August 10, 2012
Britishness at it’s purest

Taken from Jim Caple’s hilarious but sad article on scalping (touting) at the Olympics. Along with the draconian ad police proof that English officiousness is at its purest when at its pettiest. Imagine if someone told me that something I bought I cound never re-sell. And then the TV guys complain about vacent seats.

Police arrested a Canadian who offered to sell two tickets at face value –- about $75 — to a tennis match. They jailed him for two nights. I’m not kidding. Two nights in jail for trying to re-sell a ticket at face value! Sheesh, in that case, a ticketing website “service charge” should be grounds for a lifetime sentence…Fortunately, there is one back-door avenue to get tickets. Each national federation receives an allotment of tickets, and some sell their unused ones at their official team houses. This is allowed even though the houses charge a commission as high as 30 percent. Still, it’s about the only way to get tickets. Thank God the Czechs have embraced capitalism since the Iron Curtain fell, because the British apparently are above such things. 


Except when it comes to T-shirt and beer prices.

-Jim Caple here 

Saddly such habits and practices are far to familiar for anyone who has ever spent anytime in England. Where the customer comes last and pays for it. While I miss many many things about living abroad, dealing with English admin is not one of them.

(Source: ESPN)

3:18pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZmxX6yR7xvMM
Filed under: Olympics England Britain Britishness 
March 15, 2012

Formal Hall, along with punting and flirting in libraries, forms the trifecta of Oxford diversions. I have written about it here, but these are a few more pictures of some favorite memories. 

11:10am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZmxX6yI0n0Ms
(Notes: 3)
  
Filed under: Oxford England Dinner Formal Hall Hall Feast UK Britain Oxford University 
March 12, 2012

A winter walk with a dog and a boy. 

12:14pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZmxX6yHt1bfG
(Notes: 1)
  
Filed under: winter snow Buckinghamshire bucks england britain uk 
March 5, 2012
My commute

My commute

1:01pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZmxX6yHVusZx
(Notes: 1)
  
Filed under: Oxford England Commute Punt Boat UK Britain Green 
March 5, 2012
Harry Mount, A Lust for Window Sills, (London: Little, Brown, 2008). England is endowed with a magnificent collection of buildings, as eclectic and diverse as the country and its people. Living in Oxford I am spoiled for choice, I mean, I am writing this from Duke Humfries medieval library and looking out one window at a young Christopher Wren’s Sheldonian Theater and another at James Webb’s Palladian masterpiece, the Radcliffe Camera. Frequently, though, I found myself wishing I knew a bit more about the buildings I encounter, and not just the significant ones, but the run of the mill terraces and pubs. Mount’s book is not a deep book nor does it explore the subtleties and nuance of every epoch, but it does give one a sense of history. After reading it one can stroll through London, or Oxford, or elsewhere and place most buildings in rough relation to one another. And, essential for Oxford, it gives you a few anectdotes and terms to toss out over a formal hall or drinks party. 

Harry Mount, A Lust for Window Sills, (London: Little, Brown, 2008).

England is endowed with a magnificent collection of buildings, as eclectic and diverse as the country and its people. Living in Oxford I am spoiled for choice, I mean, I am writing this from Duke Humfries medieval library and looking out one window at a young Christopher Wren’s Sheldonian Theater and another at James Webb’s Palladian masterpiece, the Radcliffe Camera. Frequently, though, I found myself wishing I knew a bit more about the buildings I encounter, and not just the significant ones, but the run of the mill terraces and pubs. Mount’s book is not a deep book nor does it explore the subtleties and nuance of every epoch, but it does give one a sense of history. After reading it one can stroll through London, or Oxford, or elsewhere and place most buildings in rough relation to one another. And, essential for Oxford, it gives you a few anectdotes and terms to toss out over a formal hall or drinks party. 

11:38am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZmxX6yHVpCbz
Filed under: books bookreview England building UK Britain 
February 21, 2012
Kinder Scout across the Staffordshire Moorls from Newstones. I love Staffordshire. I think the moorlands around The Roaches/Newstones/Ramshaw etc., i.e. the Leek vicinity, is my favorite place in the Peak.  

Kinder Scout across the Staffordshire Moorls from Newstones. I love Staffordshire. I think the moorlands around The Roaches/Newstones/Ramshaw etc., i.e. the Leek vicinity, is my favorite place in the Peak.  

9:14am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZmxX6yGn69Nj
(Notes: 2)
  
Filed under: Peaks Peak District Kinder Kinder Scout landscape England britain united kingdom Staffordshire Moors Moorland 
February 14, 2012
I feel kind of invasive for taking this picture of someone I don’t know, but really I just wanted the street in the snow and didn’t realize the person in it until I was processing the pix, then I kind of liked it. Like street fashion but actually for real not posed. Anyhow, Oxford is all grey again, bye bye snow. But at least we can remember that for a day or so it was pretty. 

I feel kind of invasive for taking this picture of someone I don’t know, but really I just wanted the street in the snow and didn’t realize the person in it until I was processing the pix, then I kind of liked it. Like street fashion but actually for real not posed. Anyhow, Oxford is all grey again, bye bye snow. But at least we can remember that for a day or so it was pretty. 

8:29am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZmxX6yGP4bWp
(Notes: 7)
  
Filed under: Oxford England britain UK fashion Street Photography Oxford University Oxfordshire style 
February 12, 2012
Back in Oxford for a bit. The snow is not as pretty or unspoilt here as it was in Dunsmore. 

Back in Oxford for a bit. The snow is not as pretty or unspoilt here as it was in Dunsmore. 

10:06am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZmxX6yGHyT3U
(Notes: 7)
  
Filed under: Oxford England Black and White Bike Bicycle Oxford University Britain UK 
February 9, 2012
My monochrome winter continues. This is from yet another Dunsmore walk. How I love a good walk in the countryside and such lovely (of a type) weather we have been having. The knowledge of a warm fire and a hot pot of tea at the end of the walk enhances the cold’s charm. Ah, as the Pearl Poet says: Winter’s penitential cheer. 

My monochrome winter continues. This is from yet another Dunsmore walk. How I love a good walk in the countryside and such lovely (of a type) weather we have been having. The knowledge of a warm fire and a hot pot of tea at the end of the walk enhances the cold’s charm. Ah, as the Pearl Poet says: Winter’s penitential cheer. 

8:35am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZmxX6yG7uhn1
(Notes: 4)
  
Filed under: Winter Trees England Britain UK Buckinghamshire Bucks dunsmore Walk Hike Winter Snow 
February 8, 2012
One thing I love about England in contrast to the US: public rights of way. This one happens to go back a few millenia. It’s the Ickield Way. A pre-Roman road, dating from at least the Iron Age, it no longer functions as one of England’s four principle highways but one still can imagine all manner of folk shuttling up and down it. For me it forms the backbone of my favorite country ramble in Bucks. 

One thing I love about England in contrast to the US: public rights of way. This one happens to go back a few millenia. It’s the Ickield Way. A pre-Roman road, dating from at least the Iron Age, it no longer functions as one of England’s four principle highways but one still can imagine all manner of folk shuttling up and down it. For me it forms the backbone of my favorite country ramble in Bucks. 

8:42am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZmxX6yG4fPcS
(Notes: 3)
  
Filed under: england Buckinghamshire Dunsmore Walking Hiking Icknield Way Public Bridleway UK Britain 
February 7, 2012
And here, btw, is my old home, Wadham, under the snow. 

And here, btw, is my old home, Wadham, under the snow. 

9:51am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZmxX6yG1TSWH
(Notes: 22)
  
Filed under: Oxford wadham college wadham England UK Britain United Kingdom Oxford University Oxfordshire college School Medieval 
February 6, 2012
And here is a frozen Port Meadow. It flooded, then froze, then we walked on it. 

And here is a frozen Port Meadow. It flooded, then froze, then we walked on it. 

8:57am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZmxX6yF_4AaM
(Notes: 10)
  
Filed under: Oxford Port Meadow Frozen Ice Winter England UK britain Cold Snow 
February 5, 2012
Trite subject, I know, but obligatory, esp. when not mobbed. By now snow has gone to slush, but we did have one glorious night. Perhaps more pix from an impromptu Port Meadow jaunt at some point. For Nina, Hertford says: ‘Hi!’

Trite subject, I know, but obligatory, esp. when not mobbed. By now snow has gone to slush, but we did have one glorious night. Perhaps more pix from an impromptu Port Meadow jaunt at some point. For Nina, Hertford says: ‘Hi!’

8:39pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZmxX6yFxvrnD
(Notes: 58)
  
Filed under: Oxford Oxford University Oxfordshire england UK britain bridge bridge of sighs snow Hertford 
January 31, 2012
On the Plantation (by zach.stone) I like this personally b/c it is different from most bouldering shots, esp. mine. I love shooting boulder problems b/c of the simplicity and the ease of getting right in the thick of the action, and while that style of photography is great (and will always rule the roost) it mutes bouldering’s other great appeal: community. What I like about this picture is the context it provides. The Plantation is rammed. People on everything. Send trains running. And while at times annoying- and positively infuriating if climbing routes- the vibe on a good day at the boulderfield is second to none. Local communties form around shared objectives, work together, then move on to reform in different configurations around new projects. We all want more mats so cooperation is encouraged in a way not possible on routes. There is safty in numbers when bouldering. Moreover this shot puts pebble wrestling in perspective, at least for me. I am a piss poor boulderer- esp for someone this lanky- but I love going bouldering, being out in the Peak, and meeting new people. Bouldering gives you time to experiance the day in way route climbing does not. Honestly, I still prefer a good day at a quiet mountain crag, but days bouldering are not to be scorned, least not for the crowds. 

On the Plantation (by zach.stone)

I like this personally b/c it is different from most bouldering shots, esp. mine. I love shooting boulder problems b/c of the simplicity and the ease of getting right in the thick of the action, and while that style of photography is great (and will always rule the roost) it mutes bouldering’s other great appeal: community. What I like about this picture is the context it provides. The Plantation is rammed. People on everything. Send trains running. And while at times annoying- and positively infuriating if climbing routes- the vibe on a good day at the boulderfield is second to none. Local communties form around shared objectives, work together, then move on to reform in different configurations around new projects. We all want more mats so cooperation is encouraged in a way not possible on routes. There is safty in numbers when bouldering. Moreover this shot puts pebble wrestling in perspective, at least for me. I am a piss poor boulderer- esp for someone this lanky- but I love going bouldering, being out in the Peak, and meeting new people. Bouldering gives you time to experiance the day in way route climbing does not. Honestly, I still prefer a good day at a quiet mountain crag, but days bouldering are not to be scorned, least not for the crowds. 

9:55am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZmxX6yFg923V
(Notes: 17)
  
Filed under: Rock Climbing Bouldering Stanage Plantation England UK Britain Climbing Boulder 
January 18, 2012
Mount Grace (by zach.stone) Whew. In the end stages of grad applications. At the moment, I am winding down a project that started a year ago regarding a particular manuscript of Nicholas Love’s Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ- a late medieval best seller. Love wrote the devotional harmony while prior of Mount Grace, the Yorkshire Charterhouse (Carthusian Order). This is a picture of Mount Grace today (near Northallerton, North Riding, Yorkshire). The manuscript I am working with, Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Bodley 131, is a pretty strange example of the text. Copied in a Northern idiom (c. Thorne in the West Riding), it is one of the few copies of Love’s Mirror that expresses Northern dialectical features and includes other texts. Anyhow, its fun to work with because it also includes the name of its scribe and enough details about him to reconstruct a picture of his life, which I find quite neat.

Mount Grace (by zach.stone)

Whew. In the end stages of grad applications. At the moment, I am winding down a project that started a year ago regarding a particular manuscript of Nicholas Love’s Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ- a late medieval best seller. Love wrote the devotional harmony while prior of Mount Grace, the Yorkshire Charterhouse (Carthusian Order). This is a picture of Mount Grace today (near Northallerton, North Riding, Yorkshire). The manuscript I am working with, Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Bodley 131, is a pretty strange example of the text. Copied in a Northern idiom (c. Thorne in the West Riding), it is one of the few copies of Love’s Mirror that expresses Northern dialectical features and includes other texts. Anyhow, its fun to work with because it also includes the name of its scribe and enough details about him to reconstruct a picture of his life, which I find quite neat.

10:15am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZmxX6yEz41-t
(Notes: 6)
  
Filed under: York Yorkshire Mount Grace Charterhouse Carthusian Monks Medieval Manuscripts Ruins England UK Britain Middle Ages Church History Literature 
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