An Evening At The Cambridge Shakespeare Festival

Brian and I - I've been saying that way too much - went to the Scholar's Garden at St. John's College to catch a performance of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. There was an audience of about 300 with those on the lawn going about 8 or so deep. The stage was a small area of grass underneath a tree. Warmed up wine, which gave the air a pleasant smell was served at intermission. Most of the performances were decent, nothing great. The interactions with the audience provided and a few contemporary references made for some of the best of laughs. All in all it was entertaining and something to be remembered.

The Festival has become a significant cultural event in the region and can expect to attract upwards of 25,000 visitors for the productions which run during the eight weeks of the Festival. Also, because the city attracts so many tourists at this time of year, the Festival has acquired a national and international dimension, with many visitors returning to Cambridge again and again.

An evening at the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival is a unique experience. Prior to the performance, members of the audience can picnic in this idyllic setting, before sitting back to enjoy an evening of dynamic and highly visual theatre. The Festival prides itself on an artistic policy which strips away unnecessary theatrical artifice and gimmickry, and the Company exists to provide access for all to these marvellous works without assuming any prior knowledge of the author or the play in question.

The productions themselves are vivid and spectacular, and are performed in full period costume with live Elizabethan music. Imperceptibly the evening passes from a glorious summer evening to dusk and then to night. The moon rises to provide additional lighting in a way that no theatre could match. Following the performance the audiences from each venue (we have four productions running simultaneously at different venues) return to the heart of Cambridge and its many bars and restaurants to end a perfect evening.

Mediocore

Class rankings are in and I'm being told I'm at 50%. Right smack dab in the middle.

Calf's Brains On Toast Is Good Eating In London

Someone else here isn't enjoying the food that England has to offer. The one restraunt he has found to be good though has a menu that might be a bit too expensive and exotic for my tastes.

Happiness Economics

Great sex at least once a week is worth $50,000 in happiness, while the emotional lift of a long-lasting marriage is worth $100,000. A divorce will cost you $66,000 of happiness.

Two economists--David G. Blanchflower of Dartmouth College and Andrew J. Oswald of the University of Warwick in England--have done the first rigorous econometric analysis of money, happiness, and sex, and their findings have turned conventional wisdom upside-down, reports The New York Times. Their conclusion in "Money, Sex and Happiness: An Empirical Study": "Money does seem to buy greater happiness. But it does not buy more sex."

One of the things they wanted to measure is this: How much happiness is sex worth? The answer: $50,000. That is, having sex at least once a week provides as much happiness as putting $50,000 in the bank. A lasting marriage offers about $100,000 worth of happiness a year, which means a single person would need to receive $100,000 annually to be as happy as a married person with the same education, job status, and other characteristics, notes The Times.

The study: This new branch of economics actually has a name: Happiness economics. It applies econometric measurements to human emotion. In this study, Oswald and Blanchflower analyzed the self-reported sexual activity and levels of happiness of more than 16,000 American adults who participated in a number of social surveys since the early 1990s, notes The Times.

The results: The more sex someone has, the happier he or she is. But when that happiness is measured in dollars through econometrics, the researchers concluded that increasing the frequency of sexual intercourse from once a month to at least once a week offered as much happiness as putting $50,000 in the bank.

There was one surprise finding: A larger income does not buy more sex or sexual partners. "That was surprising to us as economists," Oswald told New York Times reporter Eric Dash, "because by and large, we think money can buy anything." And in case you're wondering, the study also found that men who paid for sex with a prostitute were considerably less happy. "The 'Sex and the City' view of the world is falsified by the data," Oswald concluded.

Other interesting findings:

Married people have 30 percent more sex than their single friends and are significantly happier.
The happiness of being in a gay or lesbian relationship is virtually identical to being in heterosexual relationship.

I wonder if they took into account that 50 euros gets you 15 minutes in Amsterdam.

Third-Tier Conversation

Ryan: You're such a pussy.
Brian: I am what I eat.

Another Ebonics Night At The Fez

A group of us first went to The Regal because the drinks there are cheap. As for myself I had a pitcher of Red Bull and vodka, two shots of vodka, about a glass and a half of gin and tonic, and a shot of chardonnay - don't ask. Thus relaxed we went to the Fez where a couple shots of sambuca were to be had. The club was hot, literally speaking. Apparently they turn off the air purposely to get people to buy more drinks. Jordan and Gisele showed a side of themselves that was completely unexpected and they didn't even have a drink with us at The Regal. With his moves on the dance floor, Ryan showed us why he usually doesn't drink heavily. I ended up reaggravting my left knee dancing. I also kicked Armen in the ass a couple of times. Something else happened at the Fez that I'm not allowed to mention. But I will say that there was vomitting going on in the ladies restroom. Brian and I decided to leave early because there really wasn't much going on. So I limped the mile back home.

Not That I'm Superstitious

But the way the Dodgers have been playing since I've been in Cambridge has me thinking that I should extend my stay here until October by becoming a punter. Would you like to go punting today?

You Are Now Entering The Cambridge Zone

Where the weather is rubbish, the food is bad, the women are only ok, and everyone but Brian and Wayne think that Armen and Annie are the nicest people ever. Seriously, most people must think Brian and I are two of the biggest jerks on this program. Only a week left.

Yes, I'm A Bad Person

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Sixth Level of Hell - The City of Dis!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Moderate
Level 2 (Lustful)	Moderate
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Moderate
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Moderate
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	High
Level 7 (Violent)	Moderate
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	High
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Low

Take the Dante's Inferno Test

New To The Higher-Tiered Blogs

A Trojan. It pains this Bruin. (see comments)

Quest To Find KFC

We walked for over an hour trying to find this place in a town you can walk across in less than an hour. Asking for directions, we were told to head back into town. Brian had to hold it for nearly an hour because everywhere he tried to take a leak wasn't good enough or not private enough until we came to this children's playground where he finally took relief. It was such an odyssey that I ran the final yards upon first sighting as if I were Tim Montgomery - pre-BALCO investigation - and I ordered a 14 piece bucket for myself for the price of 15 pounds (nearly $30).

Quote This

"You two make me miserable." - Annie

My Current State Of Health

I sound a lot like Prof. Crim Pro.

Note To Stummy

I didn't really tell Kate that you were back with Drew. I only asked that she ask if you were. So hold back the hate mail please. And why-oh-why didn't you give my number to that cute red head standing in line behind you at Rite Aid?

Mafia

We played a version of this card game last night. That's how bored we are over here. Anyway, I learned a bit about some people playing that game. Brian is really good at manipulation, Armen is an idiot not a really smart person (plus he's self-serving), and law students in general are really shady people who shouldn't be playing games of deception.

Quote This

"I'm not hurting for friends." - Annie

Fan Mail

Hi,

I visited your site:

http://waynesoller.blogspot.com//

I have a law related blog. I was wondering if you
would be interested in exchanging links. My site
is located at:

http://www.jeremyrichey.com

Sincerely,
Jeremy

He's obviously starved for attention. Go give it to him.

Quote This

"I associate you with hurt." - Annie

#1 Thing I Miss About Eating Out In America

Free drink refills.

So far I've seen only two places out here that offer "bottomless drinks" as they call it, Nando's and Chili's.

Brian's Progress Report

Trini has been trying to help out Brian with the ladies and I'm supposed to keep tabs on the guy. So for the first two weeks out here I've sent Trini progress reports via email. I'd thought share this one with everyone.


TERM: SUMMER ABROAD '04

WEEK THREE GRADE: B
WEEK TWO GRADE: C
WEEK ONE GRADE: F
CUMULATIVE GPA: 1.667

COMMENT(S): Last Tuesday night at the Fez, Brian got into a conversation with a GRITS - she was not in fact a GRITS but from Wisconsin, I was really drunk that night. She overheard Brian and I talking and asked if we were American and that's how they got started talking. I prematurely ended his game though by spilling a drink on her, her friends, and on Ryan's shoes - lesson, a single shot can have a wide spillage area. That was Tuesday night. The day prior I believe, he asked one of the cute receptionists at the gym where the movie theaters were. His first and, thus far, only initiation of conversation with any of the cute girls we've come across, though it must be stated again that there aren't that many cute girls out here in Cambridge. Later that week though, she asked me instead of him whether we found the movie theater and I wasn't even there when he had asked. So that's keeping him from the B+. But at the pace he's making progress I expect him to be in P3C within... three weeks... or so... too bad there's less than two weeks in the program.

But it's all about baby steps and I wholly expect Brian to be soon providing testimonials for Trini's approach.

Good Times

Tried to go and see The Lion King in London last week with Romy, Jen, Ryan and Brian. We got to a ticket booth and I asked about how long the play ran because the last train back to Cambridge was earlier than usual. He gave me that info and provided lots more as Brian, Ryan and I asked him questions for about 15 minutes to make sure that we could make that last train. So after we were done questioning the guy we decided we could make that last train and asked for three tickets. We were told, "Sorry mates, I'm all sold out, try that booth over there." You would think that sometime during those 15 minutes he would tell us that he didn't have any more tickets to sell. Oh well.

By the way, the squabs there aren't afraid to attack mankind.

We ended up getting tickets to Stomp. I wouldn't really call it much of a play. It's more of a concert than a play. The highlights for me were the opening, the act with the Zippo lighters, and what I think were cough drop tin boxes. It got old quick though, especially the part of the clown and our view of the stage was incomplete. We sat third row to the back at the top so we couldn't view the upper stage level. But we did sit right behind two of the better looking ladies we've seen all trip. They were cute enough for Ryan to strut down the steps, look over the balcony as pretext, and then strut back up the steps. His act didn't get much help with Brian and I laughing our asses off at the sight of a short white boy with the top two buttons of his shirt unbuttoned displaying himself and checking out the ladies.

It was a decent night out. Much better than the first trip out to London with Annie and Armen.

Within The First Hundred Days

Our new SBA president delivered on his first campaign promise by enhancing the school's email system. It's got folders and stuff. Now I'm expecting to lay out on a couch when I get back to campus.

Note To Bunny

Yes Bunny, they are butt buddies.

Quote This

"I'm on vacation mode." - Armen

I Can't Stop Touching My Head

Got a haircut the other day and while I may be saving on shampoo costs I do need the England skies to cooperate in giving me a tan.