Angler 2 - Albion Association

How Albion first went
Classy
and then
Gothic...
“I used to walk around with green hair”
an interview with Evert-Jan van Leeuwen
Alice on drugs
a very interesting song analysis
Difficulties with choosing a ‘bijvak’? Read our ‘bijvakken’ special
Page 2
Editorial
Issue 2, May 2006
Editorial
Contents
Editorial
2
Albion Gala
3
Study Issues: Bijvakken
4
Song Analysis
6
Interview: Van Leeuwen
8
Cartoon
10
Column: Texas
11
Albion Gothic Night
12
Column: LEF
13
Creative Writing
14
Agenda
15
Review: Tristan&Isolde
16
Angler Issue 2 made by:
Merel Mookhoek
Anne van Leeuwen
Tessa Obbens
Gea Dreschler
Maaike van de Sande
Jiong Wang
Carolina de Bruijne
Mariëlle Pack
Dick Smakman
Marguérite Corporaal
In last issue’s editorial, we expressed our hopes on two goals
we wanted to achieve with our next issue: to be able to print the
Angler and to present to you new writers. We are happy to tell
you that we have achieved both. Those of you who are lucky
are reading this in print, and we have new authors who helped
us to put this issue together.
Those new authors are Jiong Wang from China, majoring in second language acquisition at Leiden University. Maaike
van de Sande, who also writes freelance for the Mare, and is
doing her MA in English. Mariëlle Pack, who is studying in Austin, Texas at the moment, and she is doing her MA there on African-American English. In addition, we have our own new cartoonist, Carolina de Bruijn, another MA student. She will also
write for us in the future.
Come to think of it, we never properly introduced ourselves. So we’ll do it now. The Angler was founded by: Merel,
our editor in chief, former student of medicine (for three
months), second year student of English and first year Praktijkstudie Management; Anne, third year and this year’s Albion
Chairwoman; Tessa, former student of law (also for three
months), now second year student of English, taking Medieval
history as bijvak; and yours sincerely, also a second year student of English, and first year Praktijkstudie Journalism.
Back to business. We’ve chosen to repeat some of the
formulae we tried out last time: the big interview, creative writing, a film review and a song analysis. On top of that, we have
an article on ‘bijvakken’ (we have come across some technical
terms this issue and decided to maintain the Dutch terms for the
sake of clarity), and a column from Texas.
There have again been some Albion activities to be enjoyed this semester. The most notable was the Ball in February.
Recently, there has been an Albion Gothic Night. Read the reports to get a sense of what happened, and get inspired to join
next time.
Finally, we would like to wish you good luck on your exams. After that, enjoy the summer break, we will see you again
in autumn when a whole new year will start, with new people,
new opportunities and more Anglers.
With fishy best wishes,
Gea
Logo
Tessa Wagenveld
Contact
[email protected]
If you have anything to share with
us, (comments, suggestions, complaints, articles, compliments,
anything at all), feel welcome to
contact (one of) us about it.
Anne, Merel, Tessa, Gea
Issue 2, May 2006
Albion Activity: Gala
Page 3
Friendly Fairies and Stunning Suits
The First Albion/NNP Gala – March 2006
Friday night, 10 pm. Since my stylish shoes do not allow walking for more than ten minutes, and
since my date is not able to carry me (his brand new shoes do not allow much walking either), a taxi
awaits. Where to? To the ‘Burcht’, please! After many Christmas parties, the time has come to get
seriously classy. Albion has joined forces with the student association of the Dutch Department,
NNP, and organised the very first gala for students of Dutch and English. The attractive atmosphere
of ‘Het Koetshuis’, Leiden’s epicentre of classiness, is the place to be.
After a short walk, we escape from reality into the Gala fairytale. The friendly fairies of the gala
committee welcome us by handing out pink champagne. However, we are not sure who is who yet,
since many lads and ladies wear mysterious masks. Still, there is enough time to find out. The palais
de danse is full of people, in their most stunning suits and dresses, dancing to the tunes of a jazz
band or relaxing by the fireplace. Drinks and snacks are within reach, as well as some interesting intercultural conversation. At midnight, a DJ takes over. As if by magic, everyone forgets about their
painful but oh so classy feet, and dances like the spell will never break.
Unfortunately, time flies when you’re being classy. Before we know it, the clock strikes four and
the enchantment ends. With my glass slippers safely in my purse and my prince by my side, I walk
up to my pumpkin, ready to live happily ever after.
By Anne
Page 4
Study Issues
Issue 2, May 2006
The Do’s and Don’ts on ‘Bijvakken’
It is that time of year again, when all first and second year BA students will have to choose which
extra courses they are going to take to fill up
their ‘spare’ 20 ects with, next year. The Angler
therefore presents all those needy people with a
clear ‘how to’ list on these ‘bijvakken’ (minors).
Out of the 60 ects required to be taken by
a second year student, 20 ects have to be spent
on courses that are not part of the main program.
The same thing goes for third year students. The
grand total of 40 ects of the entire BA program is
spent on subjects other than English Language
and Culture. The Faculty of Arts provides English
BA students with three options. You can choose
a faculty ‘bijvak’, individual ‘bijvak’ or extra courses as an extension of your main program.
First there are the faculty ‘bijvakken’. This
means that you take courses at another department that is part of the Faculty of Arts. There are
over fifty programs you can choose from and
they are divided into four different ways in which
you can be enrolled.
One kind of faculty ‘bijvakken’ are the
department courses: courses taken at a different
department, for instance German or History. You
will get an overview of the main program of that
department, worth 20 ects. Then there are the
‘spectrum bijvakken’. These courses are meant
to widen your horizon. They are interdisciplinary
courses and are meant to link your main studies
with a different field. Thirdly, colloquia ‘bijvakken’
are intensive studies of a certain subject, where
you make theoretical reflections on that topic by
means of papers and presentations. Lastly, there
are the ‘praktijkstudies’, which are meant to prepare you for your working life after university.
These courses usually take two years and thus
take up the full 40 ects available for compulsory
extra courses, but can also be taken as a 20 ects
course. Currently, there are three praktijkstudies
available: Journalism & New Media, Management, and European Union Studies.
Students
choose
different
‘praktijkstudies’ for different reasons. As John
Sebastian Schutter mentioned about him choosing Digitale Letteren: “it is because of its usefulness for the job market, and also because I already have an extensive background in IT.” Vera
van der Linden chose Journalism and Media because she likes writing and thought it would be
useful to practice in journalism. Kelly’s suggestion is to “take some management classes, because ‘bijvakken’ are useful when you study English
or another language for future job opportunities.” To be involved in one of these faculty courses you should either get in touch with the coordinator of that department, or with the director of
studies of English, Karin van der Zeeuw.
Secondly, you can choose for a customdesigned, or individual ‘bijvak’. This is where you
yourself create a program. Naturally, this program should be coherent and fit together nicely.
In order to guarantee that an individual ‘bijvak’
will suffice, a request must be filed to the board
of examinors of the English department for approval. This individual compulsory extra course
can be designed in two ways. You either choose
to take courses or you choose to do an internship. The courses can be taken at another
faculty of Leiden University or you can even opt
to take courses at another university. There is
also the option of using these credits as an International Student abroad. If you want to study
abroad you can get in touch with Ms. M.A. Coolen ([email protected]) and for internships you can get in touch with Barbara Sum er
at
Loopbaancentrum
Letteren
([email protected]).
The third way of filling up your ‘bijvak’ is to
expand your knowledge of a field within English
Studies. This can only be done in your third year
and you can use a maximum of 20 ects. For English, you have a wide range of choices, since
you can choose either one of the four major
fields of the study: Philology, Literature, Linguistics, and Language Acquisition. Susan van den
Ende did one ‘bijvak’ Indonesian language and
one ‘bijvak’ within English, made up out of extra
linguistics courses and right now she is taking
German classes on the side: literature and language acquisition.
How to go about can be discussed with
Karin van der Zeeuw and asking for help is never
a bad idea. Susan: “Karin figured out how my extra courses within English could count as a
‘bijvak’ and the people at Indonesian were quite
cooperative as well.” Elise Baardman had asked
different students about the extra courses they
took and whether they liked them or not. She
read general books about topics relevant to those bijvakken, and also talked to teachers. Quitting in the middle of a ‘bijvak’ is not recommendable. Kelly: “I first chose Journalism, but after 6
weeks I found out that it was not my thing. Then
the only bijvak I could still enroll for was Didactics.”
Issue 2, May 2006
Study Issues
Page 5
After deciding which compulsory extra course is for you, you will have to register for it. Registering can be done through U-twist and was opened on March 13th 2006 for the academic academic
year of 2006-2007. Through U-twist you can only register for full courses. So, 20 ects for regular
courses, but 20 or 40 ects are for the ‘praktijk studies’. If you want to register for separate courses,
worth less than 20 ects, you can do so at the secretariats of those studies. In addition, when you decide to take ‘spectrum’ courses, you should register through U-twist and at the various secretary’s
offices. This is to avoid confusion, since you will be involved with several departments if you take a
‘spectrum’ course. Make sure that while registering, you take into account your timetable for next year. So check both semesters, to avoid clashes.
If you have not made up your mind just yet, there will be a ‘bijvakkenmarkt’ on May 16th 2006
at 16.15 h., place to be announced. At least make sure you have made your decision by August 10th
2006, since that will be the deadline for registering for any of the compulsory extra courses.
By Maaike and Jiong
For more information
please check (in Dutch
only!):
www.studiegids.
leidenuniv.nl/letteren/
bijvakken
The Study courses can
be found here:
www.studiegidsen.
leidenuniv.nl > bijvakkengids > opleidingsbijvakken
‘Spectrum Bijvakken’:
www.studiegidsen.
leidenuniv.nl > bijvakkengids > spectrum bijvakken
‘Praktijk Studies’:
www.pr ak tijk studies .
leidenuniv.nl
Colloquia ‘Bijvakken’:
www.studiegidsen.
leidenuniv.nl > bijvakkengids > colloquia
Loopbaancentrum
teren:
Let-
loopbaancentrum@let.
leidenuniv.nl
www.loopbaancentrumletteren.nl/
Advertisement
Page 6
Song Analysis
Song Analysis
In The Angler we want to represent the four sections of the English department, and we have
chosen to do this by means of approaching a
songtext (Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit) in
different ways: from the different points of view of
the various subjects.
You will find here an introductory essay on
Jefferson Airplane for Language Acquistion; a
phonemic transcription for Linguistics; an interpretation of the lyrics for Literature; and the etymologies of some selected keywords of the song
for Philology.
Merel Mookhoek
The Angler, Issue 2
May 2006
On Jefferson Airplane
You might know Jefferson Airplane from the
song “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit”,
which have been their major hits.¹ The band was
formed in August 1965, but their last new album
(Windows of Heaven) was released in 1999² and
in 2003 “re-mastered versions of the first four
Jefferson Airplane albums were issued.”³ Over
the years, the members of Jefferson Airplane
have changed almost continually: new people
joined the band, while old members left, and then
came back again. As if that wasn’t complicated
enough, several members started additional
bands, amongst which were Starship, Jefferson
Starship4and Hot Tuna5. To make things even
more complex, they have adopted different styles
through time: they went from folk and grunting to
psychedelic, hard rock and slick Adult Pop.6 As a
reward for all their achievements Jefferson Airplane was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame in 1996.7
Footnotes
1. The Official Jefferson Airplane website:
http://jeffersonairplane.com
2. The Classic Bands website:
www.classicbands.com/jefferson.html
3. The Classic Bands website
4. See The Classic Bands website and
www.jeffersonstarshipsf.com
5. The Classic Bands website
6. The Classic Bands website
7. The Official Jefferson Airplane website
Issue 2, May 2006
Jefferson Airplane
White Rabbit
One pill makes you larger
And one pill makes you small
And the ones that mother gives you
Don't do anything at all
Go ask Alice
When she's ten feet tall
And if you go chasing rabbits
And you know you're going to fall
Tell 'em a hookah smoking caterpillar
Has given you the call
Call Alice
When she was just small
When men on the chessboard
get up and tell you where to go
And you've just had some kind of mushroom
And your mind is moving low
Go ask Alice
I think she'll know
When logic and proportion
Have fallen sloppy dead
And the White Knight is talking backwards
And the Red Queen's off with her head
Remember what the dormouse said:
"Feed your Head
Feed your Head!"
Transcription
/vDm!kPcYHjzm!oq?oN9R?m
gzu!eN9k?m!rkPoh!cdc
zmC?!v`Hs!m`HsHy!sN9jHM
! a z j v ? _ c y zmC?!qDc!jvHmy!PevHCg?_
!gDc
qh!lDla?_ vPsC?!cN9l`T!rDc
!eh9ciN9!gDc.
By Gea, checked by Bert Botma
Issue 2, May 2006
Song Analysis
Page 7
A Close Examination
Etymologies
At first glance, ‘White Rabbit’ is a song about the
adventures of Alice in Wonderland. The other
meaning is somewhat more interesting; it is all
about psychoactive/psychedelic experiences and
the effects that drugs have on you. Whether or
not it is also a “say no to drugs” song is debated
among fans and pedant listeners.
Evidence for the first interpretation is
rather easy to find for the people familiar with the
Alice in Wonderland story. Every couplet is an
allusion to the original story, for instance, we
hear about the pills, the caterpillar she comes
across, and the evil Red Queen she meets at the
end of her adventure.
Alice’s story is used as a metaphor in this
song, or rather as an exemplification of how
drugs can make you feel. “One pill makes you
larger/One pill makes you small”; drugs can
make you feel like you are on top of the world.
But on the other hand, the effect may also be
that you get the feeling you are nobody and then
you can get seriously miserable. Vitamin pills, or
perhaps prescribed medicine, have no effect on
your psychological health (“The one that mother
gives you/Don’t do anything at all”).
When you take drugs to join your friends/
others (“If you go chasing rabbits”), or because
you are curious (which is the reason why Alice in
the story chases the white rabbit) and you begin
to feel you get addicted (“And you know you’re
going to fall”), then go and speak out to someone. “Tell” someone you love about those friends
who offer drugs, or your drive to take them. In
other words “The hookah smoking caterpillar”
that has “given you the call”. And do it before it is
too late and you are fatally addicted.
The chessboard may be referring to
life, the men on it to the people in your life, who
help you sober up and “tell you where to go”. The
“mushroom” stands for drugs you nevertheless
used, which make your mind “move low”. And
when you are at the point that “logic and proportion” no longer seem to exist, (when you see a
“White Knight” who’s “talking backwards” and a
headless “Red Queen”) “remember what the dormouse said”; in other words keep in mind why
you wanted to quit on drugs. “Dormouse” refers
to you in a mental state: the one in which you actually are conscious and not high (or sleeping in
the case of a dormouse), i.e. the moment you
plainly can see the damage drugs causes, then
“Feed your head” by thinking about all this.
Why, at least the song gives us enough
food for thought…
By Tessa
Pill
Classical Latin pilula (in post-classical Latin also
pillula, in some medieval manuscripts) little ball,
pellet, especially of medicinal substances, in
post-classical Latin also bullet (c1330). The Middle English form pillem is unexplained.
Caterpillar
(Dutch rups)
Generally compared with the synonymous Old
French chatepelose, literally ‘hairy or downy
cat’ (cf. the Scandinavian name hairy woubit
‘woolly bear’). This is a possible source, though
no connection is historically established: the final
sibilant might be treated in English as a plural
formative, and the supposed singular catepelo
would be readily associated with the well-known
word piller, pilour, pillager, plunderer, spoiler.
This is illustrated by the fact that in the figurative
sense, piller and caterpiller are used synonymously in a large number of parallel passages.
The regular earlier spelling was with -er; the corruption caterpillar, occasional in the 17th century,
was adopted by Johnson, and has since prevailed.
The giving to hairy caterpillars a name derived
from the cat, is seen not only in the French word
cited, but also in Lombard gatta, gattola (cat, kitten) and Swiss teufelskatz (devil's cat).
Sloppy
From slop, probably representing an Old English
*sloppe (cf. cúsloppe, variant of cúslyppe, cowslip), related to slyppe, and to slúpan to slip.
Backwards
Originally: aphetic form of aback-ward; but subsequently referred directly to back. Primarily
abackward differed from aback, in expressing
direction rather than completed motion; and this
still to some extent distinguishes backward from
back.
Dormouse
(Dutch zevenslaper)
Origin obscure: the second element has been, at
least since 1575, treated as the word mouse,
with plural mice, though a plural dormouses is
evidenced in the 16-17th centuries. The first element has also from the 16th century been associated with French dormir to sleep, (as if dormmouse; 16th century Dutch slaep-ratte, slaepmuys); but it is not certain that this is the original
composition.
By Anne, with help from the OED
Page 8
Interview
Issue 2, May 2006
From typical student to serious researcher
Van Leeuwen’s academic career at Leiden University
Evert-Jan van Leeuwen has studied at Leiden University himself, being in his first years not
the most driven student. But later he started to like the research, and he has been around the
university ever since. Filling in gaps in the teaching programme at Leiden University from the
start of his AIO-ship, the question keeps arising: will he stay or will he go?
Actually, he wanted to do drawing at art academy, but the course (in London) was so far away
that he chose to do the IB (International Baccalaureate) first. That did not encourage his artistic
career: “I had such a shitty art teacher there, that
I never wanted to do art again.” Still, he went
back to Holland (he was too late to apply for a
university in Britain, where his parents were living at the time) to study art history at Leiden University.
The presentation of art history did not
really appeal to him though: “The whole tone of
the speech was so negative, rather than saying
that it would be fun, they said that it would be
very difficult if you didn’t do this, and didn’t know
that. It didn’t sound very good.” English was second choice, and the people there did seem
friendly. “I still think that it’s one of the most social departments around. It’s a fun place to study.
You can have your own input in many subjects.”
As a student he went through a slow process from being a socially active student to be-
coming a more serious student. Starting his studies to stay out of the army, he wasn’t particularly
driven in his first years. “Basically, I lived the typical student life. I was just having fun being a student – I remember walking around with green
hair. I became a member of SSR, which was at
the time more like what Catena now still is, and I
had lots of fun there. I did my essays the night
before I had to hand them in. Not all the time, but
it happened.”
Once he got into his third and fourth years,
when he could choose whatever he liked, his attitude changed. “I just did literature from there on,
and I enjoyed it more, because I did what I
chose. I also got more serious about it, and my
grades started going up. By the end, when I was
writing my thesis, I was really enjoying the research: getting up at 9 in the morning, going to
the library, doing my research, going home at 5
and typing it all out. So, I ended up as a more
serious student, working hard to get good
grades.”
Issue 2, May 2006
Student life has changed enormously
since he studied here, he says. “There is a lot
more study stress now. You have to get your
points now, and most students also have a job
next to their studies. There is less time for a social student life. I notice in my classes that many
students have to leave early to catch a train or a
bus, or they just simply have to be somewhere
else.”
That was certainly different in his time.
“All the students lived in and around Leiden.
They would always show up half an hour before
class to have coffee and chat, and hang out half
an hour after class. I remember doing exams,
and then drive to The Hague and sit in the beer
garden of the big pub at Noordeinde, and then
drive back again. That is what we did after exams: relax.”
After finishing his studies, he was not sure
what to do and tried to get an AIO-place. “Part of
my reason for wanting an AIO-ship was that I
did not want to get into the kind of commercial
business world and I did not know what else to
do. I never really thought about work, that’s why
I’m still here.” The first time he applied, he did
not get in. He went to New York for a time and
to Leeds – “just for the fun of it” – taking on
cleaning jobs. Meanwhile, he applied at several
universities.
The second time he tried, he did get the
AIO-place at Leiden University. But before he
started here, he went to Stirling for a year,
where he got to do an MPhil (master of philosophy) on Gothic literature. Back in Holland, he
continued his research on the Gothic: his PhD
(doctor of philosophy) was on nineteenthcentury British and American Gothic Fiction. “It
ended up being a project on the alchemist as a
stock figure.” During the following years, the different genres of popular nineteenth-century literature have become his main area of research.
The BBC is to blame for his interest in
nineteenth-century literature. When he was
about 14 years old, he watched the Poe films
and really liked them. “It all comes from being a
kid, sitting up late on Saturday, and enjoying the
films. I started reading literature late, and therefore it’s still fascinating now. Eventually, you end
up making your job out of your personal interest,
which is fun.”
According to Van Leeuwen, nineteenthcentury literature is particularly interesting because of the amount of imaginative thinking that
goes on in creating the stories. “I’m not a huge
fan of kind of psychological novels – like Middlemarch or Jane Austen’s, those are interesting
rather than fun – but I do like Wuthering Heights,
because it’s not a realist piece of fiction. There’s
Interview
Page 9
a kind of mystery that surrounds the book, which
causes that you can keep talking about it forever.
There are no answers. That is why I like Dickens
also. You can see it as a realist slice of Victorian
life, but his plots are actually like fairy tales, and
there are a lot of fantastic elements, he describes his evil characters for instance as sorts of
monsters. That kind of nineteenth-century literature I really got into.”
Teaching is another part of being an AIO.
“The first course I taught was an introduction
course to literature. I remember the first couple
of classes that I would make schedules for every
five minutes of the class. I thought I had to organise every five minutes, but you really do not
have to do that. Students ask questions and you
get into a discussion, and I wouldn’t follow my
notes. So halfway through the semester I got rid
of that system, and selected specific issues or
passages that I wanted to look at.”
“I remember a class on Beckett’s Waiting
for Godot, and being scared that students would
just sit there and think that it was ridiculous. I
wondered about how I was going to get them enthusiastic. But they were so engaged with the
text – some angry, some loving it – that I just sat
there as a kind of referee to say who could talk
next. That is what you want to get: students being involved in the literature and discussions.”
“I still teach very much from the perspective of what I experienced as a student myself.
When I prepare I think about what interested me
as a student, or what classes I used to like. I
tend to base my own classes on what kind of approach to teaching I tended to enjoy.”
“The department asked me: could you
teach this, and could you teach that, and then
someone became ill and could you fill in. All of a
sudden, I did a lot more teaching than I had to do
as an AIO. But I was enjoying it. And actually, I’m
Nowadays, Van Leeuwen gives expression to his
artistic side by playing the drums in a band.
Page 10 Interview and Cartoon
still just filling in gaps. You’ll never know, if you
hang on long enough, then maybe finally something will become available.”
He likes the work at universities, especially the combination of teaching and research.
“You can get a lot for your research from the
classes, and you can use a lot of your research
in your teaching. They work really well together.
Those 25 people in your class will all have a different opinion, and they will come up with striking ideas, and as a teacher you’re forced to
change your opinion of the book as well. And
that’s fun. And that’s why it’s also fun to teach
the same course three times on a day: it is
never the same. As long as what they say is
relevant and interesting, you can take it all
aboard.”
Another thing he likes about the work at
universities, is that it is a job that allows you to
go anywhere. “I could apply for a job in Japan.
At universities it’s all about a particular area of
expertise, and what they need. It is a lot easier
to get work permits, compared to the business
field. American universities do not have to
choose an American PhD or young American
scholar, but they can simply say: that guy does
exactly what we need.”
Currently, next to teaching the Victorians, he is working on a smaller research project
Issue 2, May 2006
on Arendsoog, the children’s novels by a Dutch
father and son about cowboys and Indians in
America. “It’s part of my American studies interest. I am doing a kind of comparative study on
how they are creating their own kind of fantasy
representation of the American west, and compare it to the kind of classical American western
authors from the same era. The father and his
son never went to America, so they have no idea
what it’s like. They use Dutch geography: the
scale of it is as if they are in Holland.”
Van Leeuwen’s contract ends by the end
of July, so he will have to look for another job. He
keeps all options open, also at Leiden University.
But there is also a possibility that he will leave.
“I’m working on a new research project which I’m
handing in in September to get funding from the
Dutch research organisation. It is very much on
the line of my PhD project: comparing British and
American nineteenth-century popular fiction. If I
get that, the whole family will move to Philadelphia and I will spend two years in the library, writing another book. That would be exciting.”
In June, Van Leeuwen will do the annual talk on
the ‘propedeuse uitreiking’, and it’ll be about
zombies...
By Gea and Merel
Issue 2, May 2006
Column Texas Page 11
Mariëlle Pack is currently studying in Austin, Texas. In every Angler, she will write a piece about
something which is typical of that area or America in general.
Hook ‘em Horns!
Football is a very popular
sport in the USA. That is obvious from the huge celebration that burst forth when the
Longhorns of the University
of Texas at Austin (UT) won
the national championship
after beating the Trojans of
the University of Southern
California (USC) in Los Angeles on 4 January 2006. I
have never seen so many
people in Austin wearing
burnt orange, which is UT’s
color: they were in an orange whirl of excitement. I
felt very much at home in
that rolling sea of orange people in the Darrel K.
Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on the UT campus where we celebrated the victory. The audience at a home game exists of about 90,000
people which are mainly students. Everyone was
exuberant of joy, and so was I, since I went to all
the home games of UT and became a die-hard
Horns-fan.
It is no “biggy” when one player tackles another
player, or when someone gets a punch in the
back. The referee only throws a yellow cloth on
the field when he thinks things are getting out of
hand. But that hardly ever happens and it is usually just a warning. There is hardly ever a grudge
between the teams.
However, there can be some competition, like when the German soccer team plays
the Dutch one. Here that would be between UT
and Oklahoma University. OU beat UT 4 years in
a row, but UT finally beat OU in 2005. For a couple of weeks, the battle scream became “Texas
fight! Texas fight! OU sucks!” instead of “Texas
fight! Texas fight! Go, Horns, go!”
By Mariëlle Pack
Graduate student at Leiden University
International exchange student at University of
Texas, Austin
The rules of the game are simple: the
offensive team has to try to get the oval-shaped
ball to the other side of the field in order to score
a touchdown or a field goal, while the defensive
team has to try to stop the other team from doing
so. A college game usually takes about four
hours. That is very nice when the temperature is
40 degrees Celsius, but if you get bored, there is
always the option of stretching your legs and getting a Texas Style Corndog or a huge cotton
candy.
What struck me was that all the violence
happens on the field, and not between fans. In
other words, I have not seen hooligans here yet.
Page 12
Albion Activity: Gothic Night
Issue 2, May 2006
Rolling Heads in the LAK
Thursday the 27th of April saw the first real
cultural activity of this year, organised by the
Albion A-team: the Albion Gothic Night. As
opposed to what was announced, no heads
rolled (except in the movie), but it turned out
to be a very interesting night, which allowed
us to see the Sleepy Hollow film against its
Gothic background.
A small but enthusiastic crowd, mainly consisting
of Albion diehards and some very welcome other
people, had come together in the LAK building,
in a place which was everything but frightening: a
brand new white and light classroom with maybe
one frightening aspect, no windows. The A-team
indicated that they had been looking for a good
idea for an evening like this for some time, and
that they were happy that they had found one.
The evening started with an introduction
to Tim Burton (the director of Sleepy Hollow) and
the gothic, by “our own gothic specialist EvertJan van Leeuwen”, as he was announced by the
A-team. Van Leeuwen explained that there are
really two gothic traditions. The first one was the
‘classical’ gothic literature movement in the late
eighteenth and early nineteenth century. This
kind of literature was considered to be dangerous, because it was subversive in three ways: it
undermined the positivism of the enlightenment
by being critical towards science; it activated the
imagination which could make people lose con-
tact with reality; and lastly it engaged with repressed sides of the human psyche.
The other tradition is that of American
Gothic short stories, which used horror elements
as a means to comedy. It is this tradition that Tim
Burton’s films fit in. Van Leeuwen showed some
clips of other films that belonged to this tradition,
in which we could see that the horror-elements
were not really frightening, but just used to create comedy. Another event that fits into this tradition is Halloween, which shares these characteristics: morbid and horrific things are turned into a
festivity.
The A-team had taken care of food to be
enjoyed during the film, so after a short coffee
and distribution break (one crisps bag per person), and some assurances from Van Leeuwen
that the film wasn’t really scary, the film could
start. During the film it became clear what Van
Leeuwen had explained: the film never was
really frightening. Every time it almost became
scary, some sort of a joke would be made, for
instance by one of Johnny Depp’s famous weird
faces.
Some little screams, but more grins and
laughter later, part of the group went to Camino
for drinks. There all agreed that it had been a
great evening, and that this certainly should be
repeated some time next year.
By Gea
Tickets
available
at 1168.
Members
€3,- Nonmembers
€4,-. Door
prices +
€0,50
Issue 2, May 2006
Leiden English Freshers
Page 13
Column LEF
Oh, no. No, nonononono. It’s happened. It’s half past eleven. I have exactly twenty-nine minutes to Create. I knew this moment would be here, quite, quite well. And yet, I have been
wasting my time, sitting in the University library doing God knows what. I read something that
sounded like noouusjoelan hèrridann aghfvflondichchtish wealtdt, or something equally horrible (while being not-so-slightly distracted by the intricate—and very schematic—drawing of
an Asian-looking woman fornicating with a man in possession of a Very Big … (excuse me;
with a ‘well-endowed man’) that had been penned down on the desk (which, in turn, made me
realise that the world lost a great artist when the Minervan master decided to study Law or
something instead of going to art school—but I digress (and am being slightly ungrammatical
because of my use of Too Many Brackets))) while I could have been writing a piece for the
Angler.
And now, of course, I’m stuck. I’m a student of the English language, and the director of the
Leiden English Freshers. Those two elements, alone, should be a clear sign that I at least
should be able to put down words in a creative fashion. See—that sentence alone looks awkward; ‘to put down words in a creative fashion,’ because that is exactly what I should be doing now, right? So why can’t I? Oh, dear God, let me be able to write for the Angler. I know, I
have attended church nor classes recently, but my faith in grammar is there, I promise.
Really.
And still, the clock is ticking. I should be studying for the exams that are due, and yet I sit,
still, warm and dry (though with a hint of stressful perspiration on my upper lip), while topics
for an Angler piece are racing through my mind. Dear Muse, let me write. Help me, and leave
me not wanting for ink in this desert of white. And when I’m done, please assist me when I’m
writing my essays, and please, please, let them contain better metaphors than the abomination in the sentence before. I beg of you.
By Ditmar de Wagt,
This year’s director of the Leiden English Freshers
WE NEED YOU!
As The Leiden English Freshers present yet another spectacular performance in the LAK-theatre in
the second week of September, we need you as
our lovely audience. Should you like to come and
watch your fellow students perform Shakespeare´s
`The Taming Of The Shrew´, have your reservations ready by walking by the LAK, or simply by
calling 071 - 512 48 90.
Enjoy the performance!
Page 14 Creative Writing
Issue 2, May 2006
Sonnet
Amidst Horizons
By Nienke van Lieshout
By Sander van der Winden
Caught by the awfully strong hands of time
I feel myself growing too soon too old
My speech now turns into a strange mime
As my body slowly starts to feel cold
No longer am I able to breathe
But I fear the everlasting sleep
So I fight, while I shiver and seethe
And still, I go into a shock very deep
The breath of the Grim Reaper I smell
Ever further do I lose time to the clock
How I woke up again I cannot tell
But it felt like such a painful shock
My life is over, no time left to mend
I hope that to my body you will tend
Day’s darkest grey to brightest blue
Closing barrier
Aircraft carrier
Sending lightning
Flying fighting
Birds against
Gravity
Provides a blanket against the
Universal
Night provides the blackest hue
CloudTroubled air
Should be fair
But we pollute
Make mountains pair
With towers breathing
An earth laid bare
To your fingers breezing
Across a face about to sigh
Ophelia's Dream
By Marguérite Corporaal
Embarking on this softly speaking meandering stream
I let my ship go
slowly rendering my splotched sail to the amazing wind
soothingly splashing
flowing down afloating on this rudderless cargo
Heavy weights dropped down into robed river beds
and gliding, drowsily gliding into the eternal gospel
of carolling currents
Between my eyelashes the shining whiteness
of balanced prima ballerinas seducing the surface
until circles come into the water
As I lie with sodden feet sunk
Indefinite inches deep dotingly drowning
dozy, asleep feeling the caressing movements
of the stream beneath my soaked dress
keeping my head below the washing flux
like a budding flower
freed from Hogmanay's pain and with my brain
fever softened by cooled clearness and peaceful purity
And memories washed away
leaving me like a pink nihilistic elephant
with no name
heavy with healing happiness
floating floating down the lotus stream
raising my dreamy eyes
unto the loving moon and fishes
Issue 2, May 2006
Creative Writing Page 15
The future, a fairytale
By Nadia van Pelt
When I am lying on my back in the high grass,
pretending not to notice the grass blades that
prick my ears - When I inhale the briny air, and
listen to the flapping sails in the harbour behind
the dyke - Sails that are dancing in the air as thin
ghosts and make noises that are even more
frightening than their appearances - When I feel
the ants crawling over my leg, and I’m too lazy to
wipe them off, permitting them to march over me
as an army of small, strong men with more legs
than appropriate - I imagine hearing steps.
There are bushes on the bird’s island, masking it
as a green veil. Therefore the secret remains unimpaired. Before I go there, I carefully watch the
other pedestrians because I cherish the sanctuary of my Avalon. I listen carefully if I hear footsteps STEP...STEP...STEP... and when people
are passing by, I say: “Good morning! Nice
weather to walk about and to exercise isn’t it?”
And I pretend to be calling my dog: “Here,
Rambo! ...Aren’t dogs just like kids? You always
have to watch them!”
After an apologising smile I wait until they are out
of sight, so that I can wade to my miniature paradise. I just lie there, enjoying the sultry air, my
big toe touching the water every now and then.
To me, it seems like living a fairytale. The only
thing that could be more idyllic would be the
touchdown of a butterfly on my knee.
The best of it all is that I don’t have to go anywhere else but here. Walking along the harbour
and beyond the dyke is enough, to reach the
spot where you can kick out your shoes and ford
towards happiness, my private paradise. There, I
consider. I watch the clouds changing shapes,
into a rabbit, into a tree. Unfortunately this isn’t
everlasting. Next month, I’m going to move
houses, to another city. Alone between all those
people, so very different from here and now. Visions of impersonal lectures and cold pizzas.
That’s what they call the future. Life has just
started. But I’ll stay here for a while. Lying between the elements, and I will only go back when
the tide changes and the wind juggles the smells
of food to my nose. A butterfly passes my knee.
Looks along his imaginary shoulder and I can
see him hesitate. Then off he goes. Maybe he
understands that too much idyll would make my
story improbable.
Agenda
11 May
Albion Spring Fling Party at Catena
29 May – 9 June
Exams
16 June
Exam results
16 – 20 June
Albion Scotland Trip
29 June
Propedeuse uitreiking
29 June
Bachelor uitreiking
14 –19 August
El-Cid week
21 – 25 August
English re-sits
4 September
Start Academic Year
6 September
Openingscollege
11 September
Start of classes
Page 16 Film Review
Issue 2, May 2006
Tristan & Isolde
Director:
Kevin Reynolds
Genre:
Action, Drama, Romance
Runtime: 120 minutes
Year:
2006
Cast:
James Franco, Sophia Myles,
Rufus Sewell, David O'Hara, Henry Cavill, JB
Blanc, Jamie King, Leo Gregory, Richard Dillane,
Wolfgang Müller, Barbora Kodetová
Synopsis
From executive producer Ridley
Scott comes a sweeping tale of love
and loss, myth and fate, based on
the timeless Celtic myth of starcrossed passion.
First separated by countries at war,
and now by loyalty to king and
country, Tristan (James Franco) and
Isolde (Sofia Myles) must suppress
their emotions for the sake of peace
and the future of England. But the
more they deny their passion, the
more fiercely it burns. Despite their
efforts to stay apart, Tristan and
Isolde are driven inexorably together, risking everything for one
last moment in each other’s arms.
Instead of the love-potion, a rather trivial element
is used to let Tristan and Isolde fall in love with
each other: the Irish Isolde saves Tristan’s life
when he, mortally wounded, is washed ashore,
and their love blooms, while she is hiding him
from her father. Some while later, when Tristan
returns to Ireland in order to win Donnchadh’s
daughter for Lord Marke, too late he finds out
that she is actually his beloved Isolde. They try to
suppress their feelings, but love cannot be
forced.
By altering the original plot in this
way, the romance looses its sting,
particularly when the essential
character of Lord Marke falls into
the background. Though the adjustment saves the idea of a legitimate
extra-marital affair, questions arise.
Where is Tristan’s despair for his
treason? Where is Isolde’s pride as
a queen? Eventually, Tristan
chooses for his honour as a knight
and Isolde’s character is reduced to
nothing more than an adolescent
crybaby who only wants to see the
passion. Even in our time, worldly
considerations are more important;
the tragedy is gone. Thus, when even the joint
death does not happen, after which originally the
branches entangle on the graves of both lovers
(through which Lord Marke is convinced of the
disposition of their noble love; the moral of the
original myth), we have to let go of the legend.
So that is what we do, no matter how hard it is.
The medieval setting in “Tristan & Isolde” is stunning and there are some pretty unromantic but
spectacular battles to be fought. Breathtaking
views of the Irish coasts enrich the film, and so
do the attractive actors, who are good at making
love. “Tristan & Isolde” is an entertaining action
film with a romantic character, a convincing female lead and a Tristan with Richard Gere features. It has to be said, the overall picture is appealing. The bitter force of the origin, however, is
missing.
Review
Let’s remind us again of the original medieval
legend of Tristan and Isolde. Tristan was an orphan, brought up under the wings of Lord Marke
of Cornwall. Later, Tristan became the most important knight of the entire kingdom. When
Marke asked his protégé to accompany his future bride from Ireland to her new homeland,
they both by accident drank a love-potion, which
Isolde’s mother made for her daughter and Lord
Marke, in order to secure their indissoluble love.
Now, however, Tristan and Isolde love each
other passionately, though it is an impossible
love between a loyal knight and his queen.
Presently, sworn loyalty is an out of date concept, it is certainly not something the public gets
excited about. So how do you portray the conflict
of loyalty between two lovers, who cannot be
united because they consider the classical medieval values of loyalty and love both to be vital?
Original Dutch
review by
“Tristan + Isolde” by Kevin Reynolds (director of
Jan-Kees Verschuure, English translation by
the successful “Robin Hood: Prince of the
Tessa.
Thieves”) proves that this is an unattainable goal.
Especially since the story has to do it without the With special
supernatural love-potion; notwithstanding the
thanks to:
beautiful pictures and the good acting, the Tristan and Isolde-legend has now an entirely different plot.