Two down and two to go. I am perplexed to no end by the mysterious St. Andrews grading scale, but I’m fairly sure I don’t like it. In any case, the two-hour exam I wrote today determined 100% of my grade in Forecasting–a scary thought.
Measure theory is going to be brutal…
According to recent polling data, I am the third hottest member of the board of ten. Here’s the breakdown:
And no, I haven’t voted for myself (yet).
On Monday, November 20th, I took part in an ancient St. Andrews tradition: Raisin Monday. For many years the custom has been for new undergraduates to take on academic parents, older students who are supposed to show them the ropes, as it were. Somehow this practice evolved into an elaborate ritual that plays out every November, involving a receipt written in Latin, humorous costumes, and a foam fight in the Quad.
In days of old, the story goes, each academic “child” was supposed to thank his academic father by presenting him with a pound of raisins. Eventually, the university decided to enforce this requirement. Academic fathers were to give their children “raisin receipts,” written of course in Latin, to prove that they had indeed been thanked. Each child was then to bring his receipt to the Quad on November 20th. Any student caught without his receipt was punished by the university.
These days, the pound of raisins is usually a bottle of wine, the university does not enforce the business about receipts, that the receipts themselves are typically large unwieldy objects, making it difficult to carry them to the Quad. I’m not sure when the tradition of foam fighting developed, nor the accompanying crazy costumes, but develop they did. Here I am dressed as a martyr from the Scottish Reformation:
It took a while to get all the foam out of my ears…
Studying:
Listening
Eating
I took my first real trip outside of St. Andrews the weekend of November 18th to participate in a debating competition in Durham, England. The train ride down the coast lasted around 4 hours, with a quick change in Edinburgh. Before I’d been to Durham, I considered St. Andrews the most attractive British town I’d ever visited. Now I’m not so sure. I’m sure you’ll see why:
Unlike those in St. Andrews, the Cathedral and Castle in Durham are completely intact. The castle even serves as a University residence. Only steps from the Debating chamber in which the final was held is the gorgeous Durham Cathedral. Within its ancient walls are housed the remains Cuthbert and the Venerable Bede, both of whose tombs I was fortunate enough to visit. Bringing everything full circle, the plaque marking Bede’s tomb was donated by, you guessed it, Rotary. The experience was heightened by beautiful singing from the cathedral choir.
A bit of trivia: parts of the Harry Potter movies were filmed in Durham. Does this courtyard look familiar?
As for the competition itself, I didn’t do as well as I had hoped, but I still had lots of fun. After an exhausting day of competition on Saturday, the Durham Union Society threw a big party in the Union. Sleeping on the floor of the Snooker room was nowhere near as uncomfortable as it could have been thanks to Gwynaeth loaning me her sleeping bag! Still it was a far cry from Durham castle, which is still in use as a university residence:
Durham is well worth a visit.
The end of the semester is always rough, and this one was especially so. Now that I have a little more free time, I figure it’s a good time to get started on my New Year’s Resolution: posting regularly!
In the next few days, I’ll be filling you in on everything I’ve been up to during the past few weeks — lots of exciting developments. After that, I resolve to post at least once a week. If I don’t, feel free to post nasty comments upbraiding me for my profligacy. Until then, wish me luck as I try to decipher my accursed Measure Theory notes…
Yesterday we dusted off our academic finery for the Deans Court hall photograph. In the interest of saving a few hundred pounds, I took the picture using my tripod and a timer. Too bad my hood was crooked:
Still, I think that formal wear is an excellent way to kick off reading week: that blissful nine day stretch without a lecture in sight. What thrilling excursion have I planned? Room 111 in the Mathematical institute — my office. If all goes according to plan I will actually understand the Banach-Tarski Paradox by the time the week is out. Ah the joys of MT5825: Measure and Ergodic Theory…
On a lark, I decided to enter yesterday’s Maidens Debating Competition, put on by the St. Andrews Union Debating Society. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. In fact, I only learned the rules of parliamentary debate ten minutes before the competition began. To my great surprise, I somehow managed to make it to the final round–a public debate in Lower Parliament Hall on the motion “this house would ban overly skinny models from the catwalk and print ads.” I was randomly assigned to first opposition.
The whole thing was quite surreal: a formal procession, gowns, dispatch boxes, wood paneling. I felt like I was at Prime Minister’s question time. Although I was incredibly nervous, once I stood up to speak I really started to enjoy myself. For those who are wondering, I was in fact wearing my William and Mary graduation gown, complete with PBK pin (don’t worry, I didn’t wear the hat). To my even greater surprise, I ended up winning the competition and £100 in prize money. The evening ended with dinner in a lovely Indian restaurant, some traditional lewd drinking songs, a pier walk and cloister races. It was a quintessentially St. Andrews day.
In other news, I’ve dug myself even deeper into the G&S Society. Just in case being in the chorus doesn’t use up quite enough of the time I should be spending at the library, I’ll be singing a few solos and duets at the first semester concert:
I Know a youth (Robin) Ruddigore
When The Night Wind Howls
Oh Maiden Rich In Girton Law ( Capt. Fitzbattleaxe) Utopia
Oh Zara!, a tenor all singers above (Fitzbattleaxe) Utopia
Strange the views (Notary) Grand Duke
Sprites of Earth and Air (JWW) Sorcerer
Brightly Dawns our wedding day (Nanki-poo) Mikado
Ah Ruddigore…
I just got back from the first rehearsal of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society, which I’ve finally decided to join. It’s so much like Sinfonicron (William and Mary’s G&S Society) it’s scary. A few differences amused me:
I just can’t believe that I’ll be singing that infernal madrigal from Ruddigore again.
Kevin, if you’re interested in taking our show on the road, come to Scotland and we can show them a Modern Major General they’ll never forget!
Those of you who follow golf may be aware that the Dunhill Championship has been going on at St. Andrews this weekend. In addition to professional golfers, a number of celebrities are taking part in this year’s event. Yesterday I headed down to the links to watch and took my telephoto lens with me.
The weather in St. Andrews is incredibly changeable. One moment there isn’t a cloud in the sky and the next it’s pouring rain. Yesterday was no exception. It became very cold, very quickly as I waited near the 17th with my friends Charlie and Kamaren. With only one umbrella between us, it was a very wet experience.
But in the middle of the rain, I recognized one of the golfers. Perhaps you will too:
Yes, that’s Hugh Grant waiting to tee off at the 17th. Here he goes:
Sorry to disappoint, ladies, but he looks a lot older in person:
Eventually the sun came out and we had a chance to dry off. It was around this time that I recognized another one of the players. Ghostbusters and SNL fans, you’re going to love this:
Yes, it really is Bill Murray and no I didn’t steal these pictures from the web: I shot each of them myself. The best part was that Bill was several strokes ahead of the professional with whom he’d been paried, at an impressive eleven under par. Here’s Bill sizing up the course:
My action shot of Bill Murray didn’t come out too well, so here’s the frame just prior to his swing:
After I finished taking these, I walked across the street to the math building for my 4:00 tutorial. What a town.
