An eventful week

I suppose the beginning is the best place for one to...begin.

Unless you're either living under a rock or over the age of 40, you know by now that Radiohead released a new album and did so in a fiendishly sly, backward way...by allowing the fans to pay whatever they want for it, including nothing, including 99 pounds, and download the album off their website. We fans waited almost five years for last Wednesday, and it arrived early, gray and with speakers blaring. I decided to take Thom and company on my morning run and, between the excellent countryside and even better music, I was in no way disappointed. Well played boys, well played.

www.inrainbows.com to find out what all the kids are talking about.


On a slightly (and only slightly) more important note, I've also made the decision to flip my majors and minor to history and English, respectively (from vice versa). This whole idea dates back to my London trip, where I was blown away by the British Museum, realized that history is really what I've always been interested in and mulled it over in St. James Park for a while, deciding that I couldn't see myself working at a newspaper for the rest of my life. I'm in the process of figuring out what this will entail, and considering I'm in England on an English major scholarship, it may be a bit complicated, but I'm optimistic it'll work out in the end - the real issue looks to be gaining admission to UVM's historic preservation graduate program, which is what I'm gunning for as the next step.

Also, I've taken up climbing. Sandy (my ex-roommate and friend from UVM who is in C-bury with me) informed me of UKC's excellent Mountaineering Club which, for a small fee, takes members to national parks around the island for climbing and hiking expeditions. After a quick training session last Monday, we all jumped on a minibus Friday evening for the 6 hour drive up to the Peak District National Park smack in the middle of England.

Apparently Canterbury has some of the nicest weather in the islands, because while it was sunny and gorgeous down south all weekend, we had nonstop misty rain. I was fine with it - what a better way to add a perfectly English atmosphere to a hiking trip? - but it made rock climbing unwise. Still, an 8 mile hike through what you're about to see made Saturday one of the better days so far since my arrival.

I tried posting more pictures, but blogger.com seems to be crapping out on me here, so that'll have to do. But yeah, it was gorgeous.

Sunday was again to wet to climb up anything, but not, apparently, to climb down, and I was taught the fine art of "abseiling" (that's repelling, to you Yanks).
Yeah, that's me repelling down a 100 foot bridge over a river. Fun and surprisingly easy, I highly recommend it.

Besides all that, I wrote my second bi-weekly column for the Cynic, as well as a last minute Radiohead review, so watch www.vermontcynic.org for my name all over the place. I'm heading to Italy on Thursday, so I have to write an essay beforehand considering I won't feel like doing it in the middle of Milan and I'll post with pictures as soon as I get back. Until then, keep in touch and keep reading!

F****** C**********!

First off, let's get the bad news out of the way...

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news07/071002e.php

Seems like the greatest TV series in the history of moving pictures has come to an untimely close. Let us join the Reverend Smith in a solemn prayer of remembrance for Al, Seth, Cy and the rest...
Thank you.


In other news, I've been running. A lot. As in, almost every day, partly because it's healthy and I generally don't eatwell (a 1am bowl of popcorn just now is a prime example), but also because I've found the most beautiful, quintessentially English path imaginable to run along.










Been doing about four miles per day and actually enjoying it, which is a weird sensation and (shameless self-promotion warning) the topic of the first in what should be a bi or tri-weekly column I'm writing for my old paper, The Vermont Cynic. As of this posting the website hasn't been updated with this week's issue, but check www.vermontcynic.org and poke around later this week, my article will be somewhere around page 4 of the B-Side, I imagine.

When it rains it pours I suppose and The Cynic, after a few weeks of drought, has me doing another piece, this one for their new World Music review. Apparently Indian Bhangra music is big in the U.K. right now, so I have to profile it with history, suggested tracks, etc. Here's a sample:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=UJkSQPCQ7J0

Uh, yeah. It's due Saturday, so we'll see how that goes.

Other than The Cynic, real work has started for me too. I spent a decent portion of the last three days in the library/reading about British history and Chaucer, and I already have a presentation on the latter on Thursday. Nothing I can't handle, considering I have class but one day per week, it's just going to be tons of reading. In middle English no less, and ye must knowe it isynt simpele to reade quykly.

In other news, I'm going to be going to Italy with MC in two and a half weeks and I'll be posing nude for the art department at UKC for spare cash. More on these stories as they develop. Until then, I'm going to bed.