Dear England, I'm pleased to report I've been invited for a campus interview at Lebanon Valley College. LVC is located in Annville, a small town in Pennsylvania about 35 miles east of the state capital, Harrisburg. It's a picturesque part of the country, and I am excited to visit next Wednesday and meet the faculty at the English department.
Check out the video below, the Ballad of Paul Morphy, a strange and haunting tribute to the famous chess player!
"This video is a tribute to the great chess genius Paul Morphy (1837-1884). The accompanying song is in the style of the old parlor songs of the Stephen Foster era and is delivered by Anchor Méjans. Some images are taken from "public domain" films at Prelinger Archive."
I discovered this video on YouTube and was struck by the uncanny similarities - especially the lines "retreating into dreams was his release." Yes, we're definitely dealing with the same Morphy!
Here are the lyrics:
Paul Morphy lived his life in black and white
For him there was no gray
No wrong nor right
Just strategy
Nights and days -
Confined by notes in squares upon a page
No friends to adore
Only royals and pawns
And there was no way out of his sad fate
No there was no way out of his sad fate
Alas alas alas for him -
checkmate
Paul Morphy wanted peace
But peace was scarce
Retreating into dreams was his release
Paul Morphy lived his life in black and white
For him there was no gray
No wrong nor right
No friends to adore
Only royals and pawns
And there was no way out of his sad fate
No there was no way out of his sad fate
Alas alas alas for him -
checkmate
Sing along!
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Thunderstorms over Parliament, London. As England bakes, who says there's no such thing as a British summer?
Rowers on the Serpentine, Hyde Park, central London.
A woman walks in richmond Park, south London.
Passed! I got my PADI.
Yes, it's official, I can now go diving. Watch out fish!
So far I've visited Ann Arbor three times, twice in the last two years, and I'll be visiting again in September - for the football! The University of Michigan is famous for its American football games, which are played at literally the biggest stadium in America: it holds 100,000. It's nickname is The Big House - also a term for prison in American slang!
Dear England, right now I'm learning to scuba dive. I've always been a fan of snorkelling, tooling around at the beach as a kid along the rocks at some bay, looking for brightly-colored fish. It turns out scuba-diving is the best way to sea these critters, and perhaps a turtle or two. Why didn't I think of this before?
When you have all your equipment on, it can be pretty daunting. Actually, the hardest thing in scuba is probably trying to stay balanced, as the tank is pretty heavy. But you get used to this after a few dives. So far I've dived once in a swimming pool, and I'm only half way through my PADI certification. But in two weeks I'm off to Bainbridge, Pennsylvania to dive 60 feet in a murky quarry - the four "open water" dives I need to complete the course. Then it's Puerto Rico in July baby for some real tropical diving!
Check out all the details here! "Indy, you're looking in the wrong place!"
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It took me three hours to get home. Anyway, it was surprisingly okay, as it stopped at St. Albans, half way home. I got the stopping train back, which was empty of course, because who travels into London at 9 pm on a week night? Me apparently.
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The Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race takes place today at 3.40pm on the Thames. The race takes about 20 minutes from Putney Bridge to just beyond Barnes Bridge, given no sinkings. Hold the line coxswain!
Above is this year's Oxford crew. (Go Oxford!) Here's the history of the race too, including those above mentioned sinkings, and rebellions!
Next week, I'm pleased to receive my second interview in Ireland - this time Northern Ireland. I'll give a presentation at Queen's University, Belfast. I'm excited about the trip to the city, and to visit the famous Seamus Heaney Centre in the English department, to interview for the post of Lecturer in Creative Writing (Prose Fiction). After teaching Creative Writing on the M.A. at Royal Holloway, University of London, I'm excited about the chance to convert my work and publications into a full-time position. Wish me luck!
One of Seamus Heaney's accomplishments is his translation of the earliest Old English epic poem Beowulf. Here we see him holding up an ornate retainer's mask with suitable admiration!
Below is the The Grounds at the university, a suitable place for dreaming and writing great poetry!
A potted history of the university: "Founded by Queen Victoria, the Queen's University in Ireland, was designed to be a non-denominational alternative to Trinity College Dublin which was controlled by the Anglican Church.The University was made up of three Queen's Colleges - in Cork, Galway and Belfast. Although it was the first University in the north of Ireland, Queen's drew on a tradition of learning which goes back to 1810 and the foundation of the Belfast Academical Institution.Its collegiate department, which provided University-style education, closed with the establishment of Queen's and four of its professors and many of its students transferred to the new college.Founded in 1845, Queen's opened in1849 when the first students entered the magnificent new college building designed and built by Charles Lanyon. Since then, the University estate has grown to more than 300 buildings - many of them listed for their architectural importance. The first batch of students numbered 90. Today there are some 24,000." 
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