Sunday, May 31, 2009
Blogging Problems
Well, I have not been able to upload more photos because of a bad internet connection. Hopefully we'll have more luck in Bath or London. Tomorrow we're off to Dorchester and the Thomas Hardy sites, and then away to Cornwall.
Comment on the Blogging
I currently have two weeks worth of pictures after nearly two weeks with no internet access, and a very slow connection at the B&B where we're staying. I will post photos without much comment. UK09 people--comment in the comments, now or later. I will also not identify who took photos right now--if you click on the picture you should get the date, subject, and person who took it. Of course we'll identify Photos of the Week!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Julius Caesar
...an exhibition of mob mentality, brutality, superstition, and oratory, loved by half the students and hated by the other half. I hope to have comments from them at this site soon.
More Mary Arden pix
...by students as they become available. Particularly we need pictures of the students with the falconer.
Mary Arden House (at Stratford)
Jon photographing the photographer (Lauren, above).
Lori on a sod bench.
Columbine.
Making pottage.
Class on Julius Caesar and the sonnets of Shakespeare. The Mary Arden house was lovely. John B took 150 photos of the interesting farm implements - interesting to him, that is - proving that he is still a farm boy at heart.
Church and Fireside in Warwick
John B drove back to London to get his computer, so I have something to blog with occasionally, but it works considerably differently than my sweet little crashed ASUS, (for instance, I can't seem to rearrange photos after I upload them, or write at the beginning of a post). But it's better than nothing. Here are the students at the Warwick fireside. I didn't take photos of the Kendal fireside because it was too reverent. This one was reverent too, but I decided to take photos anyway.
A Note on the Weather
We have had several people comment, via this blog and otherwise, that it doesn't look like we've had much rainy weather - a lot of photos are in the sunshine, and nothing looks too bad or cold. However, we have discovered that English weather can change from sunny to cold and windy to drenching rain back to sunshine within half an hour, and often does. People don't like to get out their cameras during the rain, and things are much prettier during the sunshine, and so those are the photos you get. However, if one is outdoors for several hours, one can plan on being drenched, no matter how sunny it looks at the moment. Right now, the weather is comfortable for sitting in the sun, but cold when the clouds come up. This morning, as I've been checking my email, etc., it has rained twice - pouring down, cold - but now the sun is out again.
Also, unfortunately, my little mini-computer seems to have picked up an internet-connection hitch of some sort, which makes blogging almost impossible. Blogging may be slow for awhile, or maybe I can borrow someone else's computer. We're in Oxford now, and everybody's OK.
Also, unfortunately, my little mini-computer seems to have picked up an internet-connection hitch of some sort, which makes blogging almost impossible. Blogging may be slow for awhile, or maybe I can borrow someone else's computer. We're in Oxford now, and everybody's OK.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Photos of the Week
16 May, "Picnic at St. Nicholas Park" by Jon, winner in the Best Photo of Dairy Products category:
13 May, "Heather on the Moor," by Heather L., winner of the Best Portrait: The Moor Can Be A Happy Place; Moor is Less; The Life and Times of Heather L category
16 May, "Clyde at Warwick Castle," by Tiffany, winner in the Best Photo of Clyde category:
12 May, "Lunch on a Canal Near Gargrave," by John B, winner in the Best Death-Defying Photo category (he nearly fell in taking it):
11 May, "Kylie at the Top of Malham Cove," by Kylie, winner in the Best Photo of Kylie by Kylie category:
Note that there were five winners this week, and no Photos of the Day because of the excessive number of entries to sort through. But keep 'em coming in!
13 May, "Heather on the Moor," by Heather L., winner of the Best Portrait: The Moor Can Be A Happy Place; Moor is Less; The Life and Times of Heather L category
16 May, "Clyde at Warwick Castle," by Tiffany, winner in the Best Photo of Clyde category:
12 May, "Lunch on a Canal Near Gargrave," by John B, winner in the Best Death-Defying Photo category (he nearly fell in taking it):
11 May, "Kylie at the Top of Malham Cove," by Kylie, winner in the Best Photo of Kylie by Kylie category:
Note that there were five winners this week, and no Photos of the Day because of the excessive number of entries to sort through. But keep 'em coming in!Fellowship and Folly (i.e. comments captured and preserved among our group)
...assembled by Annelise:
Most outrageous out of context
“It’s not MY fault I’m still a virgin” –Kylie (preserved by Katie A.)
“Brokeback Mountain made me nostalgic.” –John B. (preserved by Annelise, 5/6)
“How upset would you be if I peed right now?” –Julie (preserved by Lauren)
“Precious Moments”
Rachel: “Did you meet a blast-ended skrewt?”
Heather L.: “No, but I ran into Christian, which is almost as bad.” (preserved by Lauren, 5/19)
Bentley: “Are you ready to get mystical?”
Julie: “The answer to that question is always no.” (preserved by Kylie)
[While walking up to Ruskin’s grave] “Let’s dig ’im up!” –Sydney (preserved by Bess, 5/9)
“I want Kylie to be able to go home and tell her mother, ‘Mom, I have balls of steel.’”—John B. (preserved by Bess, 5/7)
“If anyone calls us on that picture we can just say, ‘They were all wearing pants.’ These vocabulary differences work to our advantage.” –Rick (preserved by Annelise, 5/2)
“Aw. It’s too bad Lord Voldemort isn’t with us.” –Kylie (preserved by Annelise, 5/2)
“So there we were, sitting with an openly gay German man wearing a transparent nightgown, talking about the Book of Mormon.” –Jon S. (preserved by Annelise, 5/3)
“I never trust a pig. Not even for a second.”
Later . . . “I misjudged the pig.” –John B. (preserved by Lauren, 5/13)
“Have you ever been in one of these before?” –Tiffany about a duvet cover (preserved by Lauren, 5/16)
sung in faux-blues voices
Chris B.: “We’ve been singing the same note for 3 hours and Jon still can’t hit it. He’s singing the can’t-sing-the-blues-blues.”
Marshall: “I think it’s an A.”
Chris B.: “Probably not.”
also sung in faux-blues voices
Bentley: “My friend’s hamster died of scurvy. Which is kind of sad, because that’s my favorite disease.”
Marshall: “You have no compassion for people with scurvy.”
Chris B.: “Or hamsters.”
Whitney: “Or pirates.”
Bentley: “My friend and I were pirates recently. We made a raft out of our neighbor’s house that was being built. And rafted on a man-made lake. And we brought strawberry rhubarb pie so we wouldn’t get scurvy.”
Chris B.: “Don’t you mean hungry?”
Bentley: “Mostly scurvy.” –(preserved by Lauren, 5/12)
Profound Observations
“It was . . . I don’t know, I think it was written.” –Roxanne (preserved by Tiffany)
“This mountain looks like cookies dipped in milk . . . only it’s rocks dipped in a mountain.” –Heather L. (preserved by Tiffany, 5/7)
Lauren: “I’m glad I’m a girl.”
Sammy: “Yeah, because what do you do if you’re lonely and a boy?”
Whitney: “Go play in the dirt.”
Sammy: “I showered.”
Whitney: “Me too. That’s why I feel okay laying in your bed.”
Sammy: “Together. So we don’t have to play in the dirt.” (preserved by Lauren)
“Most of the time scandalous has to do with being naked and stuff like that” –Matt (preserved by Annelise, 5/6)
Hard learned truths
“The moors are the liminal space between earth and Hell” –Bentley (preserved by Annelise, 5/13)
“I just need to apologize for John in advance” –Karla (preserved by Annelise, 4/30)
“Oh look, there’s poop; it must be a British road.” –Kylie (preserved by Tiffany, 5/13)
“You all have ovaries of titanium.” –John B. (preserved by Kylie, 5/7)
Character Revelations
“The funny thing is I don’t usually call myself a beast” –Christian (preserved by Annelise, 5/1)
“I have never been more tempted in my life to just steal something and mail it back to them later” –Heather W. (preserved by Janet, 5/16)
“Because my ipod only holds 80 gigs, I don’t have room for happy songs” –Jon S. (preserved by Kylie)
“I’d leave the church and become a pagan if I saw a glowing light.” –Marshall (preserved by Bess, 5/6)
“So, I was looking at those cows . . . and I thought, that’s kind of what I feel like on this trip: I wander around and I eat—all the time.” –Bess (preserved by Tiffany, 5/12)
“I think better with my pants off.” –Heather L. (source unknown, 5/8)
“I’ve had ticks on me my whole life.” –John B. (preserved by Annelise, 5/4)
“I never get quoted. I think people are forming a quoting clique.” –Lori (preserved by Lauren)
Ah, the people we meet in our travels . . .
“Considering the complexities of Tibetan Buddhist iconography in the context of ever-increasing interest by Westerners in Tibetan Buddhism, had his Holiness had any thoughts on what a modern Buddhist art would look like?” –John Dugger, artist in residence at Brantwood (P.S. His Holiness answered, “No.”, preserved by Bess, 5/9)
“That was a good slam. I love every move you make.” –Scottish man to Emma (preserved by Tiffany, 5/5)
“You want to come in, don’t you?” –Thomas the gay German to Jon S. (preserved by Annelise, related 5/3)
“You can run from me, but you can never run from yourself.” –Bulgarian girl to Matt’s mission companion (preserved by Annelise, related 5/3)
Most outrageous out of context
“It’s not MY fault I’m still a virgin” –Kylie (preserved by Katie A.)
“Brokeback Mountain made me nostalgic.” –John B. (preserved by Annelise, 5/6)
“How upset would you be if I peed right now?” –Julie (preserved by Lauren)
“Precious Moments”
Rachel: “Did you meet a blast-ended skrewt?”
Heather L.: “No, but I ran into Christian, which is almost as bad.” (preserved by Lauren, 5/19)
Bentley: “Are you ready to get mystical?”
Julie: “The answer to that question is always no.” (preserved by Kylie)
[While walking up to Ruskin’s grave] “Let’s dig ’im up!” –Sydney (preserved by Bess, 5/9)
“I want Kylie to be able to go home and tell her mother, ‘Mom, I have balls of steel.’”—John B. (preserved by Bess, 5/7)
“If anyone calls us on that picture we can just say, ‘They were all wearing pants.’ These vocabulary differences work to our advantage.” –Rick (preserved by Annelise, 5/2)
“Aw. It’s too bad Lord Voldemort isn’t with us.” –Kylie (preserved by Annelise, 5/2)
“So there we were, sitting with an openly gay German man wearing a transparent nightgown, talking about the Book of Mormon.” –Jon S. (preserved by Annelise, 5/3)
“I never trust a pig. Not even for a second.”
Later . . . “I misjudged the pig.” –John B. (preserved by Lauren, 5/13)
“Have you ever been in one of these before?” –Tiffany about a duvet cover (preserved by Lauren, 5/16)
Chris B.: “We’ve been singing the same note for 3 hours and Jon still can’t hit it. He’s singing the can’t-sing-the-blues-blues.”
Marshall: “I think it’s an A.”
Chris B.: “Probably not.”
Bentley: “My friend’s hamster died of scurvy. Which is kind of sad, because that’s my favorite disease.”
Marshall: “You have no compassion for people with scurvy.”
Chris B.: “Or hamsters.”
Whitney: “Or pirates.”
Bentley: “My friend and I were pirates recently. We made a raft out of our neighbor’s house that was being built. And rafted on a man-made lake. And we brought strawberry rhubarb pie so we wouldn’t get scurvy.”
Chris B.: “Don’t you mean hungry?”
Bentley: “Mostly scurvy.” –(preserved by Lauren, 5/12)
Profound Observations
“It was . . . I don’t know, I think it was written.” –Roxanne (preserved by Tiffany)
“This mountain looks like cookies dipped in milk . . . only it’s rocks dipped in a mountain.” –Heather L. (preserved by Tiffany, 5/7)
Lauren: “I’m glad I’m a girl.”
Sammy: “Yeah, because what do you do if you’re lonely and a boy?”
Whitney: “Go play in the dirt.”
Sammy: “I showered.”
Whitney: “Me too. That’s why I feel okay laying in your bed.”
Sammy: “Together. So we don’t have to play in the dirt.” (preserved by Lauren)
“Most of the time scandalous has to do with being naked and stuff like that” –Matt (preserved by Annelise, 5/6)
Hard learned truths
“The moors are the liminal space between earth and Hell” –Bentley (preserved by Annelise, 5/13)
“I just need to apologize for John in advance” –Karla (preserved by Annelise, 4/30)
“Oh look, there’s poop; it must be a British road.” –Kylie (preserved by Tiffany, 5/13)
“You all have ovaries of titanium.” –John B. (preserved by Kylie, 5/7)
Character Revelations
“The funny thing is I don’t usually call myself a beast” –Christian (preserved by Annelise, 5/1)
“I have never been more tempted in my life to just steal something and mail it back to them later” –Heather W. (preserved by Janet, 5/16)
“Because my ipod only holds 80 gigs, I don’t have room for happy songs” –Jon S. (preserved by Kylie)
“I’d leave the church and become a pagan if I saw a glowing light.” –Marshall (preserved by Bess, 5/6)
“So, I was looking at those cows . . . and I thought, that’s kind of what I feel like on this trip: I wander around and I eat—all the time.” –Bess (preserved by Tiffany, 5/12)
“I think better with my pants off.” –Heather L. (source unknown, 5/8)
“I’ve had ticks on me my whole life.” –John B. (preserved by Annelise, 5/4)
“I never get quoted. I think people are forming a quoting clique.” –Lori (preserved by Lauren)
Ah, the people we meet in our travels . . .
“Considering the complexities of Tibetan Buddhist iconography in the context of ever-increasing interest by Westerners in Tibetan Buddhism, had his Holiness had any thoughts on what a modern Buddhist art would look like?” –John Dugger, artist in residence at Brantwood (P.S. His Holiness answered, “No.”, preserved by Bess, 5/9)
“That was a good slam. I love every move you make.” –Scottish man to Emma (preserved by Tiffany, 5/5)
“You want to come in, don’t you?” –Thomas the gay German to Jon S. (preserved by Annelise, related 5/3)
“You can run from me, but you can never run from yourself.” –Bulgarian girl to Matt’s mission companion (preserved by Annelise, related 5/3)
16 May post by Katie P.
Now I love museums. Walking around them slowly, just reading and taking in all the displays is wonderful. I was expecting a typical museum experience when we went to the Viking Museum in York. My expectations were shattered though after we were put into a time machine and then loaded into a ride that was very much like the Peter Pan ride at Disneyland. Since then, my museum mood has switched off, and I keep hoping for more Disneyland-like rides.
Hence, Warwick Castle was just what I was hoping for. Lori and I were entertained by the English Long Bow Archer, who tried, unsuccessfully, to shoot a coke bottle swinging from a rope. “It’s a good thing England was never invaded by plastic bottles,” he told us.
There were other enjoyable sights, including a Birds of Prey Show (featuring eagles, buzzards, and vultures flying low over our heads), a display of high-class wax figures, and a dress-up station of antique hats.
Eventually, we all grew tired of the “magical kingdom” and headed off to shopping and laundry in Warwick. The greatest find, as far as I know, was a pair of zippers fashioned into earrings for only 95 pence.
We are all staying in the old Warwick hotel this weekend. It is very luxurious compared to the hostels. For the first time in a few weeks we are all adequately bathed and shaved. Much as I love the niceties, I am afraid the hotel might collapse. All the floors are slanted precariously…
Hence, Warwick Castle was just what I was hoping for. Lori and I were entertained by the English Long Bow Archer, who tried, unsuccessfully, to shoot a coke bottle swinging from a rope. “It’s a good thing England was never invaded by plastic bottles,” he told us.
There were other enjoyable sights, including a Birds of Prey Show (featuring eagles, buzzards, and vultures flying low over our heads), a display of high-class wax figures, and a dress-up station of antique hats.
Eventually, we all grew tired of the “magical kingdom” and headed off to shopping and laundry in Warwick. The greatest find, as far as I know, was a pair of zippers fashioned into earrings for only 95 pence.
We are all staying in the old Warwick hotel this weekend. It is very luxurious compared to the hostels. For the first time in a few weeks we are all adequately bathed and shaved. Much as I love the niceties, I am afraid the hotel might collapse. All the floors are slanted precariously…
Warwick Castle
Swan by Tiffany:
River Avon, by Bentley:
Towers by Jon:
More towers by Bentley:
Norman Mound by Jon:
Kirstina by Tiffany:
Clyde and the sword in the stone, by Tiiffany:
Not real people:
River Avon, by Bentley:
Towers by Jon:
More towers by Bentley:
Norman Mound by Jon:
Kirstina by Tiffany:
Clyde and the sword in the stone, by Tiiffany:
Not real people:
15 May post by Sammy
Today was full of time travel and bathroom humor. We began our morning with a lovely wet walk atop York’s city walls left from the period of the Romans. Had it not been raining so much, it may have been a bit more pleasant. Along the wall many of us stopped in the gift shop for the Richard III museum where the people of York try to prove he is not the monster Shakespeare makes him out to be.
From the wall we moved onto Vikings! Oh the glory of the Jorvik Viking Museum was truly a thing to behold. We all got into a machine! We traveled back to 866 where we were loaded onto Disneylandesque carts by a Viking to ride through a village full of attractive wax animatronic Viking citizens. At one point the narration tells of the public toilets as you slowly cruise by a man sitting in one that is having some bowel problems. The museum following the ride begins with an obscenely large piece of petrified human feces.
Later that day we continued our travel through time as we toured the Barley Hall – an old home from the medieval period that has been restored to look as it would be in the 1480s when a wealthy community member resided there. Our guide (who wore an excellent period costume) was sure to tell us all about the bathroom habits of the residents and their quests – including the special product that nun “wee” was which could be used as a substitute for holy water. We ended our day by seeing an excellent production of “Twelfth Night,” with excellent sets and lighting. We were certainly entertained by the drunken singing by Sir Toby and Viola’s awkward interactions with Duke Orsino as Cesario. Not even Shakespeare could resist including elements of bodily humor as there were numerous jokes told in regards to the body. Overall it was a most excellent and entertaining day.
From the wall we moved onto Vikings! Oh the glory of the Jorvik Viking Museum was truly a thing to behold. We all got into a machine! We traveled back to 866 where we were loaded onto Disneylandesque carts by a Viking to ride through a village full of attractive wax animatronic Viking citizens. At one point the narration tells of the public toilets as you slowly cruise by a man sitting in one that is having some bowel problems. The museum following the ride begins with an obscenely large piece of petrified human feces.
Later that day we continued our travel through time as we toured the Barley Hall – an old home from the medieval period that has been restored to look as it would be in the 1480s when a wealthy community member resided there. Our guide (who wore an excellent period costume) was sure to tell us all about the bathroom habits of the residents and their quests – including the special product that nun “wee” was which could be used as a substitute for holy water. We ended our day by seeing an excellent production of “Twelfth Night,” with excellent sets and lighting. We were certainly entertained by the drunken singing by Sir Toby and Viola’s awkward interactions with Duke Orsino as Cesario. Not even Shakespeare could resist including elements of bodily humor as there were numerous jokes told in regards to the body. Overall it was a most excellent and entertaining day.
York Minster from the Rooftop
Photo by Christian:
by Whitney:
Rooftop by Bentley:
Chris B on the winding tower stairs, by John B:
by Whitney:
Rooftop by Bentley:
Chris B on the winding tower stairs, by John B:
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