Turkey, Foggy London Town, and Snow

View from my window at 9.00 am this morning.

BREAKING: It snows here.

This morning I woke up and looked out my window to find SNOW! Totally stoked. Then a little later I went outside and, after almost eating it like five times, learned that pretty snow also means icy sidewalks. Still, snow!

Kenny left on Sunday after a moderately action-packed week in which we both tried to do work but ended up doing fun things instead like watching Firefly, trying restaurants, walking around Oxford, and visiting London. This slacking required me to complete about a week's worth of research in the last 48 hours or so in order to get my literature survey done in time for my supervisor to look at it today. But more on that later. First, fun!

I wish we had floating candles.

On Tuesday Kenny, Meagan, and I went to Thanksgiving Hall at St Cross. For Hall basically think Hogwarts Great Hall but without house-elves. Or if you're in ADPi think Monday night meeting but with good food and courses and servers. Actually just think Hogwarts; that sounds way better. So Hall happens every Tuesday, but just for all the Americans the menu last week was Thanksgiving themed (mostly): corn chowder, turkey and mashed potatoes with gravy and cranberry sauce, and little mini pumpkin pies with whipped cream for dessert. Pretty good, but I still cried a thousand bitter tears thinking about the stuffing and gravy we usually make at home. Unfortunately, my tiny flat kitchen isn't really equipped for any serious culinary endeavors, so this is the most Thanksgiving we got. On the other hand, Kenny got to experience the fun Latin prayer and other Hall stuff, though he apparently thought our Master (think Head of House) was terrifying because he is strict and British.

The Eagle and Child, home of "the inklings"

Speaking of food, we went to a bunch of restaurants last week so Kenny could experience some traditional Oxfordian cuisine. We had Sunday roast at a pub on High St, fish n' chips and shepherds pie at The Eagle and Child (that's the famous one where Tolkien and C.S. Lewis used to chill and think deep thoughts when they went here), and even knocked off a few more items on my Great Ethnic Food Quest list, with surprising success. I have to admit that I couldn't resist taking Kenny to The Mission, the "Mexican" restaurant here, just to see his reaction. It was worth it for the expression on his face...I think that was the first time I've ever seen Kenny NOT finish a burrito. Priceless.

Dim sum at Shanghai 30's

But now for the success stories: on Wednesday we went down to Cowley and ate at a little family-run Greek place called Santorini (yes, as in the island). I had my doubts at first because there were only a few people (actually only 2) when we went in (to be fair, it was only a little before 6pm) but MAN this place was good. Kenny and I both had souvlaki and baklava and it was delicious, probably the best Greek food I've had outside of Greece, and even in some parts of Greece. Then on Friday afternoon we doubled our success at Shanghai 30's, a cute little Chinese restaurant across from the Christ Church meadow that does dim sum in the afternoon. I had been eying this place for a little while since I heart Shanghai-style Chinese food, but my scarring experience at Cafe Opium (soggy rice! the horror!) had kept me away. I knew this place was legit though when Kenny walked in first and the host assaulted him in Mandarin (Ni hao!). Sometimes I think I keep that kid around just so I can eat bomb Chinese food. Just kidding, Kenny. Anyway, we had beef and broccoli (small portion but delish) and I think three kinds of buns/dumplings, one of which was filled with CUSTARD. Yum. They make you pay for tea, but restaurants in the UK are stingy even with water, so I guess I can't expect too much. Also, no xiao long bao, but I guess I'll live, because otherwise this place was pretty awesome, definitely the best Chinese food I've had in the UK.

On Saturday we finally made it up to London, and it was about frickin' time, since I haven't been once since I got here in September. I know, pathetic...but the library, it calls. It was cold, but we bundled up and I wore my NEW HAT (that's right, I own a hat now...it's exciting stuff). We started our day in the British Museum, gazing upon the oh-so-stolen Elgin Marbles and decrying the stupidity of the Ottoman Turks who decided it was a smart idea to use the Parthenon as a gunpowder magazine in the seventeenth century, resulting, predictably, in the big hole in the middle of it. Thanks a lot, Turks. Or should I say, Jerks. Oh...burn. Seriously, though, you guys blew up the Parthenon.

Kenny and I (and my hat) outside the British Museum

Also: possibly highlight of the British Museum. Okay this is a large diversion, but bear with me. As some of you may be aware, about two+ years ago I had the opportunity to spend two full days wandering the British Museum while I was waiting for my UCLA summer program to begin. So flashback to 2008: I am chillin' (like a villain, obvi) in the Greek vase portion of the BM, when I run across this vase (yes, I still have the photo evidence from 2008):

Obviously (as anyone would) I think, "Ah, what I lovely amphora depicting Herakles and the Erymanthian Boar." But when I look down to the label, I see this:

"Herakles and the Chimaera"? That is NOT a Chimaera. It's a frickin' boar. An Erymanthian boar. Obviously (as anyone would) I fly into a rage about the mislabeling of historical artifacts in a reputable museum, and of course, believing it is my civic duty to rectify such sloppy curating, I inform one of the docents that the label is wrong AND fill out a comment card detailing the problem before I leave the museum. Potential crisis averted, I hoped.

Well this time when I walked through that exhibit, I kept my eyes peeled for the offending amphora. When I found its case, I looked at the label:

Obviously my camera work has improved since 2008

Noooooo!!!! It was the same! My efforts were all for nothing! But then, I looked up:

Yes! Yes! That is indeed a chimaera! It turns out that the label was not wrong, the vase was wrong. Basically what I'm saying here is that I saved the British Museum. You're welcome, world. You're welcome.

My scholarly heroics aside, after we left the BM we headed to Covent Garden for some lunch. The tube station and the market were ridiculously crowded, but it was very festive. We found a little table inside the Punch and Judy pub and Kenny ate a platter of tiny meat pies with gravy.

Leave it to the Brits to celebrate the season with a Rudolph topiary.

Kenny inside the market at Covent Garden

Next stop was Harrods, which was amazingly Christmasy and crowded. We went up to the Pet Kingdom and saw the puppies, laughed at the stupidly expensive designer clothes for children, admired the sweets in the food halls, got macarons at Ladurée, and generally enjoyed the ridiculous atmosphere of luxury. As we were going up the Egyptian Escalator at one point, an opera singer in evening dress just stepped out onto one of the balconies and started singing an aria. What other department store does that happen at? Answer: none. Harrods is awesome. After Harrods we were pooped so we headed home on the bus and packed Kenny up to leave the next morning.

Gift baskets in the Food Hall

Christmas ornaments filled with chocolates...yum.

Christmas decorations in the Harrods Arcade

That, unfortunately, is where the fun ended, because once Kenny peaced out, I had to complete that 1500 word literature review of recent criticism of the 1590s epyllia my supervisor wanted this week in short order. I basically spent all of yesterday bouncing between libraries, and thank goodness the Lower Cam was open again--if any of you were following the news in the UK last week, there were lots of student protests of tuition raises and a bunch of students occupied the Radcliffe Camera, shutting it down for like two days.

Students protest at the Rad Cam (pic from BBC)

I somehow scraped together my lit survey and met with my supervisor early this evening. We chatted for about an hour about some ideas for where I wanted to take my dissertation, and I think we were both happy with what we came up with in the end, which is to focus on mortality/immortality, love and death, the tragedy of youth, and possibly rivers in the epyllia. Sounds romantic, right? He told me to have a "jolly Christmas" but also told me he wanted 2-3,000 words on what we talked about by 2nd week of next term. I'm starting to think this man is a slave driver.

To make things even more exciting, I now have to get back to work on my C-Course essay that I have been neglecting in order to work on my dissertation stuff, so I predict that the next two weeks will see me firmly ensconced in the EFL.

On the bright side, though, it SNOWED last night!

KQ

Bûche de Noël ready for Xmas in a bakery window in London

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

This week I've decided to dedicate my post entirely to a review of the latest Harry Potter installment, which premiered in the UK and the US on Friday, and which I'm sure some of you have already seen. If you haven't, you probably should, because it's Harry Potter, and Harry Potter is awesome. Also, although this should not apply to ANY of my readers, since you have ALL read the book and know exactly what's coming (assuming Warner Bros didn't totally blow it), thar' be SPOILERS ahead...enter at your own risk.

Coming in at a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing, HP7 is receiving generally favorable reviews, although I never trust film critics when it comes to HP, since lots of them appear not to know what they're talking about. I've read a lot of whinging (that's how they say it across the pond, you know) about how the middle of the film drags, but I'm not really sure what they expected the screenwriters/director to do about this, since the book has them out in the woods living rough for chapters and chapters, and of course (in terms of plot) if it wasn't so tedious Ron wouldn't have left in the first place. Generally I thought it was pretty good; definitely one of the better additions to the franchise, especially after that plot-and-character-butchering monstrosity known as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Although I tend to be of the opinion that splitting the last book into two films is a shameless bid on WB's part to milk the franchise as much as they can before their cash cow finally snuffs it, I did appreciate the extra detail they were able to put into this movie because of it, and actually think they split it in a pretty good (if depressing) spot.

General impressions out of the way, I think I'll take this opportunity to subject all of my readers to my extremely detailed opinions on a few aspects of the movie (because I'm sure at least Caroline misses my rants). Since Kenny's visiting this week and we saw the movie together, he's going to guest blog this a bit with me and pop in and out when he feels like it.

First, I thought that some of the film had a very LOTR-y feeling about it, which I suppose isn't a bad thing, since the seventh book is more of an artifact quest than a school-days adventure. A lot of those sweeping helicopter shots of them climbing over random hills, rocks, &c. come to mind here. And no one can seriously tell me that they didn't think LOTR throughout the whole locket debacle...really. All I could think of was, "I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you!" Silly Ron. Someone should have told him that one does not simply walk into Mordor. But while the film had that LOTR-y vibe to it in the sense of a quest involving objects (collecting them though, not getting rid of them), I thought that one of the biggest problems of the film was the lack of attention it gave to said artifacts.

This is actually a problem that has carried over from the sixth film, in which the genius screenwriting team over at Warner Bros decided to cut the (significant to the plot) Pensieve scenes in favor of a (superfluous) blowing up of the Burrow and other similarly unnecessary diversions. What we're left with at the beginning of the seventh movie is a rebuilt-and-looks-exactly-the-same Burrow and a Harry Potter who doesn't know his Horcruxes, which is a pretty significant setback in that whole "finding Horcruxes" part of the seventh installment. How the screenwriters are planning to mop up the mess they've made of the plot remains to be seen, since they certainly didn't make any moves toward rectifying Harry's ignorance of Hufflepuff's cup, Ravenclaw's mystery item, and Nagini in Part 1. The Hallows are also suffering from a lack of attention in my opinion. Sure, we got to see the Elder Wand, but wouldn't it have been nice if someone had even mentioned Harry's invisibility cloak, even once? They took it out of the Ministry of Magic sequence for unknown reasons, so it would have been nice to at least throw in a passing reference sometime in the 2hr 30min run time of the film to remind people he has it, which is a pretty frickin' significant fact. Take it away, Kenny.

Since book one, guys.

[KC] It is here that I would like to offer my first interjection. While the infiltration of the Ministry of Magic scene, taken as a whole, was not as much of a disappointment as the Department of Mysteries in Order of the Phoenix, the screenwriters for Part I of Deathly Hallows decided to take some uncreative liberties that didn't seem to do much of anything. For instance, why didn't Harry have his invisibility cloak? I mean, the viewer already knows that it is in his possession; he's had it since the middle of the first book for Christ's sake. Hermione could have easily pulled it out of Felix's magic bag and handed it to Harry with little explanation; and as Kelly pointed out, it certainly would have reminded everyone that Harry already possessed one of the Deathly Hallows. Good job screenwriters. 

Another thing that particularly vexed me about the manner in which the infiltration was portrayed is that the screenwriters decided that Harry, Hermione, and Ron are found out because the effects of their Polyjuice Potions wear off. This strikes me as a particularly idiotic and needless change to the story. For one thing, having "Undesirable #1" running around without a disguise in the Ministry of Magic without being captured seems rather absurd. While Harry is undeniably a gifted wizard, and Hermione is even more so (sorry Ron, you're just not that awesome), there is no way that they could have made it out of the Ministry if their cover was blown so early. In the book, the Ministry becomes aware of intruders, but has no idea who they are. If word got out that Harry Potter was in the Ministry, shit would have blown up in a much more rapid fashion. Also, if the Polyjuice Potion wore off, there really wasn't any point in having Madeye's eye in Umbridge's door and having Harry retrieve said eye. Think this through WB. Tossing it back to KQ. [/KC]

I of course had a few other issues with the screenwriting and plot of the film in addition to the Horcrux/Hallows situation. For example, I thought introducing Mundungus in this film was horribly forced and is a prime example of the lack of foresight the screenwriters have had throughout the franchise. In another example of this, Bill (who's mild facial scratches would lead audiences to believe that Fenrir Greyback is a playful kitten instead of a child-mauling werewolf) was hurriedly introduced before the wedding, I assumed because we would have to see him and Fleur again at Shell Cottage, but they never reappeared. The Rita Skeeter bio of Dumbledore was crowbarred into the script without much background or elaboration, and therefore lost most of its function and significance--the realization that Harry perhaps did not know Dumbledore, that Dumbledore was in fact fallible, and the ensuing doubt and resentment that this brings to our trio and especially Harry. The films have never done psychology well, as evidenced by Half-Blood Prince, which completely missed the point of the attachment that Harry had to the HBP and the significance of his revelation as Snape.

[KC] As Kelly said, the films have never done psychology very well. One major instance: Kreacher. In the previous books, you grow to loathe Kreacher because he was, after all, a large reason for Sirius' death, and that is unforgivable in my book. However, in the seventh book, you grow to realize that all Kreacher ever wanted was to be treated with dignity, and once he is, he becomes rather pleasant. This was completely left out of the film. Omitting this particular relationship robs the viewer of an instance where magical creatures and wizards come to an understanding and are able to work together. Another scene that was left out that had psychological value was the Dursleys' departure. In that scene, Dudley is surprisingly reluctant to let Harry leave and actually demonstrates concern for his cousin. Again, by leaving this scene on the cutting room floor, the filmmakers are ignoring an important theme that is strewn throughout the book: reconciliation. So much of the book is about rectifying previous misconceptions and coming to understandings in order to raise a united defense against evil. Unfortunately, the only reconciliation that was deemed worthy enough to make it into the movie was Ron's return--and if they cut that out, well, we really wouldn't have been able to continue the story now would we?

Lastly, Hedwig :( If she were left in her cage during the escape, her death would  have been much more tragic. Moreover, having her attack of the Death Eaters be the identifying factor of the real Harry was a huge blunder. Harry needed to find out early on in the movie that he needs to change the way he conducts himself. Expelliarmus is no longer an appropriate spell when people are throwing unforgivable curses your way. By having Hedwig as the identifying factor and not Harry's use of Expelliarmus, the movie never successfully has Harry question how he should be acting in these dark time (see also how he suddenly stops saying "Voldemort" without any explanation in the film). [/KC]

One more thing: WHAT WHAT WHAT was with the Harry and Hermione dancing scene in the tent? I swear to God, this movie contained enough fodder for even the most hardcore Harry/Hermione shippers to feed off of for a lifetime. I feel like at least one of the writers probably moonlights writing Harry/Hermione fanfics on LiveJournal. What the heck.

No. Bad screenwriters. Bad.

[KC] My personal take on the dancing scene, apart from being absolutely horrified by the inanity of it all, is that it was far too reminiscent of Peter Parker's emo dance in Spider Man 3. For those of you who do not recall the particular allusion I am making, I am, of course, referring to the instance where our friendly neighborhood Spider Man decides that he is hot shit, gussies himself up in some dark clothes, and dances on down the street (youtube "Spider Man 3 dance scene"). Pointless. Just like this stupid scene in HP. Someone should be fired. [/KC]

That said, the movie also had a lot of good points, including some great performances from the cast. Alan Rickman (Snape), in his 4 minutes of screen time, still wowed me with his reaction to the Muggle Studies professor at the Death Eater meeting in the beginning of the film. At first I thought this might have just been me seeing things that weren't there because of the book, but afterward Kenny confirmed that he thought the same thing. And I absolutely cannot talk about this movie without mentioning the outstanding performances of Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy and Tom Felton (probably the best part of the sixth film, incidentally) as Draco. Holy crap they were good. The scene where Voldemort takes Lucius's wand comes to mind, as well as Draco attempting to identify Harry's face under the Stinging Jinx. And, although Rupert Grint (Ron) continues to be the best of the trio, even Danielle Radcliffe (Harry), about whom Kenny recently remarked (I would say accurately), "Yeah, I think everyone's a little disappointed with how he turned out," managed to pull it together at the crucial moments. I've definitely said in the past that I would never forgive him for not making me cry when Cedric died in the fourth movie, but I think his performance with Dobby may have gone towards making up for that. How frickin' sad was that, people.

[KC] Dear lord, when I finally remembered what happens to Dobby (as the knife was sailing through the air T_T), I think I left imprints on my face from the stress of it all. His death certainly was portrayed adequately enough to create an uncomfortable sadness in the theater, but I though the filmmakers should have gone for the jugular. Rather than having Harry bust out a small grave in the sand dunes within what seemed like 45 minutes, they should have left the scene as it was in the book--Harry refusing any help and digging the grave all night long. I remember putting down the book because that was so unbelievably tragic. But, as I said, the scene wasn't anywhere near botched, I just think it would have been better if some people (Kelly) were reduced to audible sobbing.

While I do agree with Kelly's comments about the general acting talent in this film, I do have to express my sincere disappointment with the direction of Bill Nighy (Scrimgeour). Seen in films such as Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Pirate Radio, Pirates of the Caribbean, and pretty much every other British movie in existence, this man is a genius. However, and this is a huge however, he was a rather large letdown in this movie. As soon as I saw his beautiful face appear on screen, I gushed: "HE'S SCRIMGEOUR! KYA~". And then the fall. He was not nearly as suspicious, interrogative, or aggressive as he should have been in his brief moments on screen. Had he been directed as he should have been, it would have demonstrated clearly to the audience Harry's continuing mistrust of the Ministry and solidified the fact that he is alone in his quest. [/KC]

Limbo...that boy is so fragile.

Finally, I must take a minute to talk about what might be my favorite part of the movie: the animated Deathly Hallows (Three Brothers) sequence. If you guys have seen the film, you know what I'm talking about. Directed by Ben Hibon, who as far as I can tell came completely out of nowhere, this absolutely beautiful piece of CG animation completely knocked me off my feet. The detail was amazing, the movement suggested stop-motion animation (à la Coraline) but was more fluid, the silhouetted characters and muted palette reminded me of Limbo and gave the story the perfect aesthetic. Absolutely stunning, and by far the best part of the movie in terms of artistic achievement. Wow.

[KC] I write in concurrence of Kelly's immediately preceding paragraph. Five seconds into the animated sequence, the thought that crossed my mind was: "This is the best part of the movie. Hands down." I would definitely watch and entire feature-length film if it were animated in this style. Simply gorgeous. [/KC]

Brood more, Harry. Things only get worse from here.

So...that was a ridiculously long post about Harry Potter, but since I'm living in the land of Hogwarts right now, I feel justified in foisting my opinions on you in a long-winded and high-handed fashion. I'm dying to know what you guys thought of HP7! Leave me some comments! Next week look forward to another guest blog by Kenny and hopefully some London adventures.

Mischief Managed,
KQ & KC

My Life Outside (But Mostly Inside) the Library

Lear Quarto, for your viewing pleasure

Ready for another exciting episode of Kelly's Adventures in Oxford? Sit back, relax, maybe get some popcorn (if you're Janet) and allow yourself to be amazed by the magical world presented to you in these electronic pages...or just read my ramblings here like you normally do, probably with a slightly bored and/or confused expression as you wonder how I could possibly think you would be interested in quartos, literary criticism, or Star Driver.

Forging ahead! So as I mentioned in my recent post handing out geeky gold stars to the few people who deigned to play my ridiculous game last week, I was indeed coerced into attending the termly Geek Quiz. As for the results, well, there was good news and bad news. Good news: I was not (by a long shot) the geekiest person in the room. Bad news: I was not (by a long shot) the geekiest person in the room. So I was reassured that there are much, much more geeky people in the world than me, but that meant that I also couldn't help with that many of the questions. The format was pretty nice: 30+ people showed up and split into teams of five or six (I was on a team with Doc Soc people, btw; our team name was Doctor-Donna). Then if someone had written a round of questions they would stand up and ask all ten in succession while each team consulted amongst themselves and wrote down their best answers. Then the correct answers were read out and each team's score tallied.

I did not get any of the Star Trek trivia. Sorry guys, not my fandom.

Unfortunately, the flaw in this system became apparent (to me at least) quite quickly: viz. no one screens the questions beforehand. So we got some rounds that were fun and moderately challenging, involving things like viral videos, recent science fiction novels, &c, and others that were absolutely, utterly, impossible. One person brought a round on conspiracy theories (think Knights Templar) which was ridiculous, and someone else asked a round of questions involving 19th century French translations of Mary Shelley. Yeah. So overall my verdict was a decided shmeh; I don't think I would necessarily go again, unless it was for the sole purpose of asking a ridiculous round of seiyuu trivia out of revenge for the exasperatingly impossible questions some people brought in.

In other news, I have another installment to add to The Great Ethnic Food Quest:

Japanese food: Edamame
So I mentioned last week that this place was on my radar, and I finally made it this Friday. Good news, comrades! This place was pretty darn good. I would go as far as to say it is my first unmitigated success in this quest. The place is teeny-tiny - really, like 5 tables - and they really pack you in. Rice and miso aren't included with the entrees although they basically tell you to order them, which is kind of annoying, but then again I guess if you hated miso soup you would be stoked. I had salmon teriyaki (which is on the menu in the engrishy form of "samon teri"...yeah don't ask me) which was actually delicious, if slightly under-seasoned, although under-seasoned is the general state of food in the UK, so I can't single them out for it. Meagan, my ethnic food partner in crime, ordered tonkatsu and the katsu sauce came in its own little teapot - super cute! Or should I say, chou kawaii~!! The only drawback to this place is the completely bizarre distribution of opening hours: only open for dinner on Friday and Saturday, sushi only on Thursday, closed on Wednesday...yeah, what? Still, it was good, so SUCCESS!! Ethnic food can be good in Oxford!

English Faculty Library

In between such adventures as Geek Quiz and Edamame, of course, I've been hitting the library pretty hard. I'm in 6th week here and things are leaning towards intense. I spent all of Friday researching in the EFL (that's the English Faculty Library for those of you who don't speak Oxford) for my C-Course essay. I basically had to pull every single one-volume Shakespeare collection and photocopy the bits on Macbeth, so I am now a pro at the using the Bod PCAS (Bodleian Print Copy & Scan...see, we're learning) system and the copy machines in the EFL in general. I also got to feel like a super sleuth going through newspaper archives to track a particularly catty back-and-forth some academics were carrying out in the Letters to the Editor pages of the Times Literary Supplement (TLS) a few months back on the question of Middletonian authorship in Macbeth. No really, scholarly insults were flying. Here are a few samples of academics being children:

• "Vitriol is a poor vehicle for truth, and even a cursory examination of the 'evidence' in the TLS piece...reveals contradictions, gaps, and misrepresentations"
• "I am not worried that T might edit Macbeth again in the next Oxford Shakespeare - he has done his worst for that play - rather, concerned what may become of other texts subjected to such autocratic treatment"
• "Shakespeare deserves better than this," &c. &c.

Unfortunately, although I am discovering that this topic is more interesting than I thought, I am also discovering that there's a lot here. And from the perspective of a 15-20 pg paper due at the end of the term, it's looking a little looming and scary. I have, however, begged my C-Course professor to meet with me about it this week, so hopefully she will sort me out, because my title is due to the Exam Schools on Friday.

Corpus Christi, my supervisor's college. Pretty, right?

Meanwhile, that whole dissertation thing is sneaking up behind my back. Luckily my course adviser has decided to start pushing us little birdies out of her nest and found me a dissertation supervisor who wants to work on 1590s epyllia, so that definitely solves one problem for me. I was a little terrified because it was someone I'd never met or heard of, but I met him at for the first time earlier this evening at Corpus Christi, and he is pretty rad. He handed me a reading list right away, which is a big help, and gave me a task to complete by our next meeting: a 1500 word survey of the literature, focusing on recent criticism. This seems manageable and gives me some solid goal to focus on, which is great. He also seems pretty understanding about the C-Course essays, &c. Hopefully this is the start of a beautiful relationship. On the other hand, now I'm going to be in the library even more often, writing up that lit survey.

Now for something completely unrelated to literature and Oxford: music. So the new Hellogoodbye album dropped last week. Is anyone else listening to this piece of crap? I've been listening to it this week, specifically right now as I write this post, and I am disappoint. Okay, maybe "piece of crap" was a little harsh...it's not that the album is completely bad. The first song is relatively catchy, though I would say it's all downhill from there. It's just not Hellogoodbye. When I think of Hellogoodbye, I think of electronic pop. Where is the synthesizer in this album? Did they lose it? Did someone misplace it at their last gig? That's right, friends, Hellogoodbye has gone the way of Panic! At the Disco with their sophomore album - throwing the "dance" out of my dance rock, the "electronic" out of my electronic pop. Don't these bands realize that without this, they are just a generic alternative band? What happened to the Hellogoodbye of "Call n' Return"? Come back, please!

(I know, the lyrics video is tacky but it's about the song, people)

Setting my problems with the alternative music scene aside, Kenny's coming in this weekend for a visit to the land of crumpets AND Deathly Hallows comes out this Friday! As long as I can make it though 6th week unscathed, I have some fun times to look forward to in my hours outside the library. Tune in next time for my thoughts on the latest HP installment and perhaps some London adventures with Kenny!

Adios amigos,
KQ

You really thought you were gonna get away without a picture of Takuto this week? Please. Star Driver ftw!

Geek Quiz Answers

So since a few of you made brave forays into the world of geekdom and took a stab at some of my questions, I thought I'd make a post honoring your valor with some answers and some awards.  I did end up getting coerced into attending the Geek Quiz last week, but I'll tell you about it in a proper post tomorrow or Tuesday. For now, the scoreboard:

Obviously Kenny won but honestly he has no excuse not to.  Drew rocked it out with three correct answers and Janet wowed me with her geek knowledge, coming in just behind him. Breakdown and answers are as follows:

1. What are the first names of all four Hogwarts founders?

ANSWER: Godric (Gryffindor), Salazar (Slytherin), Helga (Hufflepuff), Rowena (Ravenclaw)

Janet, Laurie, Kenny, Drew, and Hannah all got this question right! You guys make me so proud! *wipes away tears* I'm glad everyone's getting prepared for the 7th movie next week!

2. When confronted with a Weeping Angel, what is the one thing you should  absolutely NOT do?

ANSWER: Blink

Janet bravely attempted this question but unfortunately was still a little off, which I have to say is still pretty good for never really having watched Doctor Who. Drew and Kenny, who both hold the advantage of having seen the episode in question, got it right.

 3. "Hagaren" is an abbreviation for the title of what popular anime/manga?

ANSWER: Hagane no Renkinjutsushi (Fullmetal Alchemist)

First of all: Janet you are my frickin' hero. I can't believe you got this right! Drew understandably but incorrectly guessed Gurren Lagann, and Kenny practically lives in my head so he had no reason to get this wrong.

4.  Name Andrew Wiggin's two siblings (and, for bonus points, their pseudonyms).

ANSWER: Peter and Valentine Wiggin, pseudonyms Locke and Demosthenes respectively 

 Kenny was the only one who got this question. The trick of it is, of course, remembering that Andrew is the real first name of Ender Wiggin. I thought about giving the clue that Andrew is a Third, but I thought that might give it away. Drew, you need to brush up on your Ender's Game - no excuses!













5. Who shot first, Han or Greedo?
ANSWER:  Han shot first in the original release of A New Hope, although Lucas (curses be upon him) changed the scene in the 1997 re-release so that Greedo fires first, making Solo's shot appear to be self-defense. We all know this is the most horrendous form of sacrilege and should never, ever, be acknowledged as truth.

I think the lack of context here made this question a little too hard. My bad, guys. But still, you can never have enough Star Wars trivia.

Bonus: Name Asimov's three laws of robotics in order.

ANSWER: 

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Well played, Drew, for rocking these out. Kenny and Mom piggybacked on your success here. Have you finished the Foundation novels yet, btw? I miss the robots in those.

Thanks for playing guys, that was fun! It was great seeing all your answers come in and I'm glad that a detailed knowledge of Harry Potter is commonplace among my friends. Again, I'll do a proper post in a day or two, so look out for more Oxford adventures in the near future!

KQ

Position Paper Blues and The Great Ethnic Food Quest

Greetings, readers! It's been a little while since I last updated, so I know you're all just dying to find out what I've been up to all this time...right?

Guy Fawkes mask...why so creepy?

Well, as it turns out, not too much, at least in the last few days. I had my first real piece of writing due this morning, so I basically spent Friday and Saturday in the Bod with my books and Sunday click-clicking away on my laptop to the tune of history and the commons in Richard II.  It was Guy Fawkes Day on Friday, so I watched the fireworks out my window while I slaved away over Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare.  Ah, the exciting life of an MSt student. The kicker is, this paper isn't even marked...actually the whole class isn't marked.  You may be wondering, and Kenny has asked me several times, "Is anything you do marked?" Why, yes; yes it is.  I have a rather daunting 15-20 page paper due at the end of the term which may or may not be on critical responses to Middletonian collaboration in Macbeth...and that will certainly be duly handed in to the Exam Schools and judged most strictly. But that's for later.

Bodleian Upper Reading Room, where I spent my weekend

So this paper that I just finished today is what we're calling a "position paper": my course has weekly themes, and every week 2 or 3 people take up the theme and write 2,000 word "position papers" which theoretically everyone in the course will read before our Thursday seminar so they can come in bursting with ideas to spark serious and scholarly discussion.  In practice, I'm not sure exactly how many of us are reading the position papers every week (I am, obvi, since I'm such an overachiever)...but you know who WILL be reading them? Our professors. And considering one of my professors assigned his own book as a critical text this week, and that I was forced to quote said text in my paper to make one of my points, I would love not to suffer his academic scorn when I sit across the table from him on Thursday. Whenever one does one of these 'write a paper and hand it out for all your classmates to read' things it always make me super self-conscious...like I'm letting everyone in on how stupid my ideas are. On the other hand, I feel kind of more legitimate now since I have actually completed some written work, as everything I've done up to this point has mostly consisted of reading a bunch of material and then sitting around a table discussing it.

Early modern studies can be sexy too!

Although speaking of written work, somehow my dissertation is already creeping up on me even though it's not due until June. I had a meeting last week with our course convener to discuss dissertation topics and I feel like the pressure's already on. I think I'm going to focus on the epyllia of the 1590s, by the way, if anyone cares. Marlowe and Shakespeare and all that.

Ah yes, I see the yawns. Yes, I know my work is boring to those of you who aren't early modernists (aka everyone). So let's move on, shall we? I think it's time to share some of the results of a personal challenge I have embarked on here in Oxford: The Great Ethnic Food Quest. Here we will define "ethnic" as anything that's not British, American, or western European (although my friend Meagan from Canada has informed me that in Ontario Italian food is considered "ethnic"...America's hat indeed). So far I have sampled the cuisine of three establishments that could fall under this category, so let's just get to it:

The Great Ethnic Food Quest

1. Mexican food: The Mission
This place touts itself as "the best burrito in Oxford." Actually, as they themselves are forced to admit, it is the ONLY burrito in Oxford. Self-described as "Cal-Mex," what it actually is is a poor man's Chipotle. And I mean a very poor man. Like, broke, 1929 status. Everything in the restaurant is a rip off of Chipotle: the menu, the tortilla press, the assembly-line style service, the little red baskets, even the font on their sign looks like the Chipotle font. The only thing that was not a carbon copy of Chipotle was, unfortunately, the taste of the actual food, which was mediocre fare at best. During my first week in Oxford someone actually pointed this place out to me and told me there was Mexican food there, but it "wasn't as good as Chipotle." I was like, dude, if Chipotle is your standard for great Mexican food I am going to be sorely disappointed by this place. And so I was. The pathetic thing is I'd totally go back anyway because I miss tortillas and this is literally the only place in Oxford to get them.

hmmm...similarities?

2. Chinese food: Cafe Opium
I was really missing potstickers so I decided to check this place out a few weeks ago. The upside was that it seemed fairly authentic and there were real Asian people in it.  On the downside, I didn't love the food. The menu was huge but a lot of it was seafood, and Chinese seafood and I aren't the best of friends. And you know what was not on the menu? That's right, potstickers. Frickity frick. Also, they didn't include steamed rice with entrees...what the heck!? AND, the rice was kind of soggy. If you're a Chinese restaurant and you can't even get the sticky rice right, I can't approve of you. I probably won't go back here, so my quest for some legit Shanghai-style Chinese food continues. If anyone knows of anywhere in Oxford where I can get some xiao long bao, please reveal your secrets.

3. Pan-asian noodles: Noodle Nation

Meagan and I checked this place out last Thursday, and I was hoping for some quality noodles, since I'd heard good things about this place. I finally got my potsticker fix here, though they called them by the slightly less appetizing title of "meat dumplings," and they were deep-fried...why do the Brits love to fry everything? I also had beef udon. Pros: potstickers were surprisingly delish. Cons: udon was bizarre. Instead of having things I expect in my udon, like mushrooms and seaweed and fishcakes, it had shredded carrots and cabbage: what the what? It wasn't really udon, but it was still decent I guess. Oh, how I miss Noodle Planet! Meagan had something called "chicken balls" in sweet and sour sauce--that's right, I said chicken balls. Apparently this is something that passes as Chinese food here and also in Canada, the land where Italian food is considered ethnic. Basically they are little chicken nuggets that are battered and fried, and then covered in sweet and sour sauce and called "Chinese." I didn't believe they were real when Meagan first told me about them, but having first looked them up on Wikipedia and now having witnessed them with my own eyes, I have to concede their existence. You win this time, Canada. But I still don't think it counts as Asian food. 

"Chinese" chicken balls, apparently.

Basically, ethnic food in Oxford is so far a massive FAIL. The next thing to try is this Japanese place down the road from me called Edamame, which is supposed to be really good, but that's also what people told me about The Mission and Noodle Nation. I'll let you know how it goes.

♫ ...we built the pyramids! ♫

In other news, I may or may not participate in the termly "Geek Quiz" taking place later this week since it's happening in the place of Doc Soc this Thursday. It's basically exactly what it sounds like: all the geeky societies, like the Tolkien Soc, Star Trek Soc, SciFi/Fantasy Soc, &c. get together and battle for geek supremacy. I kind of want to go just because it sounds like an episode of The Big Bang Theory. I'm not sure how much of an asset I would be if I went, and obviously my loyalty would be divided between Doc Soc and Anime Soc (boohoo). But I've been getting emails about it, and in honor of the occasion, I think I'll host my own Geek Quiz here on the blog so my readers can participate in my geeky life here at Oxford. I came up with five geek questions, so gold stars (or maybe a postcard?) for anyone who answers correctly in the comments (and googling = cheating!).

1. What are the first names of all four Hogwarts founders?

2. When confronted with a Weeping Angel, what is the one thing you should  absolutely NOT do?

3. "Hagaren" is an abbreviation for the title of what popular anime/manga?

4.  Name Andrew Wiggin's two siblings (and, for bonus points, their pseudonyms).

5. Who shot first, Han or Greedo?

Bonus: Name Asimov's three laws of robotics in order.

Hopefully some of you will take a stab at those, or else my feelings will totally be hurt since I went to the trouble to make them up JUST FOR YOU (*sniffle*). You know you guys miss me being all kinds of geeky around the House o' Pi ;). And speaking of Hogwarts founders, the seventh movie is coming out soon! Who's excited? 'Cause I am!

Well it's about time I wrapped this thing up and got back to stuff I actually should be doing, like researching. Same time next week?

KQ

I know I usually put Takuto here but this week was all about Sugata. I also realize none of you know what I'm talking about.