The Nutcracker and REM Sleep

I just saw the Russian Stateballet perform Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, last night. The performance was okay (not spectacular), but I presume that is because they were on tour. However, at least the Nutcracker story is a happy one, and so the whole performance made for a fun night.


However, what struck me during the performance was what a sleep researcher would think, watching the Nutcracker.

As you might know, the entire Nutcracker is a dream of a little girl, after her uncle (a magician) gives her a nutcracker for Christmas. During one scene, the characters of the dream world, surround the little girl, swaying back and forth. She, herself, is carried aloft by the magician, swaying back and forth. The beautiful effect was to simulate her sleeping, and then slowly getting awakened.

Awash in Tchaikovsky's beautiful lullaby, a little voice in my head said: Well, now the REM sleep is ending. There will be a period of non-REM sleep before she reawakens. Alpha wave activity will slowly begin in the EEG scanner.

Though I managed to quash that little voice in my head -- I can only say that I doubt a sleep researcher would appreciate the Nutcracker (if he kept thinking like that).

:) 

The Messiah

And here's the violin itself -- Le Messie or The Messiah.

It has never been played, and is almost in the same condition as when it was found in 1737 in Antonio Stradivari's workshop. It was built in 1716, during Stradivari's Gold Period, during which his greatest violins were made.

As such, it is viewed as one of the greatest of the Stradivari violins existing today.


(It was named The Messiah, because of the fact that it has never been played -- its owner said that it was like the Jewish Messiah -- he is always said to be coming, but he never arrives.) 

The piece of wood below seems rather ordinary. However, it isn't.

This was the last item I saw in the Ashmolean, and probably the most spectacular.

I am not sure if you can read the words on the piece of wood below, but it says Stradivari 1716, Le Messie.

This is one of the pieces from a violin made by Stradivari , thought to be the greatest violin maker ever.

Painting by El Greco

This painting by El Greco surprised me.

The british museum do not seem to have a lot of painting by El Greco, but what is immediately evident in his painting, is that it does not seem to fit in the late 16th century. It seems to have no link with da Vinci, Raphel, and Michaelangelo, whom he followed. His painting is much more modern (it looks like it comes from the 19th, or even the 20th centuries).

Still, he clearly was one of the masters of the later 16th century.

 

Here a painting by Eduard Manet.

 

Degas: Dancer Putting on her shoe

This is one of Degas's Ballerinas (or Dancers).

This is a little unusual because most of Degas's famous dancers are not sculptures but paintings.

However, here you can clearly see the mastery of Degas over this second medium.

 

Rodin's Age of Bronze

Here, a rather unusually titled piece by Rodin -- The Age of Bronze.

Rodin would normally sculpt something, before coming up with a title for the piece. That might explain this odd title.

 

Rodin's Eve

Here, Eve -- also by Rodin.

This, like the thinker, was originally developed for his monumental "Gates of Hell". However, here, Rodin developed it into a separate piece.

Note that there are many recasts of Rodin's pieces -- these pieces, unusually, were original casts created by Rodin, himself.

They are slightly unusual, in their smaller size (I think). I later saw another Rodin original, and that was much bigger.

 

Rodin's Thinker

They had a really spectacular group of sculptures by Rodin.

Here, probably his most famous sculpture -- Thinker.

 

Here a portrait by Sir Anthony van Dyck -- very similar in style to works by his teacher Rubens.

Powhatan's Mantle

Sorry for the poor picture, but I hope that you can make out that this was a mantle, worn over other clothing.

This mantle seems a rather ordinary piece of Native American Clothing -- however, its true history is anything but ordinary.

You might remember the story of Pocahontas and Captain John Smith. Though most of the story is really just an embellished legend, the main characters of Powhatan (Pocahantas's father), Pocahontas, and Capt. John Smith are historical.

Well, when Capt. John Smith met Powhatan, he was presented with the mantle of the chief. He, in turn, brought that mantle back to Europe with him. He then presented that mantle to the founder of this museum (as part of a bequest at his death).

So, the mantle pictured above was actually owned by Powhatan, of the Pocahantas story.

Pretty interesting!

(If you aren't familiar with the Pocahantas story, the historical version of the story can be found at: http://www.apva.org/history/pocahont.html.)

As an example of other oddities in the collection -- a Native American War Club.

In hand-to-hand combat, this would really be a fearsome weapon.

 

Here's a very characteristic painting by Titian (in his middle period).

 

European Art

Michaelangelo did not leave many paintings (or drawings).

I saw one in the National Gallery, London, but they didn't allow pictures.

However, here is another -- from the Ashmolean.

 

And here is a cheeky looking Egyptian God, Sobek.

 

This is a really well preserved chariot axle from Ancient Egypt (almost 3000 years ago).

I'd never seen wood, this well preserved, from Egypt, before.

 

This is more of the typical greek sculpture -- however, it is a beautifully preseved one (admittedly the arms are reconstructed).

 

Greek

Here is a beautiful greek marble (and it isn't even recreated much).

Most greek marbles have no expression -- this girl certainly does.

 

The Ashmolean Museum

Well .... Oxford isn't all bad.


The Ashmolean museum is one of the nicest museums I visited in England.

It is the oldest museum in england (slightly older than the British Museum), and it has a beautiful, eclectic collection -- ranging from Ancient Egyptian Antiquities to the modern art of Picasso.

Two of the reasons why I liked the Ashmolean so much are:

1. It's free (like all good things in England -- unlike the Bodleian, grrrrr)
2. It allows you to take photos (which most art museums don't)

Here are some of the highlights of their collection. 

Sorry for the slightly blurry picture, but here I am standing by the door of the same room.



For those of you who haven't guessed yet -- this is the infirmary of Hogwarts school. That's the door which Dumbledore walks through, to see Harry in the first movie (and also in the third movie).

So, most of you have actually probably seen the Bodleian Library, closer up than my parents and I managed, on the tour.

The Old Bodleian Library is where the scene with "Harry in the Restricted Section" was shot (in the first Harry Potter Movie).

Thinking about it -- Considering how much we paid to merely glance at the library, I wonder how much the Harry Potter filmakers had to pay to film in there. 

 

On a lighter note, I wonder if anyone recognized the room which we had started the tour in.

Here are a couple more pictures of it. 

With that, our tour was ended -- no books opened, indeed, we barely got a glimpse of the library.

It's one thing to get 5 pounds worth, but it is another to pay 5 pounds for a library tour, and barely see the library at all.

I highly recommend to everyone travelling to Oxford -- DO NOT VISIT THE BODLEIAN!

At that point, we were allowed to walk past the security (who studiously examined all our bags), and into the second floor library -- where, we could clearly see the signs posted over the bookshelves:

DO NOT TOUCH THE BOOKS! A MOTION SENSOR WILL BE ACTIVATED AND THE LIBRARY WILL BE LOCKED DOWN!

What a beatiful way to introduce the library!

In the end, all we were allowed to do, was stand about 5 m away from the first row of books, and peer down the corridors of books beyond that.

At the start of one of the corridors, our guide explained that, originally, the books had all been chained to the desks. This was to protect them from being stolen by scholars. She said that Oxford's Bodleian had been founded as a way to combat this, and provide learning for all.

Next to her, the sign stated clearly:

DO NOT TOUCH THE BOOKS! A MOTION SENSOR WILL BE ACTIVATED AND THE LIBRARY WILL BE LOCKED DOWN!

Some learning for all!

The tour began in the room pictured.



We were asked to sit at one end of the room, at which point, the guide began on the history of the Oxford University Library.

After 5 minutes, we were wondering when we would be leaving to enter the library (which we had learnt had moved to its present location, above the room we were in, in about 1500).

After 10 minutes, we had pretty much had our fill of the library and its history.

After 20 minutes, we we wondering why the tour was called the library tour, considering our guide was giving no sign of getting closer to the library.

After 25 minutes, we were finally asked to move ... ... ... not to the library, but to the next room on the ground floor.

---

And so it went -- another 15 minutes in the new room. Another 15 minutes listening about the history of the museum.

Only then, with 10 official minutes remaining in the tour, were we told the "momentous words": Alright, I must warn you that in the library upstairs, no pictures are allowed.

The Library Tour

Seeing that I really wanted to see the Bodleian, the librarian suggsted that I might simply like to take a library tour instead.

So, on the next day, my parents and I paid 5 pounds each, to join the 55 minute Bodleian Library tour. It seemed like a pretty stiff price, but at least we would get to go into the library (perhaps even see a manuscript or two) -- we thought.

To the Bodleian

So, hoping to be let into the Bodleian Library, I went to talk to the librarians there.

I had been kindly given a letter of recommendation from the University of Toronto library, which I hoped would give me a better chance of entering the library.

The Oxford library website had not given me much hope -- indeed, Oxford does not even allow their own Undergraduates to use the Bodleian library.

Still, I was determined to try.

Well, the first thing I saw was certainly no cause for hope -- a professor from Oxford wanted to bring a guest (another Professor) into the Bodleian -- she was flatly refused.

The librarian hemmed and hawwed after seeing my letter, and she finally said that they could possibly consider the case, if I provided them with some books which I wanted to look at. Well, I didn't have that with me (and indeed, when I later looked carefully, the Bodleian didn't have any books which I could prove I had a NEED to see).

So, no hope there.

(Thankfully, there are other libraries, in other countries, which are much less strict than Oxford. Indeed, they encourage visitors to see their restricted collections. I'll tell you about the Uppsala Library later).

A little more history

One more story, which I think is interesting.

Oxford has always been a royalist town. In Henry VII's reign (he of the five wives), two catholic bishops and one archbishop were imprisoned in the Saxon tower, as they were not willing to recant their faith in the Catholic Church.

In order to make them convert, the staunch Oxford Royalists burnt the two bishops on the stake (just in front of St. Mary's Church) -- and made their archbishop watch them burn.

He, after that sight, was almost ready to recant. However, at the very end, he dillied and dallied too long for the Royalists' liking, and they burnt him at the stake too.

You can still see the spot where the stake was -- there is a cross in the road at the appropriate point.

A little Oxford history

Just as a last example, here you have the third major church in Oxford.


A little Oxford History -- Oxford University was founded (informally) in 1096 (yes, I repeat -- one thousand and ninety-six AD).

I'll get on to Cambridge later, but the number 1086 is the bane of Cambridge -- they were founded in about 1200, putting them behind Oxford, forever! :P.

Another interesting fact is that even with that early date, Oxford is NOT the oldest university in Europe. That distinction is held by the University in Bologna.

Anyway, much of the interesting history of Oxford happened around the church above.

Since the University predated the actual existence of a town in Oxford, the University always held precedence over the towns people. This was challenged continuously: riots between the university students (Gowns) and townsfolk (Towns) were almost yearly affairs. The University students (Gowns) would sally from the University Church (The Church of St. Mary's above), while the Townsfolk (Towns) would rally at the Cairfax Tower church.

In the end, in 1355, the king had to intervene. He finalized the supremacy of the university over the town, and that supremacy continues to this day.

Just down the street from Cairfax Tower -- this tower was built by the Saxons, in the 10th century AD -- and there wasn't even a sign to announce its age to people!