Endgame

Endgame

Aside from the name of a huge text on The Nibelungenlied, the chapters of which I've read so many times that by now I've probably read the whole book twice, 'Endgame' is also the name of a Samuel Beckett play that I think is actually in French.  I don't really know anything about the play other than that there's a guy named Ham in it and one line from the play is 'un coeur, un coeur dans ma tête,' and I don't really know the significance of this quote other than that someone once compared it to Poe's 'A Telltale Heart' in some essay I once read.  But none of that is actually relevant to what I'm saying here.  I simply use endgame here to refer to the final stretch of the semestre when everything is due and we all panic.  But not me, because I've got my towel.  With that in mind, I've reached the endgame of my first semestre here in St Andrews.  I've got 3 essays and a palaeographical transcription/analysis due by the 8th and after that I'll be free!!  Well, I guess I also have another essay due 10 January, but I'm trying not to think about that one right now.

November

School

November's drawing to a close and for the most part it was a pretty relaxed month.  With only a few assignments due I was able to relax a bit and focus more on Latin and Old Norse (I'm now going to Old Norse sessions 3 times a week).  I also spent most of November reading.  I've read so much this month on all kinds of things.  I just hope some of it rubs off on my writing.  

Weather

The weather here has been much more like the weather I expected from Scotland: hovering around 10 degrees (yes, 10 above—sorry Edmonton friends), grey, and wet.  I have yet to see it actually pour here like it does when it rains in Canada, but it always seems to be raining lightly off and on.  Or else it won't really be raining at all, but there'll be a mist suspended in the air and you could step outside and feel perfectly dry, but walk for 5 minutes and somehow you're soaked.  Every week they seem to say the next week will be colder, but so far it hasn't been, and just yesterday the BBC was saying this will probably be the warmest winter on record for Great Britain.

Fun Stuff

Outside of schoolwork I haven't done too much.  The work has been manageable in November, but it was still crazy busy.  We did have 4 big band gigs this month (3 of which I managed to play in).  The most recent ones were back-to-back nights when we played at the Winter Grad Ball for Dundee University.   The 1st night was pretty average, but the 2nd night only a small number of us showed so we were playing extremely carefully because there wasn't a big band behind you to cover any mistakes.  But during the 2nd half of that gig we all kind of loosened up and just went full-throttle and most of the grads got up and started dancing (they even pushed the tables out of the way to make more dancing room).  If you ask me, we sounded amazing!  And the conductor even said that the 2nd half was one of the best set-lists he'd ever heard out of Dundee U Big Band.  Unfortunately most of the pictures below are from the 1st night and really don't capture the energy on that 2nd night.  But take my word for it, it was awesome!

Most towns/cities here have a 'Christmas Lights Switch-on' event where they turn on the city Christmas lights and have a few festive events in the streets and shopping centres for the holidays (even fireworks!).  We went to the one here in Dundee and it was pretty cool, though most of the 'fun events' were just shops staying open late with the excuse of selling Christmas-related things, so that was a little disappointing.  

Tomorrow is St Andrews Day and there are a lot of events going on in St Andrews (including a Christmas Lights Switch-on and a Ceilidh) so I may go to that with my flat mates, depending how much work I get done today (2 of my essays are due Monday and Tuesday).

Other than that, there's not much else that's new here.  I'm looking forward to my Dad coming up on the 12th and my trip back to Canada.  This'll probably be my 2nd last update before Christmas, since I imagine I'll be fairly busy once I'm back in Canada.

Pictures

Unfortunately all I really have pictures of is the Winter Grad Ball gig.

The set-up outside.  They even had a bagpiper playing to welcome people inside.

The sign inside.

From the first night.  I know what you're thinking, and unfortunately no, that is not a shower of sparks from the ceiling or any other high-budget stage effects, it's just the light reflecting off of a disco ball.  Although, the stage set-up there is really sweet because the lights, although warm, don't leave you melting, and it's even bright enough that you can almost read your music.  I know that sounds sarcastic, but seriously, that's the nicest stage I've ever played on.

More from Day 1

Sadly, I think this is the only picture from Day 2 and it's from the 1st set when there were only a few couples dancing.  Also, I'm actually in this picture!  If you squint, you can see my head on the far right behind the saxophonists.