Dr Matt's Prognosis: March 2006

London XIII

Went to the Gothic Nightmares exhibition at Tate Britain, to see a bit of Fuseli,

William Blake

and others. I was particularly drawn to the references to Nordic and Germanic mythology which makes a nice change from the Greek and Roman references one typically encounters at such events. This particular tale comes from the Nibelungenlied, which you may recall was referred to in the context of Rhenish legends:

"The Burgundian king Gunther has just celebrated his marriage to the icily sexy Brunhild. But while he expected a night of passion, the new queen wrestles him into submission, binds his hands and feet and leaves him hanging from the ceiling so she can sleep undisturbed."

Treat em mean, keep em keen.

Went to MJ's for a dinner party, which featured a disturbingly high percentage of Australians, but all lovely folk.

Here Ben wows the ladies with another tale of derring-do from the world of strategy consulting.

As you can see, a top night all round. Massive respect and shout-outs to MJ, the organiser,

Stef and Kieran, first lieutenants in charge of cooking and cleaning up respectively,

and to the humorous yet entirely tasteful performers from the cabaret troupe who delighted the assembled throng with an interpretative dance to the rousing strains of John Philip Sousa's Glory of the Yankee Navy.

What a show!!

Grantchester

Went for a stroll during the week around Grantchester.

That's where Rupert Brook and Virginia Woolf and and co. used to hang out and do poetry and novels and stuff, so it was only appropriate that i waxed lyrical for a moment

The Cam was being almost as reflective as I:

Stepping out in style:

Sky starting to look a bit summery again - hoo-freakin-ray, not before time.

A very pleasant way to break up an otherwise slightly monotonously ABAQUS-dominated week.

London XII

After several recreational evenings, in honour of the end of Lent term,

i felt it appropriate to purify my soul with some fine art.

It was a beautiful day in Marylebone as i strolled toward the the Wallace Collection

There i saw the Great British Watercolours exhibition, and an exhibition on the Marquesses and Marchionesses of Hertford who built the collection and endowed it to the state. For people who had so many affairs and consequently produced so many illegitimate children, they had excellent taste in art.

Went to the Victoria and Albert Museum. It is incredible and very eclectic: a real kunstkammer.

Here is the plaster room, filled with lifesize replicas of major works around the world, including Trajan's Column and Michaelangelo's David. Back in the olden days, before £5 Ryanair flights to Ciampino, this was ofen the only opportunity for art students to admire these classical pieces.

Although they are currently an anachronistic curiosity, when all the oil runs out in 50 years and air travel becomes prohibitively expensive, they will be useful again.

Had a few beers and a curry in Soho with Mr Ben Woffenden before heading home.

Busy times

Monday: Had some of the micromechanics crew over for a bit of a Mexican fiesta.

Tuesday: Dinner at Sidney Sussex college.

Wednesday: Went to a talk by the Rt. Hon. Michael Meacher MP. He is not the most credible source around; was given the boot from his position as Minister for the Environment partly due his position on GM food and has also been involved in what might be described as non-sustainable, and what are certainly hypocritical, property ownership practices.

The general gist was along these lines:
The world faces a stark choice. It can continue down the existing path of rising oil consumption, trying to pre-empt available remaining oil supplies, if necessary by military force, but without avoiding a steady exhaustion of global capacity. Or it could switch to renewable sources of energy, much more stringent standards of energy efficiency, and a steady reduction in oil use. The latter course would involve huge new investment in energy generation and transportation technologies. [From here]

I don't really agree with his views on nuclear power, but it was an interesting talk nonetheless.

Friday: Dad came to town. Had a beer at the Anchor, where we learnt Syd Barrett (real name Roger Keith Barrett) used to drink and listen to jazz before forming Pink Floyd.

Went to Sandra's birthday party after dinner, to see her distinguish herself generally.

Saturday: Had lunch with the Master and Fellows of Pembroke College, as a token of their gratitude for our efforts as supervisers. Then went to London for a few drinks with MJ, Kieran, Stef and Shaun and co.