The Jape 'n' Jolly Times

tgwbs @ 2009-11-16T17:25:00

2009-11-16T16:25:20Z

12 Angry Men

Wow. One of the best films I’ve ever seen and definitely a 10/10. 12 jurists decide on the fate of a young man convicted of murdering his father. Brilliant acting from all of them, realistic and engaging characters, a very well written script and almost entirely filmed in one small room, this really is a masterpiece. The only fault I can think of is that the viewer knows how it will end right from the beginning, but that is kind of inevitable with a drama like this. So... watch this film.

Tesis (Thesis)

A Spanish film by Alejandro Amenábar, director of Abre los Ojos; I saw his name and decided to watch this. It was well worth it: lots of suspense, lots of nerve-wracking moments, characters with a bit of depth and a good plot. Like all thrillers, the film did suffer from several “why-are-you-doing-that, it’s-clearly-not-a-good-idea?” moments which always annoy me. But it was definitely an above-average thriller and also asked some interesting questions. 7/10

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

I remember hearing that this was a romance when it came out and refusing to watch it on that basis. Having read a bit more about it, I went to see it and thought it was brilliant. It was a great film, and left me asking myself so many questions about the nature of love, memory and happiness that I will probably bore you with a blog about it soon. I liked the characters a lot and the plot was (literally) fantastic. I think it was particularly interesting for me as I am practically emotionless and this is one of the most emotional films I have seen. I can’t quite understand the casting of Jim Carrey though. 8.5/10

Chateau / Teaching / German Guilt

2009-11-16T16:22:51Z

Chateau de Chenonceau

Wednesday was a national holiday in France to mark the Armistice. As everyone had a day off, we went to Chenonceau, a nearby chateau. I regret not having a camera because it was very impressive. I thought it would be quite dull, but it was surprisingly interesting – built on a bridge and, therefore, in the middle of a river, it was the home of Catherine de Medici as well as a few other king and queen type people at various points. I spent the day waving a small European Union flag I had got that morning and singing the European anthem. Hooray!

Teaching

Teaching has not been bad. I have some classes that are quite dire as the students don’t say anything or, in some cases, are simply incapable of expressing themselves in English. However, when I get students who actually speak English reasonably well, it seems well worth it – I had one girl say at the end of a class “that went well, we had fun!” I think the key seems to be to appear cheerful and friendly and loquacious, as the children then feel guilt-tripped into participating. :D

German guilt

Knowing lots of Germans makes me feel extremely bad. They all speak better French than English people, and on top of that they all speak almost perfect English. And it’s not even just language students – I have met several friends of German assistants who don’t study languages, and can still hold a conversation in fluent English. It’s just embarrassing. The only Anglophone who speaks any German in our friend circle here is me. I took it to GCSE and then gave up 5 years ago; as such, what I occasionally speak can barely even be called German.

So I feel embarrassed in comparison with multilingual Germans. Britain, France and Germany are without any doubt the most important nations in Europe and have contributed the most to its literature, philosophy and values; I kind of feel that to be the best European possible, I should learn German.

There is also a more personal aspect to my guilt. I took French rather than German to A level and subsequently to university for a number of reasons, but one of those reasons was that French is a lot easier than German. I feel as though I ran away from German. I know that, if I put my mind to it, I could learn German – I always complain about its cases and verbs and genders, but I’m a logical, rule-minded language learner and, though it would be difficult, I know I could do it.

So, feeling so guilty, am I about to try to start German again for the umpteenth time? I lack time and, I think, sufficient motivation; after this year abroad, I will have little use for German. But I’m picking up a lot by listening to Germans and haltingly talking to them in German, and I may do an oral course once I’m done with Spanish in February or something. So, at the very least, my German will become slightly better, and that’s something.

Last two days

2009-11-04T17:19:07Z

Poitiers

On Monday I went to Poitiers, the administrative capital of the neighbouring Poitou-Charentes region about an hour away by train, to meet up with Ella, a French student from Hertford who is a language assistant there.

As a town, Poitiers is immensely dull. In size it is smaller than Tours, which is about the size of Oxford or Luton, with few things to do in the city centre. On the other hand, it was great meeting up with Ella and chatting. We were never more than acquaintances at Oxford: the amount of time I spent talking to her on Monday was probably greater than the amount of time we’d ever talked to one another before. However we did get along well; we would exchange small talk before classes and I could always count on Ella to sign a few letters for Amnesty. She seemed reasonably content overall in Poitiers, except for a few minor issues such as we all have on our year abroad. I was also immensely jealous to learn that she was accommodated by her school in a spacious room with a large common area and kitchen for a mere €135/month! Although the furnishings are a little weird and she has no internet, this is amazing.

I got home from Poitiers, ate, then went out to the Cafe des langues, where we assistants usually meet each Monday evening. However, as it was the holidays, nobody I knew was there! Initially I was disconcerted but then the whole point of the night is to meet new people. I ended up talking to a Libyan with a crazy accent about Gaddafi and then met a young French-Pakistani woman who knows one of my students. Overall this was pretty brilliant.

Nantes

Yesterday, I went to Nantes with two German assistants. Nantes is quite a bit further down the Loire, nearly on the Atlantic, and took about two hours to get to by train. It’s also the sixth largest city in France and as such made a very nice contrast with Poitiers; it was very lively, and we actually didn’t have enough time to see everything we wanted. There’s a Chateau there where the Dukes of Brittany used to live when it was independent, which we visited, before heading to “The Machines of the Island”. This is a fantastically innovative development taking place on an island in the Loire. There are three parts, of which one has already been completed: a GIGANTIC MECHANICAL ELEPHANT. Yes, you read that right. It is three stories tall, moves it trunk and ears, and even has eyelashes. Furthermore, about forty people can sit on it at once and it takes them for rides around the island! I am so fantastically enthralled by this elephant that I can barely express myself. All cities have become so similar, with such similar attractions, that something extraordinary like this really enthuses me, and perhaps even makes me feel brighter about humanity in general and our capacity for invention and fantasy in particular. Unfortunately we couldn’t go on a ride because of the nasty weather – lots of wind and rain – but we still saw him. The two other parts of the island should be ready by 2010 and 2016 respectively; the former is a GIGANTIC carousel with several levels composed of various sea creatures, the latter a GIGANTIC metal tree covered in plants with two metallic herons on top which visitors will be able to sit on and, allegedly, fly around the tree on. So, Nantes is definitely worth checking out in the near future.

I also had a delicious Nantais meal – some regional fish for the main and something called crème nantaise which the restaurant may have invented.

The last thing we did was go to a chocolate exposition which was random and a bit of a rip-off, although we did each quite a bit of chocolate.

So yes, despite the quasi-tempest, I really enjoyed Nantes, as did the two girls (who, tangentially, sang Ode to Joy for me). We didn’t have enough time there though, so I will definitely have to go back some time.

Films

2009-11-04T12:01:46Z

Cultural Renaissance

Having a lot of free time in general, holidays in particular, and access to libraries where borrowing DVDs and CDs as well as books is free, has led to a kind of cultural renaissance in my life. The number of books I am reading, DVDs I am watching, and new albums I am listening to, is increasing at a glorious rate.

I have little to say about music – there have been no major changes in my tastes of late – or about books, as I am mostly re-reading things or reading crap at the moment (although I have just started a book which promises to be utterly brilliant, but more about that when I’ve actually finished).

That leaves films. I have seen five of late: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, 2001: A Space Odyssey, City of God, The Seventh Seal and Children of Men.

I have little to say about The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. While it was depressing, it was very artificial, with the lines clearly carefully chosen to tug at heartstrings. Still, it wasn’t bad, so maybe a 6/10.

I don’t quite know what to say about 2001. I read the book but can’t find a blog post about it; essentially, I was quite disappointed. However, if we ignore the fact that the basic premise of the story is startlingly ridiculous, and the conclusion requires some kind of hallucinogen to make sense, the film was actually quite a lot better. The sets were amazing, especially considering the age of the film. A 7/10 perhaps.

City of God was cinematic perfection. Wow. Great acting with a gripping storyline. It succeeded in all the places Slumdog Millionaire failed, in my view. It showed harsh reality without compromise, but managed not to be crushingly depressing by showing attainable ways for certain people to escape the favela. It was genuinely Brazilian, aimed at a Brazilian audience, not at a Western audience needing reassurance of its own superiority, and therefore entirely authentic - the actors were from favelas and needless to say, the film was entirely in Portuguese. I think this has instantly become one of my favourite films – after finishing, even though I needed to get to sleep, I watched all the extras. 10/10

I expected the Seventh Seal to be one of those classics which was mind-blowing at the time but impossible to watch fifty years down the line. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was watchable, although it was definitely rather too heavy on the metaphysics. The whole focus on death, despair and apocalypse got old quickly, especially as characters sounded like they were quoting philosophy textbooks rather than speaking; I suppose this reflects the post-war mentality, although in this case it’s surprising this film should come from neutral Sweden. Anyway, the sets weren’t bad and the film is worth watching if only for the existentialist angst, so 6/10. Also, I understood several words of Swedish! I know it’s similar to Norwegian, but I didn’t expect it to sound identical to it.

Children of Men was amazingly bad. I was fairly fond of the book, although critical of certain aspects, such as the ending and the speech. The film, on the other hand, quickly descended into sillyness with a full half hour of the main characters calmly walking though gunfire and coming to no harm. There were also some instances of characters quoting from the book, which of course sounded ridiculous. It’s a shame that such an interesting idea and such a good book should result in such a poor film.Credit where credit is due: on a visual level, the film was bordering excellent for its visual portrayal of future-Britain and refugee camps, with some great sets. That pushes up the final score to 3/10.

On Tours and Germans

2009-11-04T11:45:29Z

On Tours

Now that I have settled in completely and got to know the place a lot better, my initial impressions remain true. Tours is an exceedingly beautiful town and I feel lucky to be here. The river and islands in it are beautiful, the squares are lovely, the boulageries incredible, and any town that owns wallabies and a stuffed elephant gets a thumbs up from me.

There are, however, two negative contrasts with Britain that are very striking; I think these are symptomatic of a wider problem in France and not specific to Tours. Indeed, the fact that they affect wealthy Tours as well as Paris and Marseille just goes to demonstrate how deep the problems in French society are.

Number one is the number of homeless people. I am used to seeing quite a few homeless around Oxford, but the number in Tours seems staggering. They are literally everywhere with their dogs in tow.

Number two is the numbers of mentally disturbed people. I have seen three so far, compared with only having seen one or two all the time I’ve been in Luton, and none that I can remember in Oxford. Worse, I think, is the attitude towards them. One such woman got on the bus on my way home, wearing trousers almost to her armpits and loudly singing a song. The children all started shouting “it’s the madwoman!” when they saw her. They clearly knew her and thought it acceptable to laugh at her madness. While it was funny, it was also sad. I don’t really know what should be done with crazy people – I imagine the reason I see so few is that they are kept locked away, which is as bad as letting them loose to be laughed at all day.

One positive difference, though, is the number of disabled people at work. I’ve seen three in my not incredibly large staff room: a lady in a wheelchair, a science teacher with one arm, and a man with a speech impediment probably indicative of some other problems. In England I think we would just give up on them. It’s nice seeing them mixing in the staff room and being treated like everybody else; this is, after all, the way to break down prejudices and spread understanding.

On Germans

Before I came to Tours, I did not know I loved Germans. I already knew a girl from Munich (who is actually English), a boy at Oxford who studies Maths and Computer Science, Christian (an internet friend for those who I know in real life) and an exchange student from some years back. The number of Germans I know has now doubled, and I have still to meet a German I dislike. Hooray for Germans!

John Stuart Mill

2009-10-30T09:58:37Z

I do not mean that they choose what is customary, in preference to what suits their own inclination. It does not occur to them to have any inclination, except for what is customary. Thus the mind itself is bowed to the yoke: even in what people do for pleasure, conformity is the first thing thought of; they like in crowds; they exercise choice only among things commonly done: peculiarity of taste, eccentricity of conduct, are shunned equally with crimes: until by dint of not following their own nature, they have no nature to follow: their human capacities are withered and starved: they become incapable of any strong wishes or native pleasures, and are generally without either opinions or feelings of home growth, or properly their own. Now is this, or is it not, the desirable condition of human nature?

Long live interesting people. This means YOU! You are valued and loved.

Last few days

2009-10-29T12:16:05Z

‘Solitude is my greatest dread’ – Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

We have ten days of holidays for All Saints’. Since we broke up on Friday, the dread of solitude has compelled all of us assistants to seek one another’s company in order to compulsively DO THINGS, leaving very little time for updating LJ despite my theoretically increased free time. So, I’m going to make up for this it now.

We started on Friday night by going to Hannah’s house to eat crepes. Yes, you read that right – Hannah is an assistant, Hannah possesses a house. It has two bedrooms, two toilets, a kitchen, a living room, and only one resident. We are all exceedingly jealous, of course – her school sorted it out for her, whereas all of our schools have been utterly useless. Anyway, she had bought a crepe machine and lots of crepes were made and eaten. There was almost English-German parity (I know all four German girls in Tours, and they are all lovely), making the English feel incredibly inferior about their language skills. I can now almost pronounce Eichhörnchen though.

Saturday was a day of lounging in Tim’s room (Tim is half-Korean, laid back, from Wales, lives in a room of 14m²in the Foyer de Jeune Travailleurs, basically a dorm) with Judith (German, wonderful). He cooked risotto and then we watched The Hangover and Role Models in succession, both silly but amusing American films aimed at teenage boys. We went to bed somewhat too late considering the next day was to involve cycling to a chateau 18 kilometres away.

On Sunday, we started by going to Velpeau market (awesome market full of deliciousness) before embarking on the epic trip. It took about an hour and a half to get there, including a short break for trying to catch lizards by their tails. Once at Villandry Chateau, we looked around the gardens, which are truly incredible and well worth the visit, as well as the interior of the chateau which was predictably dull. Then we had some ice cream... oh god. French ice cream is indescribably heavenly and puts everything in Britain to shame. We cycled back, got to Judith’s at about 5pm, cooked, ate, watched 8 Femmes in French without subtitles (resulting in confusion) and the first episode of Skins, which I’d never seen before but thought was really good. Then it was hometime.

On Monday, I was tired and lazy and did nothing all morning. In the evening, Tim and Judith came over for curry and wine, along with one of Judith’s university friends from Cologne who is currently in Rennes, not far from Tours. Then we went to the Café des langues as is usual for Monday evenings, where we met the rest of the group.

Tuesday was another day of meeting up in a large group (3 of the Germans + 1 from Rennes, 3 English) to go to the Botanical Gardens. They had wallabies and flamingos. I touched a wallaby in the face! It seemed reasonably pleased about this. Later we went to eat in a lovely little creperie about one minute from my apartment and then went to a bar.

I seem to have nothing planned for the next few days, although the only French guy I vaguely know has asked me to go to a film with him. However, come Monday, I’ll be very busy – I’m spending Monday in Poitiers with a friend from Oxford, and Tuesday in Nantes, further down the Loire, in Brittany. I haven’t seen much of France really, so it will be nice to see a few more cities.

So, I know that was entirely too much information to be interesting, but generally I am keeping busy and happy with lovely people. Here is a concise list of friends to avoid confusion in future:

Rachel – one of the first people I met. She is 22, Sheffield University (although she applied to Cambridge), from Nottingham, and one of those unfailingly friendly English protestants. She lives in North Tours with a young couple and often has to look after their son.

Judith – the German assistant at Rachel’s school. She’s from Cologne and lives quite far to the South in an apartment with 3 Frenchies. Also unerringly friendly and a good cook.

Tim – Half-Korean, from Wales, goes to King’s College (although he also applied to Cambridge). Likes saying “that’s what she said” and downloading films, eats too many kebabs, generally very amusing. Lives in the Foyer.

Diana – American from Chicago, lives in the Foyer with Tim, likes speaking Portuguese and French bread.

Hannah – German with a house! I believe she is from Stuttgart. She wants to be a French and Theology teacher in Germany afterwards. Likes English food, inexplicably!

Johanna – German from Swabia, near Mercedes. Does not like football, does like linguistics! I don’t actually know where she lives.

Maria Christina (usually just Marie) – The German assistant at my school, I haven’t seen her much of lately because her family has been over visiting. She is from Rostock on the Baltic coast in East Germany, has a strong Baltic identity and a Swedish-speaking boyfriend. Lives far in the North with a hippy family.

Films

2009-10-19T15:43:29Z

I have seen several very good films of late: Tours held a “cinema and film” festival this weekend, showcasing a lot of brilliant British film, including three that I went to see: My Son the Fanatic, Young Soul Rebels, and My Beautiful Launderette. I also saw 8^th Wonderland at the festival, and Gandahar and Ratatouille separately.

My Son the Fanatic

I recommend this very strongly, one of the best films I have seen of late. It follows a first generation Pakistani immigrant who drives a taxi, drinks alcohol and gives rides to prostitutes. He gets to know one of them and confides in her about his problems with his son, who is becoming increasingly radicalised. A lot of very good acting and characterisation made this film really gripping. The subject matter will doubtless be interesting to any Briton, considering the issues we have with second generation Muslim immigrants. 9/10

Young Soul Rebels

This film is set in the 1970s and follows two young black men (well, one if mixed race, but if Obama can be called black, so can he...) who have their own pirate soul radio station. Interracial gay sex occurs. It was interesting to me as a look into 70s society – perhaps older readers remember the times when the police were institutionally racist (okay, yes, that is a stupid sentence... I meant they were blatant about it!) and punks existed and all. The subcultures were interesting, the protagonist slightly frustrating in his stubbornness, the characters engaging, the interracial homoerotica interracial and homoerotic. Overall very depressing (like My Son the Fanatic) but definitely a good film. 7/10

My Beautiful Launderette

Like a cross between the other two films, this was also set in the 70s and incorporated themes of race relations, Pakistani integration and interracial homoeroticism. The only one of the three I had been meaning to see for a while, I thought it was good, but in some ways quite frustrating. The protagonist had enough negative character traits to make me want to punch him. His lover was strangely submissive given his background. There was a bizarrely sexual girl who I couldn’t imagine coming from a Pakistani family, no matter how secular. However, a lot of the rest of the characters (and cast) made up for this, the look at 70s Britain and the state of race relations at the time was again very interesting and, I’ll be honest, interracial homoeroticism is always fantastic. 7/10

8^th Wonderland

A little known 2009 Franco-Italian film which I heartily recommend. It felt amateur in places, but the idea was so brilliant that it kept me hooked all the way through. Set in the near future, the film revolves around a group of people who are among millions to have become citizens of 8^th Wonderland – the first virtual country. There are regular referendums in this most democratic of nations, and if a motion is passed in 8^th Wonderful, the citizens attempt to enact similar change in their real nations. But their actions gradually become more and more extreme... I would give this film 10/10 for conception. I also loved the use of about 10 different languages. There were a few let downs in realising the idea, some poor acting, some unbelievable aspects to the plot, and some bizarre choices of metaphor, lowering the score overall to 8/10. It kept me hooked nonetheless and is more than worth a watch – quite brilliant.

Gandahar

You may remember me waxing lyrical about Fantastic Planet and being quite enthusiastic about Time Masters. Gandahar is the final feature length film directed by Laloux. I watched it in French without subtitles so didn’t follow 100% but I think the films generally declined in quality. Gandahar still has all the wonderful aspects of Laloux – surreal images and amazing music – but this time the plot felt, well, silly. If you’re new to Laloux I would recommend Fantastic Planet instead. If you’re not, and you want to watch some more, then be warned about the slip in quality! 5/10

Ratatouille

Is there much point reviewing this? It’s Disney. It’s good fun, will make you laugh, and a nice feel-good film. 7/10

I haz home

2009-10-12T12:24:54Z

Tours is lovely at the moment. I have no internet though. I may write some more when I am less distracted by bureaucracy...

Norway Trip

2009-09-18T23:25:27Z

8 days of Norway have ended. I am convinced I should live in Norway now; it is by far the best and most beautiful country I have ever been to. Endless photos will be added to facebook soon, and you're advised to look there if you feel some bizarre desire to know about my trip. Here follows a blog that will be entirely too detailed for anybody other than me to enjoy; it will exist mainly to supplement my abysmal memory. So... read it if you want, but be warned.

Arrival in Trondheim - Tuesday 8th September

I flew in on a plane that was largely empty; there were only about 40 people on it, I think. This means I got a window seat. The difference between Britain and Norway from the air is immediately perceptible: every single scrap of Britain is put to use as farmland if it isn't a conurbation. Even tiny islands in the middle of rivers or in the sea are farmed somehow. Flying in above Trondheim, all I could see were forested hills and rivers. It was enchanting.

Getting off at Trondheim was unsettling as it was so empty at the airport - ours was the only plane there. There was one guy checking passports, a couple of people working in duty free, and a couple of security guards; other than this, the place was empty, and a lot of it seemed shut. Kristian later told me that he once came off a plane and went to the loo; when he came back out, everybody had left and the place locked up. It certainly made a stark difference to Stansted Airport or life anywhere in crowded Britain, but that's what you get in a country with 1.5 times the land and 1/13th the population of the UK, I guess.

Anywho, Kristian (Oxford maths geek, half-Norwegian) met me at the airport, along with his dad, who drove us to his house, which was made of wood, heated by a giant stove and surrounded on all sides by garden. I met his mum and dog too, and his sister turned up later. They were all incredibly welcoming and made me feel most hygellig. I spent the evening settling in, talking with family, taking the dog on a walk to the fjord with Kristian, reading the Qur'an (his mum is a priest and thus had lots of religious books) and playing age of empires.

Trondheim and Hell - Wednesday 9th September

Wednesday morning was spent wondering around Trondheim and later Hell in on-and-off rain after a filling breakfast of caviar / salmon / salad-with-meat on toast. I had a look at the cathedral and Archbishop's residence before we went into the War and Resistance Museum, which had some amusing propaganda from the Nazi occupation. Then we looked at the older parts of town, the harbour and a geeky shop selling board games and Miyazaki-soot slippers. Wooden houses are pretty. I was also struck by how, even in the heart of the city, the wilderness was never far away and you could always see the hills and forests around you.

Hell was only on the menu because of its name, being a small village of about 300 people. The train ride up was quite stunning, following the length of the Trondheimsfjord. In Hell, Kristian noticed a sign in Norwegian pointing to rock carvings; we followed it to find stone-age carving of animals in the middle of a small wooded hill. We then climbed a bit higher before making sure we left to get our train back to Trondheim. I think this was the night that MahJong happened with his mum and I failed miserably.

Hiking - Thursday

On Thursday, Kristian and I went hiking in the wilderness not far from his house. We drank from a stream, which amazed me as I'd never consider doing that in England. However, as he pointed out, there just wasn't that much opportunity for streams to get polluted in Norway. His sister later said it's probably the best water I'd ever get; it certainly was nice. Anyway, we ended up hiking up a large hill and looking back over Trondheim, which was a good view only partially spoiled by electrical pylons. Unfortunately we saw no moose.

Journey to Åndalsnes - Friday

Friday saw Kristian and me take the train to Åndalsnes, a small town of about 3000 people used mainly as a base for exploring mountains. The four hour train ride was stunning and saw me mainly glued to the window, staring at gigantic mountains, pleateuas, moors, streams and rivers. Unfortunately the photos didn't come out brilliantly, but it was amazing watching Norway go by. Apparently we passed through a national park containing musk oxen, although I presume they hide when trains come by. I was amazed to see train stations in the middle of Norway with no houses anywhere around; Kristian said there were probably a handful of people in the vicinity. I was also amazed to see tiny square farms in the middle of huge forests and wilderness.

When we got to Åndalsnes, we walked to our hostel. It was my first time in a hostel and made a very, very good impression. Kristian and I were the only people in the 6 person room, and there was barely anybody else around, so it was very comfortable. We went back to town for dinner at a Chinese place and then headed to bed.

Trollstigen - Saturday

On Saturday we hired bikes and cycled something like 60km up and down mountains in the pouring rain, as you do. Trollstigen, a crazy road built up a mountain, was breath-taking, as were the views from it. It took us 3 3/4 hours to get all the way up, walking much of it as we were too feeble to cycle up the road, and I at least got entirely drenched, but it was definitely worth it for the views along the way. On the way back, we also stopped to look at Trollveggen, a giant wall of vertical rock, before heading back to Åndalsnes for soup, pasta, chocolate desserts, scrabble, chinese chequers and meeting a German who came into our room.

Ålesund - Sunday

On Sunday we parted ways. Kristian went back to Trondheim, and I went on alone to Ålesund. This entailed waking up about 5, getting a bus at 5:50, arriving at 8 and leaving at 9pm. This was entirely too long to spend in Ålesund, especially considering all the public toilets were shut for some reason, none of the supermarkets open on Sundays and it rained all morning.

By the end of the day, I didn't actually dislike Ålesund that much, surprisingly. It's a pleasant enough place, although admittedly it could easily be covering in 5 hours rather than 13. It was nice to stroll around, look at the Art Nouveau architecture, fountains and statues (including one of Rollo, ancestor of William the Conqueror, who was from the area) and climb a terrifying hill (you should have seen the cracked, dodgy steps) to look back over the city and fjords. I also succeeded in holding conversations in Norwegian, woo!

At 9pm, I dutifully caught the bus to Oslo and went to sleep not too long afterwards.

Arrival in Oslo - Monday

I arrived in Oslo at 6:30am, but check-in wasn't until 3pm. I therefore went straight to Vigeland park, which was utterly mad. Essentially, Vigeland was a slightly crazy sculptor who was given accommodation by Oslo on condition that he donate all his statues to the city upon his death. The park is filled with scores of the oddities. I've photographed a good selection, but they were all quite fantastic and even moving.

Afterwards I had a quick poke around the town hall, was was disappointed to find you couldn't go inside (and see murals by Edvard Munch) due to elections. I wandered around central Oslo for a bit, looking at Karl Johans Gate (the main road) and the Storting (houses of parliament, literally "Big Thing"). Lots of people were canvassing votes, so I made a point of glaring at the uber-capitalist party (who came second overall). Then I headed over to the Akershus castle complex, looked at the castle and popped into the Resistance museum (I am slightly obsessed with world war 2), which I found somewhat underwhelming. Unable to locate the War museum, I went and checked in to my hostel, which was not brilliant, but could have been worse. After dinner, I popped out to look at Oslo's rock carvings (decidedly inferior to Hell's) and then the National Opera Building, which was a pleasant shape.

When I got back, more people had piled into the room until it was as full capacity. This wasn't really a problem though; I slept soundly both nights and met interesting people (an Australian, an American, a German, a Swiss and an Englishman). I am fairly fond of the hostelling experience.

Oslo madness - Tuesday

I had a busy day on Tuesday. I woke up and took a bus to the Viking Ship museum all the way on a peninsula on the far side of town. I got there about 9am and looked at viking artifacts (cool) and two viking longboats (exceedingly cool and perfectly preserved for over 1100 years). It's amazing to think they made journeys across the Atlantic in these tiny things.

I took the ferry back to the mainland, then went back to looking around Karl Johans Gata. Both the Cathedral and the University (also containing Munch paintings) were closed, which was frustrating, but on the plus side there was much else to do. Along one part of Karl Johans Gata, quotes by Henrik Ibsen were laid into the ground. I sorely wished I understood more Norwegian, but the few I could make sense of were all good quotes.

The Museum of Cultural History was my next goal. The sections on Norway in the Viking ahnd Middle ages were superb, displaying stave churches and the insides of churches. The other floors seemed like a random collection of artifacts from around the world. There were some very cool photo displays, but the overall effect was one of jumbledness.

The King's Palace was quite pleasant. It's set in a giant park and, typical of Norway, the park is completely open to the public with no gates or anything. Then I went over to the National Gallery, where this openness and lack of crime further exhibited itself in the way none of the paintings were really protected in any way - they just sat there, hanging on the walls. In fact, Munch's Scream and Madonna have both been stolen in the past, and only these two paintings were protected by screens, whereas Picasso and Cézanne, for example, for free for all to steal. Anyway, the gallery was pleasant, the highlight being the Scream (of which I bought a print, finally realising my desire of possessing a suitable poster), but there was a lot of magnificent Norwegian landscape painting too. The other activity of the day was the War Museum, which was quite interesting, but by the end of the day I was utterly exhausted and had an early night.

Homeward Bound - Wednesday

On Wednesday morning I took a ferry to Hovedøya island. A five minute ferry ride from Oslo, the island combines two nature reserves, the ruins of a monastery and some cool cannons from the 1800s. It was hard to believe how close I was to Oslo, and nice to get away from what's probably the only place in Norway with some hustle and bustle for a short time. After getting back to the mainland, I just wandered around the poorer sector of Oslo before heading to Aker Brygge (a very expensive / fashionable part), soaking in the sun, and then heading back home.

Overall, it was a very worthwhile trip. Norway is beautiful and enchanting (as is the language) and I still think I would like to live there eventually - in fact, perhaps even more now that I've seen what it's like.

Books I have read of late

2009-08-25T20:06:07Z

Guns Germs and Steel - Jared Diamond
If you read one book this year, it shoud be this one. It's utterly amazing and has made me a far better person. The book attempts to explain why it is that Eurasian civilizations have been so advanced for so much of history and currently dominate the world, whereas New World and African societies have tended to be a lot more primitive. The complete work is very convincing and also enthralling, explaining a lot about the world and full of interesting tidbits of human history. If you want to know why so many diseases arose in the Old World (consider Spaniards wiping out American civilizations with influenza), who developed farming and why China never discovered the Americas, pick this book up. I can't recommend it enough.

Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut
I don't think I'm much of a fan of Vonnegut overall. Something about his writing style just frustrates me - I think perhaps it's too postmodern. I like plots whereas Vonnegut seems to paint very long tableaus. I suppose I am a traditionalist in that I want something to actually happen in the books I read.

A Scanner Darkly - Philip Dick
I really enjoyed this book too. Drugs! Spies! Awesomes! I would write more, but now I am horribly tired. I had high expectations for this book, and I think it lived up to them, so now I am happy.

I am now reading Hermann Hesse's "The Glass Bead Game". So far, it is weird. :D

La vie

2009-08-23T15:10:12Z

A fairly long time since my last post. Here is news: I am going to Norway once I finish work. Hooray! I have wanted to go for some time, so I'm very glad it's finally sorted. I'll start in Trondheim, then head to the Westfjords, and finally spend a few days in Oslo before jetting back.

In other news, farming is going well. I have successfully grown spring garlic and fenugreek to the point that we have actually eaten them. Coriander is taking a bit longer, and tomatoes have just been planted so probably wont be harvested until next year. I also brought some blackberry bushes from the forest, but they seem to have died. Farming is wonderful.

Free Aung San Suu Kyi

2009-08-12T15:08:14Z

I'm sure you will all have heard about Aung San Suu Kyi's (further) imprisonment by now, but if not, here's the basic story: Aung San Suu Kyi is basically the legitimate ruler of Burma, but the Junta have kept her out of power and also kept her in detention for 13 of the last 19 years. She has just been sentenced to another 18 months in detention (conveniently leaving her unable to participate in elections next year) for "violating the conditions of her house arrest", i.e. an idiot American swam to her home.

The verdict is grossly unfair. Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest since 2003, and enough is enough. Please email the Burmese authorities and call on them to release Aung San Suu Kyi here: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions_details.asp?ActionID=343

Today is a good day, I think,

2009-08-02T13:43:50Z

for planting tomatoes and mint.

Today is a good day, I think,

2009-07-26T16:36:16Z

for planting coriander and spring garlic. Delicious.

Swine flu

2009-07-24T18:37:51Z

I forgot to mention that there have been several cases of swine flu at Vauxhall. The toilet right next to where I work (literally 2 steps away) was cordoned off today for that reason. This means somebody with swine flu has been working in the same section as me, i.e. touching all the same things... Oh dear.

I'm not actually too bothered, I just thought it was interesting.

A time of changes - Robert Silverberg

2009-07-22T17:47:28Z

I hadn't heard of this book before, but it was in my "Great Science Fiction" compendium along with 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Day of the Triffids and I, Robot. It didn't really compare to any of them.

On the plus side, it was very well written, and the basic premise was interesting. It's not really science fiction, per se; instead, the book is set thousands of years in the future, on a planet inhabited by the descendants of religious refugees from Earth. They set up a rigid social system in which the self is denied; even the words "I" and "me" are removed from the language, replaced by "one" or by passive constructions. In this world, the protagonist slowly comes to oppose the system of self-denial, claiming that love of self is a prerequisite of love of others. The world is incredibly easy to imagine because it's described so consistently and in such detail.

On the downside, the book contains what is basically magic, dressed up in pseudo-science. This is terrible. Additionally, nothing much really happens. I get that the book is an exploration of the extent to which selfishness has a place in society, but it could easily be a lot shorter; there's really only one point repeated several times. Also, I found the sex scenes quite awkwardly written.

Overall, maybe five out of ten for this one, and not really worth the bother unless you have some reason to read it.

Films I have seen of late

2009-07-21T15:22:42Z

I've just realised how long it's been since I last blogged about films. I hope I haven't left any off the list. Here it is, anyway, in vague order of how much you should watch the film.

1) Synecdoche, New York
2) Howl's Moving Castle
3) Metropolis
4) Cinema Paradiso
5) Mulholland Drive
6) My Neighbour Totoro
7) La belle et la bête (Beauty and the Beast)
8) El espíritu de la colmena (The spirit of the beehive)

Synecdoche, New York
This is the best film I have seen in ages. It is also the most pretentious film I have seen in ages. You should watch it. It's just kind of overwhelming in its presentation of the human condition and can't really be described any further. It made me laugh and cry. Really. As one of my friends said, "It immediately became one of my favourite films". That's true of me, and I imagine most other people who watched it with me; I can't really recommend this film enough.

Howl's Moving Castle
Yet another Studio Ghibli, and yet another outstanding film. I think I'm a fan. The main character was flawed in this, which I like, while not being annoyingly moral (as in Princess Mononoke) or annoying stupid (Spirited Away, to begin with, although she did develop, I'll admit). Enthralling from start to finish, Studio Ghibli rocks.

Metropolis
Wow. Just wow. Easily the oldest film I've ever seen (1927), and definitely worth checking out. It's a German film set in a dystopian future in which the upper classes and working classes have separated completely, with the latter being forced underground to work machines. The hero (a member of the upper class) rebels against the system, the working classes begin to plan a rebellion and a mad scientist builds a robot... brilliant! Politically it seemed to be a very social-democrat kinda film, pro-workers rights but against workers in control. Good overall.

Cinema Paradiso
I have seen very few Italian films, but they all seem to be fantastic, focusing on the ups and downs of life and human relationships rather than spectacular plots. This film does that very well, but you also get to see Italy growing up with the protagonist; overall, it's fascinating and poignant.

Mulholland Drive
I spent most of this film thinking "what the fuck is going on?!" I accept that it was a really good film overall; brilliantly shot, brilliant acting, great use of metaphor and some fantastic lines. It did annoy me, though, that the director went out of his way to confuse the viewer, and that it was all a dream. I hate "it was all a dream" plots. Dreams are not that coherent or long... Still good overall, I guess, but not my thing.

My Neighbour Totoro
Totoro, Totoro! Hooray! A film with no bad guys... and yet able to keep your attention throughout with its imagination. Thumbs up overall; I particularly like the catbus.

La belle et la bête (Beauty and the Beast)
The original French black and white film, not the modern Disney version. It was kind of interesting but I don't remember much about it, so clearly didn't make that great an impression. I remember being impressed with the fantastic elements of the plot and how they'd been filmed, considering the time period.

El espíritu de la colmena (The spirit of the beehive)
Nothing happened? I'm usually quite receptive to slow, arty films of the European variety but they usually contain some semblance of a plot. Not so here.

Fahrenheit 451 by Roy Bradbury

2009-07-19T22:29:28Z

Was good. It took a little while to get into it, mainly because the writing style was quite different to all the books I've read lately; it was very impressionistic and metaphor-heavy. One I'd got into it, though, I was gripped. The plot and the characters were all fantastic, and the whole book is a nice romantic reminder of how wonderful books are. Also, dystopias are always good news, and it was interesting to see so much of our present world reflected in this book about a grim future, written over fifty years ago. But I'll let you discover this for yourself if you haven't already read it; it's a must for all lovers of books.

Life in Luton

2009-07-18T18:07:18Z

Well, life has been quite busy, which is why I haven't posted in about an age. From Monday 6th to Tuesday 14th, I was busy with my cousin's wedding. I was utterly exhausted by the end of it - it was way too long and far too much effort - but at least it's over now.

On Wednesday, to destress, I met up with Josh and we went on a giant walk from Luton town centre all the way to the countryside. It was about 3 miles each way, but it was nice because we ended up on a road by some farms, looking down at Luton in the distance. Then we went into a little forest. It's weird how close the countryside is, really (I remember Eva telling me how she loves the British countryside because more or less all of the Netherlands is one big conurbation), and lovely to just escape to it and get away from traffic and people.

Today I met up with Annie and we wandered around some charity shops in Harpenden and St Albans. Pickings were good: I picked up The Children of Húrin, Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake (which has continued to grow on me since I read it) and a George Orwell Compendium including Down and Out in Paris and London, Homage to Catalonia, The Road to Wigan Pier and several essays (including a review of Mein Kampf). I haven't read any of this stuff before but Orwell is a man after my own heart, so I'm going to enjoy going through it.

In other news, Vauxhall called up and are actually offering me a job. This is both unbelievable and fantastic in equal measure, because I'd kind of given up on finding a job. It's only for 6 weeks, starting this Thursday, but that works out kind of well because it means there's time for a holiday in September. Unfortunately, it means I can't go to Finland to spend time with Ukri, Hanni, Maria and Volo, but there are still many years ahead...

We - Yevgeny Zamyatin

2009-07-09T12:23:43Z

It's been a good long time since I read a dystopia, so I quite enjoyed this. Written in 1920s Russia, "We" was the inspiration behind 1984.

The book was interesting to me for several reasons. Firstly, of course, there is my general obsession with dystopias. But besides that, We is also chronologically interesting for me - the precursor to Orwell, but a descendant of Wells, it occupies an important position of transition. There are definitely strong elements of Wellsian sci-fi - there's a spaceship present, for example. Zamyatin departs from Wells in making his dystopia "mathematic" rather than capitalist - that is,a scientific, authoritarian future, purportedly for the good of all, kind of a nightmarish vision of Wells' own scientific utopias. At the same time, it feels far less oppressive, and far more light-hearted in spirit, than 1984 - it pokes fun at the idea of such a perfectly ordered world.

The book itself was quite good; the first half was perhaps a little slow, but the second half was quite exciting. I disliked a key element of the plot - the idea that "love" is (perhaps the only thing) powerful enough to overcome such extreme conditioning, but I liked the book as a whole, probably thanks to its political subtext. Not an outstanding book, but worth a read if you have an interest in dystopias, Wells, Orwell, or early Soviet Russia.

Eva and Open Days

2009-07-01T18:27:08Z

Eva/Cailín came to visit yesterday and we spent seven wonderful hours together. Photos will go onto facebook soon. Eva was charming and great to be with, what with indulging my random whims (hey, I've never been down this path before! Wanna explore?). We did a lot of wandering around Oxford looking at beautiful buildings, went to Oxfam (where I bought the Discworld Mapp! Score!), had smoothies and went punting. A shame about her shoulders getting burnt in the 30 degree heat. Anyway, she claims to have liked Oxford so much that she'll convince Neil/Eomer to come one day. :D

Today was the first of two open days, which are my alleged purpose for staying behind. I got really into showing people around; it's generally been good fun, which is the ideal type of work. I'll probably be shattered by the end of tomorrow though!

Books

2009-06-29T21:43:39Z

I've read four books this term. What's been unusual is that three of them have had a very strong effect on me, which is a good ratio. Here they are:

The Penguin Atlas of Ancient History - Colin McEvedy
Star-Begotten - H. G. Wells
Knots - R. D. Laing
Has Man a Future? - Bertrand Russell

The Penguin Atlas of Ancient History - Colin McEvedy
Well, I suppose the word "read" is used loosely here in that half of the book was taken up with maps. This book has changed my perception of the world mainly because I now actually know a little about the history of the human race in the West and Near East. At school, we were taught about Greeks, followed by Romans, followed by the Dark ages. We're not really taught about the context of Greece and Rome, or what came before. For me, it's important to know these things for a sense of continuity and understanding where we come from; Western society is obviously largely based on Greece and Rome, but they themselves were the descendants of other societies. I now understand the entire process of the spread of civilisation from Ancient Mesopotamia to Modern Britain, which is great (although eventually I should also learn about Chinese, Indian, African and American civilisation).

It's also kind of crazy to think of man before he discovered farming and thus set the foundation for civilisation. Our brains now may be no different from what they were 12,000 years ago, but the fact of civilisation has changed us so much in that brief time.

Star-Begotten - H. G. Wells
The one book which didn't affect me much. One of Wells' less known and, frankly, less good books; nothing much happens except the advocation of eugenics really. Still, I am a great Wells fan, so I wasn't hugely disappointed - but probably not for people without a specific interest in Wells.

Knots - R. D. Laing
I'm not quite how to describe this book. It's a short, incredibly beautiful volume of poetry, essentially describing knots, paradoxes and lack of logic in human thoughts. The result is simultaneously hilarious and depressing, and I strongly recommend it. Perhaps a couple of quotes will do it justice:

They are not having fun.

I can’t have fun if they don’t.

If I get them to have fun, then I can have fun with them.

Getting them to have fun, is not fun. It is hard work.

I might get fun out of finding out why they’re not.

I’m not supposed to get fun out of working out why

they’re not.

But there is even some fun in pretending to them I’m not

having fun finding out why they ’re not.

A little girl comes along and says: let’s have fun.

But having fun is a waste of time, because it doesn’t

help to figure out why they’re not having fun.

How dare you have fun when Christ died on the Cross

for you! Was He having fun?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

JILL I’m upset you are upset

JACK I’m not upset

JILL I’m upset that you’re not upset that I’m

upset you’re upset

JACK I’m upset that you’re upset that I’m not

upset that you’re upset that I’m upset,

when I’m not.

JILL You put me in the wrong

JACK I am not putting you in the wrong

JILL You put me in the wrong for thinking you

put me in the wrong.

JACK Forgive me

JILL No

JACK I’ll never forgive you for not forgiving me

Has Man a Future? - Bertrand Russell
I'd never read anything by Russell before; I'd only heard of his teapot, which pleased me of course. Then I read the first line of this book and instantly feel in love with the man:
"Man, or homo sapiens, as he somewhat arrogantly calls himself, is the most interesting, and also the most irritating, of animal species on the planet Earth". Incredibly true, and incredibly succinctly expressed. Reading the rest of the book, I feel my worldview coincides greatly with Russell's, and feel ready to call him one of my favourite philosophers already.

Two more quotes:
The division of mankind into competing and often hostile nations has had a disastrously distorting effect upon national estimates as to who deserves honour. We in Britain have devoted our most conspicuous public monuments to Nelson and Wellington, whom we honour for their skill in killing foreigners.

Patriots always talk of dying for their countries, and never talk of killing for their countries.

The book, written in 1961, deals largely with the nuclear aspect of the Cold War, calling for disarmament on both sides. It raised some very interesting points. We all know of Stanislav Petrov, who prevented nuclear war by correctly identifying what appeared to be an incoming US missile as a false alarm and refusing to retaliate. However, the same thing actually happened on the opposite side as well. Several times, flocks of geese, and at least once, the moon (!) were mistaken for a Russian attacks and bombers set off on "retaliatory" raids, only later being called back. It's also full of various other interesting facts from the Cold War Era, and definitely worth a read.

Music

2009-06-28T23:58:53Z

I've been listening to a lot of relatively new music of late, and feel like sharing it.

First, to Spain and flamenco, with Ojos de Brujo:

Now let's move South to Mali, with Amadou et Mariam:

East to Israel. I've already posted my favourite song by Idan Raichel, but his output is so varied that another song is justified:

Finally, staying in Israel, we have "Mongolian" throat singing. This is far from the best song on the album, but the only one which was on youtube:

I do actually listen to some English stuff too (mainly Pink Floyd and The Cure), but as you can see I'm really into world music at the moment.

Ninth week

2009-06-28T12:33:21Z

Well, it's been a week seen I last posted. We're in ninth week now, which is technically after the end of term, but lots of people have exams or papers to write so most people stayed on. I haven't really done much except watch lots of Peep Show and say goodbye to lots of people. I actually did some work on Tuesday, which was a slightly amazing occurance that hasn't been repeated since. We had a barbeque on Wednesday which was brilliant. Then the mathematicians all finished their exams on Thursday, so we drank lots of alcohols in Hertford's quad. After that, I went to meet the Amnesty members for a picnic and goodbye, then it was back with the mathematicians to have dinner in the Brasserie Blanc, a fairly posh French restaurant. I decided to try snails, which were delicious but so covered in garlic and herbs that I have no idea what they actually taste like. Then people came to my room for some good old Age of Empires.

Friday was the last day for most people. We went punting in South Oxford in the morning, which I'd never done before. I got the idea when I walked back home with Sabrina from East Oxford on Friday and realised that the river was a lot more beautiful in the South by virtue of going through some beautiful meadows. It's amazing that I'd been in Oxford for two years without ever walking along that path before. Anyway, punting in the meadows was beautiful and a lot easier than punting in the north. I saw a heron (I don't think I've ever seen one before, and definitely not so close up) and then we moored the punt by this tree I'm obsessed with and climbed it.

After punting, we went up North to Leckford for some sushi, by which I mean a hell of a lot of sushi. Followed by lots of goodbyes and then some age of empires again.

Saturday involved ice cream with Mike and Kristian, then more age of empires with Kristian in the evening.

So, overall, I've been having a lot of fun interspersed with a lot of saying goodbye to people. I think I'm the only person left on my floor (and possibly my building) now, so it's quite lonely. I have a few friends in a building not too far away, though, so I may visit them soon. In any case, I'm quite looking forward to Eva's visit.

I'm feeling slightly less bad about the impact of France on friendships. A lot of people have said they'll definitely be visiting me, and I think I will come back for a while when everybody has their finals. Also, facebook and Skype (which I am yet to get) mean it will be easy to stay in contact. And after all, I manage to stay in touch with Josh, Annie and all the Downers largely through the internet, so I'm sure I'll manage to do the same with others.

What am I slightly concerned about with regard to France is:
1) The location of the school. The outskirts of Tours in an industrial zone. Not the best, but I don't necessarily have to live there I guess...
2) The school itself. It's in the bottom half of all schools in France, though not in the bottom quarter. I suppose I should be grateful it's not a banlieue but I would have liked something a little more academic.
3) How iz friendship formmed?? I have no idea how to make friends in a non-academic context. All the friends I'm made so far have a consequence of going to the same school or university and being reasonably geeky. I still remember Freshers' Week, during which almost everybody went clubbing except for most of the people who were to become my friends - we stayed in and played Risk. But what happens without an establishment full of people my age? I suppose there will be teachers, and I do tend to get on very well with people older than me, but I do wonder what kind of social contact I will have outside of teaching circles. Actually, Alex, if you're reading this, any words of wisdom about your year abroad would be extremely appreciated.