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.

Films

I recently bought The Motorcycle Diaries and Pan's Labyrinth to add to my meagre DVD collection.

Recently seen: Che part 1, The Class, Sunshine.

Che: part 1

Fairly interesting look at his life but one of those films I probably wouldn't watch more than once, I guess. The best part was Castro's soothing voice... Should probably get round to watching part 2 some time.

The Class (Entre les murs)

Again, this was a very interesting look into French classrooms, and the acting was superb. Lots of nicely flawed characters, wonderfully French.

Sunshine

Crap science, but suspension of disbelief was fine due to the good acting. The psychological aspect of the film, getting to know the characters and all, was brilliant. A good sci-fi film overall, but not quite a classic, I think.


Books

Recently read: The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway) and Sophie's World (Jostein Gaarder)

The Old Man and the Sea

Well it was quite interesting to read, but I wasn't sure what to make of it afterwards... Apparently, Hemmingway said that he didn't give the book "meaning" to start with, but that's clearly bollocks... I suppose my main problem is that there are too many different things that can be read into the book, and I don't know enough about Hemmingway to know what is from the author and what is from me (although that raises the question of how important that distinction is anyway). Ho hum. I think the main message I got out of it was an existential one - the twin futlity and nobility of everything we do.

Sophie's World

Written by the second famous writer from Norway (awww). I really liked it as an introduction to philosophy, but the plot was a bit bash. I can kind of see what the author was trying to do in the second half - exploring questions of reality, existence, free will - but don't think it worked particularly well. Still, definitely worth it if you want a quick intro to philosophy.


Music

Give yourself a cookie if you read all the above. If so (and even if not, I suppose), here is your Jewish-Ethiopian reward:

Woah, I haven't updated in ages! Uni always seems to do this, and I always feel guilty for neglecting internet friends and home friends who rely on the internet to communicate with me afterwards. So here is an update!

Life at Oxford is always busy, but this term has been more so than usual. I feel like I'm doing a crazy amount of things, but I also feel I'm making better use of my time than last month. I tried sushi for the first time at a local restaurant (verdict: tasty but expensive). I also had sake and plum wine for the first time. I suppose sake is okay, but plum wine is absolutely gorgeous - like mead - so I'm hoping to find some soon. I have also decided to brew my own mead because the internet tells me this is easy - I'll go ingredient hunting tomorrow!

I also went to college live night for the first time, which is amazing. It's just people from the college playing instruments and singing, but it's amazing how talented people are; it really makes me regret not having learnt an instrument. I have received some very good music from various friends, including the Pocahontas soundtrack, some Hebrew rock and some cool post-modern shiz.

I went to a chapel service for the first time ever because my friend (and college wife) was getting baptised. It was very weird - I hadn't been to a church service since primary school. It was Anglo-Catholic, so from a sensory perspective it was nice enough - beautiful singing and candles. But during the service itself I often found myself unable to participate because I found the whole thing so ridiculous and authoritarian (as I suppose any monotheistic religion must by necessity be). I've continued watching Around the World in 80 Faiths; I think I will add Jainism to the set of religions I actually respect.

I am now on the Amnesty International Committee at Oxford and was theoretically meant to help organise Letter Writing Week, which is next week. I was so bogged down with work (one essay for Wednesday, one for today) that in reality the other Letter Writing Week Coordinator did almost all the work, but I'll contribute some more once it gets under way. It feels so good being on the committee and actually doing something good.

Spanish classes are hard. I should not have joined as a Lower Intermediate when I had never learnt Spanish before. However, my comprehension is surprisingly good due to similarities with French; my speaking is slowly getting up to scratch, I think.

I had two fancy dinners this week, which is surprising as I rarely do fancy dinners (they are quite expensive). Monday night was Scholars' Dinner, paid for by the college. All the scholars, people who got a first in their first year exams, were invited as were their tutors. It was pretty good. Then, on Tuesday, we had "Halfway Hall" - so named because it marks the halfway point of our university careers. It feels so strange that one and a half years have gone by. It was very enjoyable anyway (except I couldn't go down the bar afterwards due to my essays); here are two photos. One is of me with my Norwegian friend; we had to wear black tie, which is somewhat foolish but makes photos look nice, and we had candles, which I absolutely love.


Here is what our hall looks like:


It gets a lot of light in the daytime as it's up a flight of stairs with windows on both sides. At night, when it's a formal affair, I love the candlelight. Also, notice the hart's head (somewhat blurry) between the doors!

On the subject of halls, I'm still not entirely comfortable with being waited on. I suppose it's no different from what happens in a restaurant, really, but the socialist inside always feels uncomfortable about it.

I think that is all for now, really. I'll end with something that really amused me. I have to go to Jesus college for tutorials this term. This is one of their toilets:


Yes. That is a fireplace. That is an armchair. That is a table, what looks like a footrest, and two more chairs. Madness! Only in Oxford...

You may remember that I won this CD (actually 2 CDs) recently from Amnesty International, as long as I posted a review about it on my blog. So here it is.

I should first of all mention that all the songs on this CD are covers by different bands of John Lennon's songs. Unfortunately, I don't know much of John Lennon's discography outside of the Beatles, so this review considers the songs as songs in their own right, not covers.

Overall, I think this was quite a good album, with moments of brilliance. The whole album seems to have undercurrents of hippyness and humanism, which I relate to. It makes me regret missing the 60s and 70s really; it's too late to be a hippy these days...

There were several big names on this CD, some that I approved of (U2, REM, Aerosmith), some that I didn't (Christina Aguilera, Corinne Bailey Rae, Black Eye Peas) as well as a few bands I'd only vaguely heard of (Postal Service, Youssou N'Dour) and some artists I didn't know of at all (Regina Spektor, Big & Rich).

The big names definitely did not disappoint. Instant Karma by U2 and #9 Dream by REM were both great to listen to, and Snow Patrol's Isolation was haunting. Aerosmith's Give Peace A Chance featured Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars, which I thing was a brilliant touch politically and for the song. Their chorus was incredibly cheery and lovely to listen to, making the song one of my favourites. Politically, these kind of music-politics mergers are often criticized for not having many African artists, so it was good to involve the All Stars as well as Youssou N'Dour (who you may remember from Live 8).

Green Day's cover of Working Class Hero was truly spectacular; not only a powerful song, but also a strong message about class that reverberates even stronger in today's society. In fact, among the big names, only The Cure's cover of love disappointed me slightly for being a little dull.

A pleasant surprise for me was that not all the artists I dislike were actually that bad. Black Eyed Pea's power to the people was okay, and Corinne Bailey Rae's I'm Losing You was, well, different but not terrible. Only Christina Aguilera's screechy rendition of Mother made me wish to skip tracks.

Perhaps the best part of the CD was that most of the artists I hadn't heard of were fantastic. For instance, Lenny Kravitz's Cold Turkey is simple but powerful, and his voice really fits the song.

One of the criticisms of the album is that there are multiple versions of some songs. There are 3 Instant Karmas, 2 Imagines and 2 #9 Dreams. However, I found it quite nice to get a few different versions of each song; only Duran Duran's version of Instant Karma seemed a bit excessive and pointless. Tokio Hotel, meanwhile, managed to introduce heavier guitars to Instant Karma, which I found wonderful.

Imagine by Avril Lavigne was a little high-pitched for me, but John Jackson's version more than made up for this. His voice was perfect for the song, and it not only made my skin tingle, but also almost made me cry thinking about the contrast between the words and humanity today - particularly Darfur. That song was the highlight of the album for me.

Overall, the album is very hearable. A few let downs - Christina Aguilera should not have been involved, and Regina Spektor finishes with a sickeningly Disney-like cover of Real Love - are much more than made up for by the assortment of good tracks, and the several outstanding songs that you can't help but love. And, of course, proceeds go to ending the suffering in Darfur, so it's good for your Karma too.

Firstly, I won an Amnesty International competition recently and got a free CD - Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. I was obviously very glad about this. :D The only condition is that I blog a review about it, so I'll be getting that to you guys some time in the near future. This has also given me a chance to use my spiffy Amnesty avatar - I've been shamefully neglectful of Amnesty recently.

In other news, Oxford sent me a letter today, which is cool because I haven't had any news from them for ages. It's full of official looking forms which I should probably see to soon...

Went jobhunting once again today, and plan to go again tomorrow. It felt so good to get out of the house and see people, especially since I met quite a few people I hadn't planned on meeting, like my grandma's cousin's granddaughter. :D I am really very bad at being introverted. While in town I also indulged my nerdier side and bought 4 history books (99p each at the works - hardbacks! incredible) about world war 1, world war 2 in Europe, Vietnam and Palestine. They have lots of detailed maps too.

EDIT: Ooh, I also got a German grammar guide from the library, so prepare for my sentences to become logical, Germandowners!

So, the combination of a free CD, being vaguely altruistic, cheap history books, getting out the house, meeting friends and sunny weather make me very happy. :D

I used to think I was the only person to get this feeling until I noticed Ang mention it, and then discussed it with another friend. This is the feeling when you see something truly beautiful, or powerful, or touching, or majestic, and your face starts to tingle.

I first got this feeling when reading Tolkien and innocently named it the "high" feeling (before knowing the colloquial connotations of that word). I meant high as in "High Elves" or "High fantasy" - something noble and powerful and beautiful. Later I saw Ang refer to it as the "blood tingling effect" and was very proud to have induced it in him with something I'd written.

A couple of times every year, I go to the Temple for a Hindu festival. Often, when I'm surrounded by music and watching all the people dance in their many colours and appreciating the history of the occasion, I get the blood-tingling effect.

More recently, though, it's been music that makes my blood tingle the most. Here are three songs that make my blood tingle:

Linkin Park - What I've Done. The effect goes on more or less throughout the whole video. This video also fits in with Sarah's last post about humanity - it shows you the depravity and the wonder of mankind in a beautiful way in less than 4 minutes.


I only get the effect when I watch the video with Linkin Park, but I get it without when I listen to Editors - Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blP9LWyKqzI
It is however strengthened by the video. (5mins30).

Finally, I only get it for very briefs periods of time during The Killers - When You Were Young (5:09) video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVCkSMwaGGc

Of course, music has incredibly different effects on different people so I don't really expect anybody to get the feeling from the same videos. However:

Poll #1004365 Blood-tingling
Open to: Friends, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 10

Do you get the blood-tingling effect?

In other news, the results of my last poll:

62.5% are more left wing than right, 12.5% more right than left, and 25% didn't have an opinion. When they're taken out of the equation, 83% were more left than right, so I can safely call it LeftJournal.

Oh, and I found this on the internet: Adrenaline surges... result in tingling of the face, as well as other parts of the body.

Vague thoughts here. I am slightly ill (phenomenal amounts of phlegm have emigrated from my nose) so I blame that for the disjointedness of this. And also for the fact that I'm not revising.

Firstly, is there any way to delete memories on LJ? I have a random post by Sarah as a memory because it showed me how to cut, but I no longer need it.

 In other news, I really wish I was more musical. I'm surrounded by such talented musicians in RL - people with their own bands, writing their own songs, which are actually very good; people in jazz bands who sound amazing when put together; people who play several instruments - and on LJ - Sarah's amazing on the piano, Fea is one of those multiple-instument people and I'm not even going to mention Encai.

As Nogrod recently posted, music has this amazing ability to touch people. I don't think poetry has quite the same effect and is, in any case, not the most popular medium. I suppose I'd be content with getting some rhythm into my poetry à la Baudelaire, and I think I'm getting there, but there's a long way to go, especially considering how infrequently I write.

Speaking of poetic French people, here's a bit more Camus for the Camus-hungry:

Il est bon que l'homme se juge quelquefois. Il est seul à pouvoir le faire.
It's good for man to judge himself sometimes. He is alone in being able to do so.

"Tout est permis" s'écrie Ivan Karamazov. Cela aussi sent son absurde. Mais à condition de ne pas l'entendre vulgairement. Je ne sais si on l'a bien remarqué: il ne s'agit pas d'un cri de délivrance et de joie, mais d'une consatation amère. La certitude d'un dieu qui donnerait son sens à la vie surpasse de beaucoup en attrait le pouvoir impuni de mal faire.Le choix ne serait pas difficile. Mais il n'y a pas de choix et l'amertume commence alors. L'absurde ne délivre pas, il lie. Il n'autorise pas tous les actes. Tout est permis ne signifie pas que rien n'est défendu.
"Everything is permitted," writes Ivan Karamazov. He also feels the absurd, but only on the condition that one does not interpret him vulgarly. I don't know if you remarked: this is not a cry of deliverance or joy, but a bitter statement. The certainty of a God who would give His meaning  to life far surpasses in attraction the ability to do evil unpunished. The choice would not be difficult to make. But there is no choice, and so the bitterness commences. The absurd does not deliver, it binds. It does not authorise all acts. "Everything is permitted" dos not mean that nothing is defended.