Tom's going to Austria

Achtung!!

2005-09-19T20:53:00.000-05:00

I've graduated! Not from school, from blogger. I'm back and settled in and have set up a one-photo-per-page blog, which I like a lot better. It's http://www.fallenamongthieves.com, feel free to go visit it! This is officially my last post on this blog, probably ever. Goodbye, but hopefully not for long!

2005-07-11T16:54:00.000-05:00

Oh Arkansas, home sweet home! It's become obvious over the last few days that I'll be keeping up some sort of photo blog, but I'm not sure of the details yet. I don't have many pictures of my home state, but leaving for a year lets one see things through new eyes.

I'd like to do a one-photo-per-page format. I don't mind paying a little bit, but I just don't know where to start. Does anyone have any suggestions? Templates? Movabletype or typepad or whatever and what are these anyway? Any suggestions would be gratefully appreciated.

2005-07-11T16:51:00.000-05:00

Clinton library

2005-07-11T16:50:00.003-05:00

train bridge

2005-07-11T16:50:00.002-05:00

old train bridge downtown

2005-07-11T16:50:00.001-05:00

Coke

2005-07-11T16:50:00.000-05:00

His name is Mercury and he's a sweetie.

Last post

2005-07-02T05:09:00.000-05:00

Last night a few of us went to the happy bar and listened to jazz and chatted for a while. It was nice, but I had to say goodbye to Jackie because she's travelling and won't be back before I leave.

I'm completely finished with school now (I got an A in that badass Milton class, too bad it's probably the only A I'm getting) and am mostly packed, so I'm just going to spend the weekend hanging out and saying goodbyes. I thoroughly enjoyed this year, but I'm ready to be home. I'm sure in a week I'll be missing the people and the atmosphere and the oldness and cafés and food, but for now I'm just looking foreward to being back.

I talked to Dr. Oudekerk and the Odyssey people at Hendrix and if everything goes as planned we're going to have an exhibition of photography and commentary by all the people who studied abroad this year from Hendrix, both to give people a chance to show off some of the pictures they took and to convince sophmores to study abroad next year. If anyone reading this is a Hendrix student who just studied abroad, sort through your photos and pick out the good ones! It doesn't matter whether they're of people or nature or a church or whatever, so long as you like it and it contains a tad of artistic merit. I'll keep you updated as to what's going on.

On that note, I think I'm going to go outside and stop writing this blog. I might post occasionally but nothing regular. Kevin and Jake and Hamilton have found a baseball game to join and I will too if I can figure out where it is. Bye!

2005-07-02T05:07:00.000-05:00

G�sser

2005-07-02T05:06:00.000-05:00

I am going to miss certain things about this country.

2005-07-02T05:04:00.000-05:00

Most toilets in Austria and Germany have this flat plate under your butt and it makes pooping way more intimate than it has to be. I don't know why it's that way, but I found a website that thinks it's so people (I think only Austrians and Germans would want to do this) can inspect their poop before they flush it down, to make sure they're healthy and everything.

2005-06-28T18:21:00.002-05:00

Wet ground.

2005-06-28T18:21:00.001-05:00

Certain things catch my eye, I don't know why.

2005-06-28T18:21:00.000-05:00

We had a sudden thunderous spring rain today. I know it's summer in the US, but it still feels like spring here. I'm just used to Arkansas summer, which I'll be swimming in in just a few days...

2005-06-28T18:20:00.000-05:00

Doodling.

2005-06-27T18:32:00.000-05:00

Tonight's moon looks like an orange slice.

2005-06-27T14:59:00.000-05:00

This week is finals week so posting is sporadic. Hey! I learned how to make apple strudel today! Turns out it's really cheap and easy. Also, Keeley, Eric and I are officially sharing a house next year with a washer and dryer, wood floors, a pear tree and a front porch. I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself - I'm thoroughly tired of living with people I don't really know.

On another note, I think I'm going to stop keeping this blog in a few days when I get back to the US. I'll probably post photos occasionally (otherwise the rediculous amount of photos I take will be totally wasted), but nothing regular. I imagine I'll start one up after graduation with typepad (cooler than blogger, and it'll let me do one big photo per page), but who knows. The days are numbered!

2005-06-27T14:56:00.001-05:00

Kunsthaus again.

2005-06-27T14:56:00.000-05:00

I liked the photos a few days ago from the Kunsthaus so I took a few more. These didn't turn out as well, but they're interesting anyway. This one looks like one of the others but just from a different angle.

2005-06-27T14:55:00.000-05:00

Jake looking pathetic. See that big stack of books behind him to the left? I have to get those back somehow.

2005-06-27T14:54:00.001-05:00

Jake tanzin'

2005-06-27T14:54:00.000-05:00

Last friday was a gigantic end-o'-year student party. In true European style mobile phones were involved - a big screen on the wall wrote messages that people sent to the numbers at the top. On this screen is a message from Hamilton (second from top), a marriage proposal for Simon, and some girl telling Christoph she wants to have five kids with him. The french kids wrote the one at the bottom.

2005-06-27T14:52:00.001-05:00

This is Katie. I think she looks like an angry wife in this picture :-)

I started packing to come home today. Somehow I have much less stuff than I came with, but more books. I went by Mailboxes etc. today and they said shipping 30lb of books to the US would cost me about $250! Screw that, I'll just carry as many as I can and get Hamilton to take the rest if he's >willing.

Princeton had a photo competition where researchers were asked to submit images produced in the course of their research. The photographs are absolutely amazing. This one has something to do with a railroad problem:

2005-06-27T14:52:00.000-05:00

Some lentils spilled outside the turkish store. I increased the contrast to make the alien head more obvious.

2005-06-25T06:55:00.000-05:00

Study of the Kunsthaus (with the help of photoshop).

2005-06-25T06:54:00.000-05:00

Oh down by the river.

2005-06-24T10:46:00.000-05:00

Outside of Graz.

2005-06-24T10:45:00.001-05:00

Corn?

2005-06-24T10:45:00.000-05:00

Today I rode a few miles down the river and sat down beside it and read for a while. The weather here is becoming warm and sticky and I'm wishing the sun didn't come in straight through my window. It's nothing compared to Arkansas, but we don't have conditioned air or even ice cubes.

2005-06-24T10:44:00.001-05:00

more Kunsthaus.

2005-06-24T10:44:00.000-05:00

The Kunsthaus threatening to squish the church?

2005-06-24T10:43:00.001-05:00

The Kunsthaus.

2005-06-24T10:43:00.000-05:00

Cherries in the happy caf�. I turned in my paper this morning and as a treat I went and read in the garden of the caf� for a few hours.

2005-06-24T10:42:00.000-05:00

I had a dream last night where a giant black thundercloud was hovering over this hill outside my window and was viciously striking it over and over with lightning. It may be all the Milton I've been reading.

2005-06-22T07:26:00.001-05:00

The university library. I'm not quite sure why "Zeit" (time) is written on it.

2005-06-22T07:26:00.000-05:00

This sign is tacked to the south-eastern history building. It says not to blow it up. While I appreciate the intent, something about this makes me cynically raise my eyebrows.

2005-06-22T07:25:00.000-05:00

Dear dear.

2005-06-22T07:24:00.001-05:00

This church used the maltese cross everywhere. Americans tend to associate the cross with Hitler's war planes, but according to wikipedia it "has been the symbol of the Christian warrior since the First Crusade."

More cross. Notice also the X/P thing towards the top. Those are the Greek letters X (chi) and p (ro), the first two letters in the word "Christ." Wikipedia: "According to legend Constantine reportedly had a vision as he looked toward the setting sun as he was about to invade Rome and take control of the HRE A cross appeared emblazoned on the sun, and maybe the Greek letters XP ("Chi-Rho", the first two letters of "Christ") intertwined with it; and Constantine either saw or heard the phrase "With this sign, you shall conquer." Constantine, who was a pagan at the time, is said to have put the symbol (the labarum) on his solders' shields."

And as we know, Constantine was the first christian emperor.

More maltese cross.

2005-06-22T07:24:00.000-05:00

Jake's battle wound from soccer in the park.

2005-06-22T07:09:00.000-05:00

Katie and I found an empty old church near the university. I'm writing a paper on the use of light in Paradise Lost, so of course the golden rays eminating from Jesus and God fit in pretty well.

2005-06-22T07:07:00.000-05:00

Speaking of indulgince(s), notice the circle with the cross on the top of these grates. These are windows of a catholic monastary near here. In the photo above, Jesus is holding one below, and (I guess) God above. Also, in nearly every painting or statue you see of former Austrian Emperors, they're holding one. It's like a club.

2005-06-19T18:33:00.000-05:00

I've moved on from my Milton presentation and am now working on my Milton paper. I'm having to do more work for this class than any two of my other classes put together. It's good because it's immensely rewarding, but I wonder if I can get full class credit for it at Hendrix - it's only a 2 hour course.

This is a tiny park down the street. It has 4-5 benches and a small pond with lily pads. It's a pleasant place to read.

2005-06-19T18:30:00.000-05:00

Here's something you don't see much around here. This is on top of a house only a block away from my dorm. The inside of the only window is plastered with what looks like gift wrap, brown and covered with American flags and some sort of Indian eagle symbol. I have no clue what this building is.

2005-06-19T18:29:00.000-05:00

A lamp in the park. Yesterday a few exchange students had their birthday parties in the park, so we went out there and had a good old time. After I left a soccer match started in the dark, and Jake banged heads with someone else and cut his forehead open. He had to go to the hospital.

2005-06-17T17:51:00.000-05:00

Wienerstrasse parking garage

2005-06-17T17:50:00.000-05:00

This evening I went to the Indian restaurant here in Graz with Robert Jake and Ham, and while it has nowhere near as much character, I daresay the food is just as good or better than food at Star of India. I know that this is sacrilege and that by saying this I would risk having my tires slashed if I had a car, but I don't, so I'm saying it.

2005-06-17T11:37:00.000-05:00

Flowers are blooming in the park. I particularly like this flowerbed, made to represent Kepler's law of planets sweeping out equal area in equal time in their orbit around the sun. I think Kepler only taught in Graz for about 6 years, but people here are still fascinated with him.

2005-06-17T11:36:00.001-05:00

I'm going to miss this café.

2005-06-17T11:36:00.000-05:00

Rosebuds.

2005-06-17T11:33:00.000-05:00

This whole week I've been working feverishly on a presentation for my Milton class, and the further I've delved into the various views on "The Theory of the Fall of Man" the more I agree with those who say the Fall is a positive thing - taken either literally or allegorically. Taken literally, as protestant Christians take it, the story of the fall results in Man knowing Good from Evil. Though Adam disobeys God, gaining this knowledge gives weight to the supposed free will that man has been given. This is important, since Protestants also hold that man using his free will to choose God is what gives God pleasure, and with no knowledge of Good or Evil, what man chose before the fall was essentially of no consequence, no matter whether he had the will to choose it or not. The paradox is that Adam had to disobey God short-term to please him long-term.

Most protestant theologies also say that the fall/salvation was all "part of God's greater plan," necessitating the coming of the Savior, which was more "pleasurable" to God in the end than if Adam had stayed doctile in the Garden - so even if the Fall was negative short-term, long-term is is positive.

Taken allegorically, Adam and Eve's being cast out of the garden can represent a man growing up and defying his father's rule to make his own decisions, leaving his father's house in the process. It can thus represent both physical and moral growth, and a gaining of responsibility and the pain and suffering that come with it. Nobody can stay in their parents' house forever and still become fully developed - again, the fall is good, albeit painful.

Because the Fall was painful but positive, both of these views lead to the conclusion that the serpent, whether by accident or on purpose, was good and right in convincing Eve to eat the fruit and thus "fall." If this is the case, why do Abrahamic traditions equate the serpent with Satan and evil? Because he convinces Eve to defy God? In contrast, most other traditions see the snake as a symbol for change (shedding its skin) and wisdom. Why is Christianity different? The only biblical references I can find to Satan as a serpent are in Revelations, obviously written well after the Jewish tradition originally equated the serpent with Satan. Where did this idea come from, and does it really make sense?

Also, why is Adam's mistake - which lead ultimately to greater growth - still taught as if it were a sin, as evil, if almost everyone agrees that it ultimately lead to a greater good? Only because the authority commanded the opposite, seemingly arbitrarily? Automatically condemning Adam is a curious thing for a society to do that otherwise prides itself on independent thinking and suspicion of authority. I understand how someone can see Adam's disobedience as bad, but since nearly everone admits in other contexts that there was a greater good, why is Adam's choice seen as wrong? Is our condemnation of him just habit? Do you see what I'm getting at here? The serpent was good, and God's rule was made to be broken - and it's only tradition, not text, that equates the serpent with Evil.

Finally, I want to relate a poem by the Persian poet Hafiz. :

The small man
Builds cages for everyone
He
Knows.

While the sage,
Who has to duck his head
When the moon is low,
Keeps dropping keys all night long
For the
Beautiful
Rowdy
Prisoners.

--Hafiz

In the garden myth, who is the sage, who is the small man and who are the prisoners?

2005-06-17T11:13:00.000-05:00

The café we've been going to all year has a garden out back, and now that spring has come the roses are in full bloom. It's a wonderful place to sit and waste hour after hour. Behind Robert to the right is a gigantic cherry tree.

2005-06-16T18:49:00.001-05:00

Today's sunset.

2005-06-16T18:49:00.000-05:00

Man this guy is awesome. He teaches my "Introduction to the History of the English Language" course. It sounds like a blowoff course for someone who speaks English as a native language, and that's one of the reason I and the other americans are taking it :-) But I've actually learned a ton, and part of our final exam is translating passages from the Old Testament from Old English to modern English.

He has horrible handwriting and at the end of the class the board always looks like this. One thing he harped on today is that the crazy English spelling is traditional, preserved mainly to differentiate words in writing that sound the same in speech - night and knight, for example. But at the same time, the spelling we used was actually pronounced at one point, so "knight" was pronounced with a 'k,' sounding like knecht, which means 'servant' in German. In Old English they both meant boy, but in English the word moved up in stature and in German it moved down. Interesting stuff.

2005-06-16T18:45:00.000-05:00

More futuristic uni.

2005-06-16T18:44:00.002-05:00

Like all architecture in Europe, the university buildings are a mix between old and fancy and �ber-futuristic.

2005-06-16T18:44:00.001-05:00

Ham on the bike of life.

2005-06-16T18:44:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of the year Eric bought a really shitty bike at a fireman's auction. When it broke he got Robert's old bike, which hasn't held up so well.

2005-06-16T18:43:00.000-05:00

Can.

2005-06-16T18:42:00.001-05:00

Diabolical Katie.

2005-06-16T18:42:00.000-05:00

the fire at her party reminds me of the run-in I had with one of my flat-mates a few days ago. This is the guy who was eating my food out of the fridge (like a package of sausages, some spaghetti sauce, curried turkey, etc), and then when I asked him if he knew who ate it he was like "oh I did...is that a problem?" No, it's not a problem, but when I try to not be a jackass on an occasion like that I expect him to do the same for me. Instead, while I was cooking dinner the other day and some friends were puttering around the apartment, he comes into the kitchen and starts yelling "I have to cook tonight too! You can't cook here every day! Why don't you go eat somewhere else!! And I have to use this room!" So I pack everything up and we eat outside, and then the bastard goes and gets McDonalds and eats with his one friend in the main room of the apartment. When I confront him about it he just acts suprised that I think I have any right to use the main room...damn being a foreigner. I don't usually like that MTV show with Bam, but I sure would love to pay that guy to put an alligator in my flatmate's room right about now.

2005-06-16T18:38:00.000-05:00

Jackie on the roof, waiting for guests to arrive.

2005-06-16T18:37:00.000-05:00

The sunlight comes into my room in the evenings, and I can see the sunset out my window.

2005-06-14T06:16:00.000-05:00

Sunset #3. It was Jackie's b-day yesterday so we had a party on the roof of the next building over. We roasted red peppers (which, I've discovered, is the key to happiness) and sausages and what I think was stomach lining - an Austrian brought that :-) They're not ones to waste pig parts.

I tried to make rice pudding for the second time and it came out wonderfully. I made it on the stove instead of in the oven - I'm not sure why anyone makes it in the oven, because the rice puffs up and the whole thing becomes a little cake-like. The stuff I made on the stove tastes just as good or better as the rice pudding at Star of India, and I know that's a bold statement. I just need to work a little on the consistancy and I think I'll have it.

It's really easy to make and cheap, so if anyone wants the recipe I'll send it to them.

2005-06-14T06:12:00.000-05:00

Sunset #2.

2005-06-14T06:11:00.000-05:00

We had a nice sunset a day or two ago.

2005-06-12T15:08:00.000-05:00

This is a sculpture of Kepler's model of the solar system, the "Music of the Spheres." Dr. Barel told me about it last year and it's pretty interesting. This explanation is half wikipedia and half me:

Like previous astronomers, Kepler initially believed that celestial objects moved in perfect circles. This assumption was consistent with most observations and with the Platonic idea that the sphere was the perfect shape. Kepler combined the perfect shape and the platonic solids to create a model for the motion of the planets.

Platonic solids are symmetrical 3-D shapes composed of homogenous 2-D shapes: 6 squares make a cube, 4 triangles make a pyramid, etc. There are in fact only 5 of these solids. Kepler firmly believed in an ordered and harmonious universe, so he was sure it was not a coincidence that the number of platonic solids was one less than the number of known planets.

Having embraced the Copernican system, he set out to prove that the distances from the planets to the sun were given by spheres inside the solids, all of which were nested inside each other. The smallest orbit, that of Mercury, was the innermost sphere. He thereby identified the five Platonic solids with the five intervals between the six known planets � Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn; and the five classical elements.

Kepler's theory worked suprisingly well and matched experimental results by a remarkable amount. Dr. Barel told me that when someone told Kepler that the ratio of two of his spheres was significantly different from the observed motions of the planets, Kepler insisted there had been an error of observation.

Kepler, of course, eventually proved his own theory wrong by publishing his famous three laws, which state that planets move in elliptical, not circular, orbits.

Kepler's own sketch.

2005-06-12T14:49:00.001-05:00

Handmade bows and arrows.

2005-06-12T14:49:00.000-05:00

They had a blacksmith shop set up, and a woodworking shop. They actually sold some midevil weaponry, though dulled. These, however, were quite sharp. If I could figure out a way to get them back I'd buy one, since they're only about $16.

2005-06-12T14:48:00.000-05:00

More styrische Panther. There was a wooden plaque in the hostel Em and I stayed at in Bled, and when I asked the owner about it he swore it was originally used as the symbol of the first Slovene state, in modern-day Carinthia. I haven't been able to find any information about it, or about the symbol in general.

2005-06-12T14:46:00.000-05:00

This door is awesome! Eric and I have decided we're going to paint this on the door of our house next year. Hopefully we'll be able to enlist the help of some art majors. Anyone know one?

2005-06-12T14:45:00.001-05:00

More folks in costume.

2005-06-12T14:45:00.000-05:00

This guy was nuts. He played the part of the jester very well. He had that goofy grin on his face for at least an hour, the whole time I was watching him.

2005-06-12T14:44:00.001-05:00

In costume.

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Marchers.

2005-06-12T14:40:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I get this call from Eric: "Dude, there's this festival in Hauptplatz with knights and all sorts of midevil stuff going on! Get down here!" Turns out it's a festival celebrating Johannes Kepler and his teaching in Graz. I haven't figured out what the specific occasion was. I guess the whole festival is just a period-thing, to recreate life in Kepler's day. Strangely, the knights walking down the cobble stone streets and the jester adressing the crowd in old-fashioned German didn't seem entirely out of place.

2005-06-11T11:31:00.000-05:00

Say it with me: Awwwwwwwww.

2005-06-11T11:30:00.000-05:00

I bought one of these cashmire things for Emily while In was in Turkey. The one I got was exactly like the second one from the left, except I paid about $15 for it!

2005-06-11T11:29:00.000-05:00

This is a memorial to the Russians who liberated Vienna. They built it for themselves I think, because all of the inscriptions are in Russian. The guy on the pedistal is holding a shield with a hammer and sickle.

2005-06-11T11:27:00.000-05:00

Em and I drinking coffee. That day I think we had 6 coffees and 3 beers between us, and they were all yummy. I'm going to miss Europa.

2005-06-11T11:26:00.000-05:00

Em and I went to the Belvedere to see Klimt's "The Kiss." Belvedere means "nice view," and it was named this because it has a fancy view of Vienna, or at least it did when it was built.

2005-06-11T11:25:00.002-05:00

A wall.

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The top.

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He goes out of his way to make every flat surface look interesting. It's kinda nice.

2005-06-11T11:24:00.002-05:00

Another shot.

2005-06-11T11:24:00.001-05:00

Nice contrast to the next building over.

2005-06-11T11:24:00.000-05:00

We had to go to the Hundertwasserhaus again. The last times we went there it was cold and all the trees, one of the hallmarks of this building, were all leafless and grey. I like it a lot better in the summer. HW's got an essay called "Tree Tenants." From this website:

Amongst the nineteenth-century streets of suburban Vienna, it is immediately striking for its cheerful colours and for the luxuriant vegetation which grows out of windows and on the roof. These trees belong to another of his precepts: Tree Tenants are the Ambassadors of the Free Forests in the City. The 'tree tenants' grow out of their own windows, from an area of soil of about one square metre within the building. They pay their rent in various ways: by creating oxygen, by bringing moisture to the climate, by acting like vacuum cleaners and swallowing dust, by absorbing noise, by creating shadow in the summer, by attracting birds and butterflies. The roof of the building is covered with soil, and planted with grass and more trees. It is accessible to all tenants of the apartments. "The nature we put on the roof is the piece of earth that we murdered by putting the house there in the first place," says Hundertwasser. But he also claims practical advantages: such a roof acts as a sound absorber; it protects from radiation and fire; it keeps the building warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

2005-06-11T11:20:00.001-05:00

A melancholy post box - it says "You don't have anything for me?" and "I feel so empty."

2005-06-11T11:20:00.000-05:00

Restoration of one of one of the two statues in the square in front of the library.

2005-06-11T11:19:00.000-05:00

I'm finally getting around to posting some photos from Em and my trip to Vienna. They are in no particular order. This is the Austrian National Library, and it used to be the residence of the Habsburgs. This year is the 50th anniversary of Austria's independence from the Russians and the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII, so it's a big year for Austria. Hitler gave his "I rule Austria" speech from that balcony to a cheering crowd. The tombstone was put up recently, and it says "To the victims of National Socialism."

2005-06-09T17:16:00.000-05:00

Last weekend Eric ran a triathalon in Klagenfurt, Austria, making him officially a bad-ass. He has more pictures on his site. I have to say I'm very impressed, because if I tried to do that I'd be passed out on the side of the path having people jump over me.

2005-06-09T05:58:00.000-05:00

Bled's shield. This is the last Slovenia photo, which reminds me that I'm probably not going to go back there for a long time. *is sad* I like that place.

2005-06-09T05:57:00.001-05:00

Em looking angelic.

2005-06-09T05:57:00.000-05:00

Sunset #2.

2005-06-09T05:56:00.000-05:00

Sunset.

2005-06-09T05:52:00.000-05:00

Em climbing the defensive tower in Piran.

2005-06-09T05:51:00.000-05:00

Piran!

2005-06-09T05:50:00.001-05:00

Near the Ljubljana train station.

2005-06-09T05:50:00.000-05:00

Em!

2005-06-09T05:48:00.000-05:00

Nazi signs in Ljubljana. I'm not familiar with the finer points of the underground Nazi movement in Slovenia, but I seriously doubt Slovenians drew those swastikas. Slovenia has a strong pacifist streak and Slovenians are fairly proud having their own country, so it makes no sense that a Slovenian would want the country to join an imperialistic, militaristic pro-German movement. Anyway, notice they were crossed out by someone else.

2005-06-09T05:45:00.000-05:00

Student elections are being held at the university about now, so the various parties are handing out goodies right and left. The communists had a keg set up in front of the main building and gave out free beer, yumm! Here's Eric enjoying some. I think this photo pretty much sums up Eric's experience in Austria.