Some of this...some of that...

The snow has stopped here in Oxford, after the better part of a week, though the skies are still grey and the wind biting. What they call "snow" here turns out to be more like "very small hail" and a "major storm" is what those in Michigan would call "a Tuesday in October"...still, we take what we can get, I suppose. It is interesting to see those here at the Vines from warmer climes reacting to snow with wonder and amazement, even going to far as to film it on one of the ubiquitous digital cameras that lie about here. Speaking about filming...
I make an appearance in another amateur movie here. This one is a bit longer, a bit stranger, and a bit fiction...er. The story stands as a bit of a mystery in the house, not because of any attempts at secrecy, but merely because none of the participants really have a solid grasp on the thing. It (entitled "The Agony of Loyala") involves a detective, his trusty manservant Loyala (from the title, you see), animal sterilization, a host of other bizarre characters (Palatial Jones? Aunt Rubicon?), and the Church of Scientology. See, "theology" is the study of "theo" (track with me here, and don't let logic or reality trip you up), so "scientology" is the study of "Sciento", the Roman god of pigs and rain, who factors into the film. (No! Stop that! I said no logic!) Right. My total involvement: approx 3 minutes onscreen. In fact, I think it took me longer to type this inadequate summary than it would to watch my part in the film. Anyway, rest assured, an online version, if it exists, will be linked to from this page as soon as it...um...exists.
The past week or two I have been trying to fill the gaping chasm of lack of cultural/artistic stimulation that has developed during my time in Oxford. I've been to two plays, the symphony (does anyone else notice that Howard Shore owes a bit to Dvorak's 9th?), and a musical review. The plays, for those of you interested in that sort of thing, were "Cigarettes and Coffee" and "The Philanthropist". Both were (more of less) student productions. The production values were a bit low (but really, that adds to the atmosphere) but the acting was solid, if not flawless (at least on par with a *good* community theatre show in GR), and there were some iffy directorial and acting choices and so forth...goodness...have I become a theatre snob or do I actually know what I am talking about?...The musical review was fun because Kim, one of our own, was a participant, a third of the audience was made up of members of the program. (To anyone curious, another of Ryan Swindoll's famous video treatments of the event is available here) Kim was good (I've heard her sing on other occasions as well, and think she could easily manage a major part or a lead in a CU musical), as was another girl and one of the tenors, and there was a baritone there who was exceedingly impressive. He managed the part of Javier from Le Mis with aplomb, and Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.
And while I am on the subject of things probably none of you will ever hear or see (and consequently may have little interest in), I may as well rant about Scott and Sarah; they are a married couple here at the Vines, and form a musical "act" of sorts. He writes songs and plays guitar (incidentally, he is also writer/director/producer of "The Agony of Loyala" and he wrote all the songs. What? Oh, yes, the movie is a *musical.* No, I am not kidding.) and she sings. And boy does she sing. Stick Norah Jones, Natalie Merchant, and (someone said) Janice Joplin in a blender, and you are probably somewhere in the neighborhood. Actually, don't. That "blender" metaphor is suddenly disturbing and macabre. The point is, I would listen to her sing the phone book. Chell and I stayed up until 3:30am the other day sitting with them in the common room and listening to their stuff. *sigh* Good times..yes..good times..hmm..where was I going with any of this? Yeah, I got nothing.
This Tuesday night, some of us are going into London to celebrate Katrina's birthday, including a showing of the Reduced Shakespeare Company's "Complete History of America : Abridged." Should be interesting to see what the Brits have to say about us, especially considering that whole fiasco known as the "War for Independence" ("Haha, we are His Majesty's Army, marching through the forests with bright red coats! Surely our powdered wigs and drinking songs cannot fail to defeat those buckskinned colonials running about those dirty woods with their--"*BANG**THUD*...but I digress.)Although, there was a snowball fight between the denizens of the Vines our neighbors at Oxford Brookes university (one of the OTHER universities in Oxford), and there was a lot of clever historical trash talk going on. Well, frankly, most of it was coming from our side; in this case the vaunted rapier British wit consisted of profanities and references to various parts of the anatomy.


--Reading (Amongst others, naturally)--
-"When We Were Orphans" by Kazuo Ishiguro: Good so far. From the author of "The Remains of the Day"
-"His Dark Materials" trilogy, by Philip Pullman
-"Sandman" by Neil Gaiman

--Recently Read--
-"The Talisman" by Steven King and Peter Straub: Don't let the "horror" verbage on the back fool you; simply a wonderful adventure/fantasy story.
-"Tietam Brown" by Mick Foley: Yes, the wrestler. Don't laugh, the man can write. The book is harsh, crude at times, and a bit dark, so I cannot give a universal recommendation, but if you can stand it, worth a read. Shades of Salinger. Except stuff actually happens.

--Listening To--
-Vienna Teng: I cannot recommend her enough. Listen to her; everyone who does falls under her spell

I think that is enough randomness for now. Another update sometime this week.
The Grace and Peace of our Lord be with you all,
Brian