Unthinkable Wings

... anyone who knows Oxford, whether in real life or in books. Or those who enjoy seeing images of the past. Or young men in well cut trousers falling out of punts.

The British Council brings us an archive film on Oxford, from 1941, though it reflects a pre-war world.

Lots of lingering shots of Oxford. And, for some reason, topless economists....

ETA: the other odd thing about that film is that I keep thinking I recognise people in it. Very peculiar!

I meant to link to this a while ago: it's the Piled Higher and Deeper strip dealing with the cartoonist's Oxford appearance. Amusing, though I feel constrained to point out that it ought to be Dessert, not Second Dessert * is unbearable snobbish pedant *

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1094

Paper probably mostly finished, but I'm not trying to time it now (45 minutes is a big chunk of time!) Not very good, as yet,but it's only a first draft.

Surreal moment of the day: being invited to a one-man performance of Samson Agonistes to celebrate the anniversary of Milton's birth - in St Mary Magdalene's, Oxford. Under the beneficent painted eyes of two statues of Our Lady and a portrait of Charles the First.

I do hope that Milton has acquired a sense of humour in the intervening centuries.

I encourage anyone who happens to be in Oxford to go and visit the free exhibition on Dante, Petrach and Boccaccio which is on at the Bod until October 31st. It's a typical Bodleian exhibition, in that it amounts to 'Some interesting stuff in Oxford on X'; but there are some very interesting manuscripts, early printed books and paintings (mostly DG Rossetti, most notably 'Dante drawing an angel' as Lizzie Sidal Gemma looks on). Among the books, I was particularly interested in the very early illustrated Dante (1350), open at the page showing Dante and Vergil entering Purgatory, and Dante being tattooed with the sharp end of a sword, and the first terrace - rather lovely, and high quality drawing, the early editions of Dante, showing the increasing respect with which the poem was treated; Petrarch's Suetonius and Ambrose, with his marginalia; some striking illustrated manuscripts of the Decameron; the 'after Vasari' of the six Florentine poets on loan from Oriel SCR, and the lock of Percy and Mary Shelley's hair (groping rather desperately for exhibits, there...)

If you click on the link and scroll to the bottom of the page, you will find a picture of a certain well-known Balliol man who is certainly of interest to many of the people on my flist...

http://www.balliol.ox.ac.uk/history/portraits/index.asp

Before I get back to work, I'd like to point out to anyone whose interested in Shakespeare, academic bitchiness, research projects going bad, effective depiction of hubris (with added slashy undertones), old fashioned Oxbridge types, or the sublime acting skills of the late Ian Richardson, that today's Afternoon play on BBC Radio 4 was on AL Rowse's writing of his biography of Shakespeare, with Richardson perfect as the arrogant, brilliant, flawed academic, and a strong supporting cast. Should be up on Listen Again from tomorrow (or may indeed be there already. You can never tell with Listen Again)

Not so much a fic, as an exerpt from a very embryonic WIP. But I hope you like it nonetheless!

Fandom: Harry Potter, gen, post-canon.
Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and her publishers. The University of Oxford belongs only to itself. Oriel College has not had its boats vandlised - though Hertford did - and Theo Nott is not among its students. ( Anyone who likes can have the Oxford traffic problems or the animal rights protesters, though I do not think they number terroristically inclined wizards in their ranks in real life. )

Overheard: "That's the Arts End; this is the Selden End. It's just like a football ground.'

Hmm.