Monsoons and morons - post-exam culture

At the moment, I am hanging around getting ready to go to the Jesus May Ball. For those who know what a May ball is, this won't need explaining. For those who don't, it's a bit tricky to explain. Basically a May ball is a big, posh and expensive party (some bigger, posher and more expensive than others) where students get to dress up, and having paid an extortionate price to get in, have "free" food, drink, rides, bands and other entertainment throughout the night until the morning, when a "survivors' photo" is taken. Hopefully, that doesn't sound too cynical - they can be really great. The theme for the Jesus ball is Xanadu (from a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a Jesuan), which should be interesting.

Yesterday was church x 2, with the afternoon spent on Jesus Green for Life Sunday. This was HT's alternative to Suicide Sunday (a day when lots of students get to release post-exam tension in confined spaces along with lots of alcohol), and involved a barbecue and a bouncy castle. There was also a big Eden contingent, as there often is on Jesus Green on a Sunday afternoon, along with assorted brothers and sisters from other churches - I spotted some from StAG (St Andrew the Great), and I suspect other churches were represented. It's really great to be able to enjoy the company of other believers without politics creeping in.

I thought I ought to mention two cultural events in which I participated last week and which I forgot to mention at the time. One was the Christ's Films free film, preceded by strawberries and champagne. The film was Monsoon Wedding, an Indian film about a wedding in monsoon season and the complicated family relationships which surround it. This is a really interesting film, though probably not if your idea of interest is non-stop action. It's not exactly Bollywood, but I get the impression that it gives quite an accurate picture of Indian culture at its most attractive and colourful, though sometimes exaggerating for comic effect, whilst exploring some of the tensions of that culture, both within itself and in relation to the influence of Western culture. The meeting of cultures is partly expressed by the return of numerous relatives for the wedding who form part of the Indian diaspora in the West. It's also really interesting how the characters switch between local Indian languages and English, often within one sentence. I think this is what linguists call "code-switching", and it seems to be an accurate representation of how communication takes place along the cultural boundaries of global society. India itself is a nation which contains varied cultures which have been in dialogue with one another for millennia.

My other main cultural event of last week was to receive a copy of Much doa about nothing, the latest CD from moron, aka Bob Brown. Bob Brown is a friend of mine in the USA. For his day job, he is a maths professor in Baltimore, Maryland. In his spare time he records lo-fi music under the name moron (a one man band). He then gives his music away for free (though appreciates a small contribution towards postage and packing). The band's name comes from the assertion of the Apostle Paul that "the foolishness [Greek - moron] of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength" (1 Corinthians 1:25). I haven't got round to listening to the whole CD yet, but, if it lives up to the rest of the moron collection, it should be intriguing and quirky, and perhaps at times fun or inspiring (though this is subject to some debate on the part of listeners).

So then, time to go to the ball ...