis is famous for his novels including the Chronicles of Narnia series and also for his writings on Christian apologetics. Taylor Luczak led the discussion.  Williams was a self-educated man who gained prominence for his work as a translator and editor at the London office of the Oxford University Press.  He was deeply religious, bordering on mysticism, with a strong personal magnetism that drew a large following during his lifetime.  He wrote widely and is remembered for his "supernatural thrillers" and a variety of difficult, yet beautiful poetry as well as a number of plays and historical texts.

C.S. Lewis (1898 - 1963)

 Charles Williams (1886-1945)

 (Photos taken from authors' Wikipedia articles)

12:15pm - Crossed the street to the STA office in order to process our International Student ID Cards. Now we can receive certain student discounts and special rates at various museums, restaurants, and stores. This is a useful card for students traveling abroad but unaffiliated with a foreign university.  If Even without an ID card from a local university, you can still have access to student rates and programs. STA cards also include some student/travel insurance and are widely recognized around the world.

12:30pm - Lunch at Gourmet Burger Kitchen, a popular chain restaurant. Great hamburger and nice 40% student discount on several menu items.  The food is excellent, so long as one orders the burgers well done.  Otherwise they are served medium-rare, something that works for steak but not burgers. Like most food in the UK, the burgers appear overpriced when converted to US Dollars (£9 = $14, w/o fries or drink), but they are tasty.  The student discount only applies to the smaller burgers, but it goes a long way.

(A large portion of the afternoon was spent dealing with a student who had lost her purse, passport, and travel documents at a dance club the night before. This involved far too much drama, none of which is worth recording here, but it will suffice to say that it was a valuable lesson in learning to avoid putting one's self in an easily-avoided bad situation.)

5:00pm - Visited the Radcliffe Camera (from the French for "room"), a part of the Bodleian Library and an Oxford landmark, in order to meet Khanh and Ben. This was my third visit to this massive library and my first time to actually see a book there. (This is slightly better than my track record at the Library of Congress where I was not actually able to see a book until my fourth visit, and then only at a distance.)

(photo by Hannah Rogers)

The Camera was full of finalists (4th year students) preparing for their exams. Back at home many students are particular about their ritual study space and woe to any poor freshman who takes the wrong empty seat.  It's much the same here.  Khanh sent me a text telling me where to find her, and even the barely-audible vibration of my cell phone drew some dirty looks.

The Camera is connected to another library building to the north by way of an underground passage which contains an additional two-story annex of stacks and study space called the Gladstone Link.  The sterile white  corridors, bright lighting, heavy fire doors, machinery, and the lack of windows (excepting skylights) look like something out of a science fiction film.

"Hello, Dave..."

(Photo by Khanh Nguyen)

 I read with Khanh and Ben for thirty minutes and then headed off to keep an appointment with my tutor at the nearby New College. Dr. Orsolya Kiss lives and works in her rooms in the Old Barn and Brewery in New College Lane, a winding medieval passage between the walls of New, Hertford, and The Queen's Colleges.  It was clearly a barn at some point in the distant past but has since been converted into don's quarters.

New College Lane and the "Bridge of Signs," built so students and faculty could avoid interaction with the sometimes unruly Oxford townspeople.

 Dr. Kiss greeted me and we spoke in her rooms for about 15 minutes, going through the  syllabus and the Oxford essay system.  I will be "reading" German Film, as they say here. Really watching, but plenty of reading too as many of the films are silent with title cards and are accompanied by a lengthy reading list of reference material. I will watch a selection of films, read as much relevant material as I can find, and write a 2,500 word essay addressing a writing prompt from the syllabus. Deadline: one week from today! Go!  Dr. Kiss will be traveling to Berlin for the remainder of the week, but I will be able to email her with questions.

6:00pm - I collected Ben and Khanh from the Bodleian Library and we made our way through evening crowds to Nando's, a Portuguese grilled chicken chain near the canal. Nando's is reminiscent of a higher-end Raising Cane's or Abner's back in the States but with table service and a wider variety of chicken dishes and side items.  I had the 1/4 chicken with a variety of Peri-Peri hot sauces and a side of ratatouille, vegetables in a tomato sauce. Khanh gave me her side of Macho peas. (Seriously. That is the name. Khanh felt awkward ordering anything containing the word "macho", so she simply asked for "peas".)

Over dinner, Ben's old roommate Mohammed, an Egyptian computer science Master's student, joined us. We had a lively conversation about the Egyptian and US presidential elections. Talk then turned to our mutual interest in music and Led Zeppelin.  I ordered a coffee after dinner and immediately regretted it.  I had no idea if Mohammed was a practicing Muslim or not, but I know some Muslim societies consider caffeine as intoxicating as alcohol and refrain from its use.  I certainly didn't wish to offend anyone, but then I realized that Mohammed was downing a huge glass of Coke. Muslim or no, I guess all students need caffeine!

8:30pm - Back to Christ Church Cathedral for a performance by the C.C. Orchestra. I'm terribly impressed that a college of 600 students can field its own orchestra! Or it may belong to the cathedral. Or both.  The last option is more likely, if a bit confusing.  Christ Church encompasses both the college and the cathedral, and some social groups incorporate both.

The program was Beethoven's 6th, the Pastoral Symphony. It depicts serene country landscapes, an afternoon by a brook, a folk gathering, a terrible thunderstorm, and finally a celebration of deliverance from the bad weather.  The orchestra performed in the north transept, underneath the huge stained glass window of St. Michael the Archangel (dressed as England's patron St. George) casting Satan (as the dragon) out of Heaven. At first the martial image struck me as a stark contrast to Beethoven's lively country scenes. Then the "thunderstorm" began. The low strings rumbled and the woodwinds sent scale runs skywards, punctuated by violent stabs from the violins as the setting sun outside illuminating the blazing red dragon falling through the sky.

...Then the storm was over. The musicians  captured the sound of peasants running outdoors, cheering its passing. Day's last rays peaking over the rooftops of the city illuminated St. Michael the Archangel, triumphant as the brass sounded his victory. The dragon lay dark at the bottom of the frame, beneath the roof line of the neighboring building.

And then the cathedral fell silent and the musicians scattered, returning to their studies which would occupy the rest of their evening as well as mine.

9:30pm - I walked back to Jericho along the canal path. It is unlit, but the evening wasn't yet so dark as to dissuade me like it had the night before.  It was a pleasant walk since the flies were not so bad this time of day, and from the windows of the barges moored along the canal, I caught snippets of the BBC evening news program. A car smash here. Bad weather there. Several ducks and swans dozed along the footpath. The male swans are large, up to around 25 pounds. I've seen what happens when they are disturbed and it's not pretty.  At night the swans often glide in pairs along the river, looking like eerily pale shadows against the black water.

The canal path widens the farther north one goes and opens up into a nice green area on the edge of the city called Port Meadow. For the first time, the canal was pleasant and I actually wanted to venture north. But I had reached my bridge over to Jericho and there was work to  be done.

Another time then.