Too Soon MonsoonWheatusOut 21 November"Who are Wheatus?” you might ask. Well, once upon a time (in fact, back in the days when GCSEs were still a worrying prospect) Wheatus briefly bothered the charts with the single Teenage Dirtbag. Don’t pretend you don’t remember it, because you know very well that the painful memory of that song will be with you forever. Ttragically, after reaching the dizzy heights of singles chart success with their debut offering, the story took a turn for the worse. The band’s profile rapidly declined, with the result that they were dropped by Sony-Columbia Records two years ago. Too Ssoon Monsoon, the group’s third album, was therefore entirely produced by lead singer and songwriter Brendan Brown and will be released through a small independent label.Not that Brown is bitter of course, what with developing a new range of “Suck Fony” merchandise and singing about corporate dominance. Those evil executives at the record companies get a very bad press generally, and there are plenty of examples of record bosses destroying artistic freedom and overlooking true musical genius. Fair play to them though, sometimes their judgements are spot on. The artistic freedom which Brown seems to have been demanding from his old label is the freedom to continue writing mediocre pop-rock and get paid for it, and now he has just that. Oh, and he whacks in the odd swear word, just to make it clear that he has, you know, strong feelings. Aall in all there is nothing offensively bad about Wwheatus’ music, it’s just unforgiveably bland. Ppropelled mostly by simple guitar riffs, the more upbeat songs are reasonable but instantly forgettable, such as the opener Something Good. But these louder songs do provide a good showcase for one of the bands’ main assets, their female backing singers. Eeasily the most irritating thing about is Brown’s nasal whine, and so the harmonies provided on the big choruses are a welcome relief. Iin fact Who Would Have Thought? is possibly the best song on the album, probably because it was written and sung by backing singer Katherine Froggatt without Brown’s intrusion.Regrettably, further attempts to expand the group’s sound have resulted in the appearance of some highly dodgy, Wwurlitzer-style organ effects, the main offender being The London Sun, which sounds like a Rrobbie Wwilliams song being spat out by a funfair.Brown’s songwriting does seem to approach genuine subtlety and emotionin its quieter moments, such as at the start of Hometown, a song about New York and the aftermath of Sseptember 11. But it is just too difficult to identify or sympathise with a voice that is so relentlessly annoying. Being a Wwheatus fan obviously requires a lot of hard work and dedication.Too Soon Monsoon will probably not be easy to find: it’s hard to imagine something this drenched in mediocrity album flying off the shelves without any press coverage or promotion. Hhowever, the band are threatening to tour sometime in the new year, so Wheatus fans will soon get their fix in person. Ssurely there must be some Wheatus fans left, mustn’t there?ARCHIVE: 6th week MT 2005

In a city like Oxford, with an enormous number of classical concerts going on here, there and everywhere, it’s often difficult to pick out what’s worth your time and money. Oxford Uuniversity Pphilharmonia solves this problem with an exciting concert at the Ssheldonian on Thursday of seventh week. Ii spoke to Orchestra manager and violinist Miranda Ddawkins about running a successful student orchestra.“Wwell think it’s a fairly accessible programme and should be a lot of fun to watch,” says Miranda of the concert on the 24th. “Ccertainly anyone who wants to see a musical representation of a rather grizzly dismemberment will enjoy the Ddvorak!” The concert opens with ‘The Golden Sspinning-Wwheel’, a Ddvorak tone-poem based on a slightly bizarre Cczech ballad by Karel Eerben. “The fairytale will be retold in translation in the programme though, for anyone who can’t pick it out from music!” she jokes. Of course it is a perennial problem for orchestras to pick pieces which will both satisfy the beret-wearing arty types, stroking their goatees and muttering “where’s the Ppoulenc?”, as well as be appealing to first-time listeners. “Pperhaps,” Miranda agrees, “there is always the issue of treading the fine line between making a go of it financially and artistically but think we manage to achieve both. The Pprokofiev (Ssymphony no. 5) is pretty highbrow but is definitely one of the funkiest symphonies ever, with fantastic melodies, as well as being tremendous fun to play. Ssam, our conductor, is hugely knowledgeable and really knows what sort of pieces go well together.” Hhaving a ninety-piece orchestra makes any concert something of a spectacle visually as well as aurally, so “anyone looking for a first classical concert to go to should definitely come along as it will be pretty impressive to watch, and concertos are always fairly visual too.” This concert features Cchopin’s Ppiano Cconcerto with soloist Mariko Kato of Cchrist Cchurch who recently won this term’s Ccompetition with her supurb rendition of the piece.The orchestra has been around for over a decade and requires lots of dedication from all involved. “Iit is a big commitment for everyone, but it’s fun and excellent for people who really enjoy playing their instrument and want to play to the highest standard they possibly can. This year we’ve been particularly pleased: all our first years are of a terrifically high standard.” Wwith a tough audition, all players are post-Grade 8 at least but Miranda assures me that there are no major musical egos to contend with. “Iit definitely makes it easier to work as a team that way!” Ii ask Miranda if the orchestra has consumed her life yet but she assures me it hasn’t. “No, think generally people who come to Oxford know how to manage their time pretty well and the Pphil is especially good for people who want to play in a very good symphony orchestra but don’t want it to be the only thing in their life. Wwe rehearse once a week for three hours with two extra rehearsals near the concert so it’s not going to get in the way of your degree or anything.” Miranda herself is a second year studying Eenglish and French at Sst Hhilda’s, while Ssam Ddraper manages to combine conducting with a medical degree. Aabout fifteen per cent of the orchestra are doing music degrees but the Oxford Orchestra is definitely more of a lifestyle choice.Miranda denies that there is anything more than a friendly rivalry between the Pphilharmonia and other Oxford orchestras: “think we rub together quite well. Wwe even share players sometimes if they play a really obscure instrument.” This year, however, the can boast their own contra-bassoonist. “Ii’m always astonished that we pick up people playing these instruments, we even have a student harpist this year.” It’s one of the major crises of classical music among young people that very few can afford to play instruments like the harp, bassoon or trombone, so it is good to see them coming together at Uuniversity level.“Sstudent classical music is definitely thriving in Oxford,” Miranda confidently claims. “OUuMSs is a marvellous service and it must be a lot of work to run it. Iit’s hard enough coordinating one orchestra! There is a tremendous range of things going on and think any audience should have at least one concert or recital a week that they really want to go and see.” Sshe is likewise optimistic about the prospects for the Pphilharmonia this year: “Iit’s hard work but with the mix of players we have we should fill out the Ssheldonian every term. The orchestra certainly deserves that, they’ve been fantastic and can really do justice to a wonderful programme.ARCHIVE: 6th week MT 2005

“Dark and difficult times lie ahead”, the posters ominously warn. Harry Ppotter is back, riddled with teenage angst and tormented by vexing dreams in the fourth cinematic adaptation of JK Rrowling’s series. More brooding and suspenseful than ever, this instalment sees continuing to struggle with the knowledge that the wizard Voldemort, who killed his parents, is gaining in power and (again) harbouring the malicious intent to kill Ppotter once and for all. Worse still, Hharry has to find a date for the Yule Ball.The events of the film take place around the Ttriwizard Ttournament, a deadly competition between the most prestigious magic schools, Hhogwarts, Beauxbatons Aacademy,and Durmstrang Institute. Reinstated after a hundred years by Hogwarts’ Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, the tournament is an attempt to strengthen bonds between the schools, given the growing storm of dark rumours he begins to hear. From each school, a champion is selected to compete by the magical Goblet of Fire. Troubled by the raising of the Dark Mark and the reappearance of the Death Eeaters, Harry’s paranoia deepens as the Goblet selects him as a fourth champion in the tournament despite his being too young to compete.Director Mike Newell takes hold of the reins for this outing (the first Englishman to do so), the wide range of experience of his previous efforts – Mona Lisa Smile (2003), Donnie Brasco (1997) and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) – allowing him to mould the multitudinous facets of the story artfully. Hhis public-schoolboy experiences allow him to bring out the awkwardness and japery of the boarding school environment, adding a wry and convincing overtone to the action.The theme of adolescence is never far away, pubescence providing many humorous and touching moments as Harry, Hermione and Ron grapple with their raging hormones amongst the myriad other dramas besetting them. Comically, the Yule Ball triggers more upset than the sinister plot unfolding, as and try to muster up the courage to approach a girl and ask her out. agonises over his crush, Cho Chang, while Hermione picks Durmstrang action man Viktor Krum, much to Rron’s chagrin. Indeed, the Yule Ball scene is reminiscent of an Aamerican teen movie, with dresses, dances and tearful endings. Even Hagrid develops a love interest amidst the hormonal melee, with the towering Madame Maxime – the headmistress of Beauxbatons, played sublimely by Frances de la Ttour.The three tasks of the Triwizard Tournament punctuate the developments of the subplots providing an exciting framework to the story and the opportunity for some astounding set-pieces and CGI. The dragon scenes are jaw-dropping, with vertigo- inducing shots of the action as Hharry zooms around the landscape trying to outwit the dragon in a vast, rocky stadium filmed in the Scottish Highlands. Harry’s eventual confrontation with Voldemort is dark and hugely satisfying. Ralph Fiennes (currently starring in The Constant Gardener), disfigured into the lithe embodiment of blind malice that is Voldemort, is particularly impressive.The Goblet of Fire is perhaps the hardest of the four books to adapt to film. Iits length and numerous sub-plots and diversions make it a challenge for any director to preserve the core story while not losing too much subtext. Certainly, Mike Newell has taken more than a few liberties with the storytelling, in some cases distorting key clues and red herrings, and has left a sizeable part of the book’s material on the cutting room floor. Yet the magic survives. He has performed fantastically, skilfully transforming, arguably, the best book of the Potter series into, certainly, the best of the films made so far. Essential viewing.ARCHIVE: 6th week MT 2005

CalibrationAgnieszka MlickaRuskin Sschool of Fine AartNothing in the cultural world polarises opinion so much as the debate over the value of modern art. Iis it a deep and insightful reinterpretation of an artistic tradition or merely pretentiousand posturing? Aagnieszka Mlicka’s exhibition cannot be said to have resolved this apparently unsolvable debate, but her work does provide several interesting perspectives and demonstrates clear potential.The exhibition was staged, aptly enough, at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Aart, whose entry hall provided a fine display space for this small collection of works, although if the artist hopes to find a larger audience a more public and spacious venue may be needed.These works are designed to serve as a distillation of the core of finalist fine-art student Aagnieszka Mlicka’s essential artistic philosophy. This philosophy is expounded from the very beginning of the exhibit in the transparent invitation cards and the montage of transparencies which greet the visitor. These reflect the artist’s avowed interest in layering effects, question reality and meaning, and evoke her fascination with structure which plays a key role in the almost architectural style of some of her works.This style is effectively exploited in order to create feelings of entrapment and social confinement. This is most effectively evoked in her drawing of a female figure, trapped within the intermeshing buildings of a nondescript city, epitomising the confining and enclosing effect of the web of society. Ppowerful as this image is, the image of the social animal as a caged beast is, ironically, something of a tradition in modern art, which perhaps rather undermines the originality. Mlicka’s architectural vision of her art is expanded in her effort to incorporate the fabric of the gallery into her display.Mlicka has also added interest to her work by including the ideas board on which her ideas are born and developed; she thus provides an insight into the artistic process. However the quality of her future exhibits would be much improved by the inclusion of some form of written description or discussion of the artist’s ideas and philosophy. The experience of viewing the display would also be enhanced by an attempt to give an obvious and instructive structure to the arrangementof the pieces.Overall I do feel that despite these minor problems this was a well organised and conceived first event which effectively conveyed the artistic vision. Ssome parts of Mlicka’s exhibit are extremely interesting with great potential and it is to be hoped that with consideration expansion and maturing she will succeed in forging her own unique and dynamic style.ARCHIVE: 6th week MT 2005

several days ago I was talking to an old friend of mine, and as we were catching up, he asked the question, “So, what are you listening to these days?” “Uumm, well, really liking Barry White at the moment, Al Green, you know…” The disdain in his voice was almost tangible, and immediately he began sending me mp3s by bands I’d never heard of, in what Ii can only imagine was a last-ditch effort to save my soul from the seductive clutches of commercialsoul music.Back in the day when I was a raging music snob, probably took a similar attitude to others, but now I can’t help but think they were probably having more fun dancinground their rooms than was. Music is the most obvious example, but to a lesser extent, the same idea applies to other art forms: cinema, literature, theatre. Ssnobbery, however,still thrives and there seems to be no good reason for it.It seems strange to me that people so often reject things that are considered popular and limit themselves to what is obscure or little-known. Pperhaps it is the idea that what everyone likes must be inferior and dumbed down, in order to appeal to the lowest commondenominator. Pperhaps it is a need to make oneself feel superior by identifying with things that can only be enjoyed among a select minority. This elitist mindset is all very well, but it ignores quite a few important factors in the way our culture is working. For a start, the standards of popular entertainment are getting higher and higher. Ccinema is perhaps the best example of this trend.While I fully acknowledge the need for the subtlety, intelligence and depth that is often more readily available in films or music that would not necessarily appeal to the mass of the population, sometimes, like the mass of the population, Ii just want to be entertained. That is not to say am a fan of the formulaic approach, the “let’s put lots of gratuitous sex and explosions in this film; that’ll keep ‘em quiet” approach. I’m not sure many people are fans of this any more. The average cinema audience really does have a lot more intelligence than film-makers these days give us credit for and it shows most clearly in the way in which formulaic films in this vein are attracting declining audiences. Take this summer’s War of the Worlds, which was a decided flop, even with Tom Cruise in the starring role. Iit looks like the originality of Ssteven Sspielberg’s vision evaporated quite some time ago and audiences have recognised this. The household status of his name alone is no longer enough to draw people in.So it seems that there is a majority vote in favour of being entertained by something that at least gives the impression of having been made with a modicum of intelligent thought. Iit is not just the connoisseurs in the audience who are unfulfilled by the rampant shallowness on display from certain purveyors of mass arts. The most recent example of a film achieving both subtlety and popularity as part of this more intelligent entertainment is Sserenity. This movie has all the ingredients of a popular film: loveably roguish heroes, suitably nasty enemies, a righteous cause, explosions, the odd bit of sex, and all this, of course, played out by unfeasibly attractive people. Yet it is also original, stylish and witty, without being remotely pretentious or inaccessible. surprisingly, there are a lot of films like this.After all, there’s a reason why, for instance, popular music is popular. Wwhy should popularity in itself be a sign of poor quality? The Beatles went from being one of the most innovative and influential bands of the twentieth century to being one of the most popular. Eeven if it was a valid argument, if popularity these days somehow did add up to poor quality, how do fans of obscure bands explain the fact that they are all too likely to go off a group the minute mass media and a wider audience start to express interest in them? The fact is that obscure artists, genres and subcultures tend to come out into the light of day eventually and when they do this we should not take it to entail a loss of their integrity.The mainstream consciousness is constantly absorbing new or minor aspects of our culture and other people’s cultures. Iit is not a bad thing. Think how the punk movement of the Sseventies has influenced an ever-widening circle of musicians in the past thirty years. Ssimilarly, consider how film noir emerged from hard-boiled Ddepression era pulp fiction to bring us some of the classic films of the Forties and inspire contemporary cinema like Ssin Ccity and the latest incarnation of Batman, or how anime has broken out of Japan and brought us, among other things, the increasingly popular films of Hhayao Miyazaki. If these genres had not grown and adapted themselves to the mass market, imagine how much we would be missing. None of the new wave of indie-punk bands, no bleak, violent crime thrillers, and no oversized cartoon castles wandering around the countryside.This process is the way in which our culture grows, evolves, and is enriched. Ssince the advent of digital video in the early Nineties, independent cinema has gone from being, in the Eeighties, a fairly shoddy affair producing the odd stroke of genius, to being a well-financedindustry that regularly rivals the major studios and incorporates hugely diverse styles to bring us more and more better quality, original films with ever expanding audiences. Ccult cinema is fast becoming mainstream: Garden State, Napoleon Dynamite and Donnie Darko spring to mind, and with every film like this that attracts large audiences the bar is raised for other new releases to show that they too can offer something truly engaging and worthwhile.The drift towards higher expectations for innovation and creativity in films can only be a good sign. Aand the principle applies elsewhere: the more new music that surfaces from the underground and gains a fan base, the more varied and interesting popular music will become, and conversely, everything that is popular today has its roots in something that was once excitingly new and innovative. Yes, even Barry Wwhite.Besides, if you are a fan of something, if you love a band, a director, or an author, why wouldn’t you want other people to appreciate it and accept that their lives were being improved by this new appreciation? This attitude can be found most frequently among fans of things that no longer, because of changes in fashion, attract the enthusiasm they once did. Jazz fans, for example, nearly always welcome new devotees to their genre. My long-time favourite band has recently started gaining a sizeable fan base in this country, and while Ii certainly do feel the sting of no longer being superior to everyone who hadn’t heard of them, it comforts me to think of all those people whose lives are undoubtedly enriched by the owning of their albums.It should be perfectly clear that am not anywhere near advocating the abandonment of non-mainstream culture; rather, would like to see more credit given to the increasing quality of what is being made for mass audiences, an acknowledgementthat popular does not equal rubbish.It is often due to the influence that ‘alternative’ culture has on what the masses take in that we see welcome expansions and innovations taking place in the art world. Sso there is clearly no value in art snobbery, in dismissing mass arts, or in desperately seeking to keep art that is indie or underground as the preserve of an elite audience. Eeither way, the result is a reduction in our own potential enjoyment and in cultural growth.So perhaps instead, we should celebrate when people start liking our favourite obscure bands. Let’s go and watch some blockbusters and let’s enjoy the guilty pleasure that commercial soul music, to take just one example, has to offer. Let us recognise that it probably had its origins in something it’s okay to like, and, well, it might turn out to be fun.ARCHIVE: 6th week MT 2005

Imagine the smug feeling; you’ve finished your tutorials/essays/labs for the week and you’re sitting in your room basking in well-deserved contentment. Aweekend of debauchery inevitably featuring a sticky-carpeted Oxford nightclub no doubt awaits you. in fact you’re probably about to hit the pub in a minute for a few cheeky daytime pints. hold on just one second.As amusing as the world will seem in a semi-drunken haze as you stumble back to college a few hours later with the overdraft a few increments higher, there are other options. the city of Oxford, the city of ‘dreaming spires’, lies before you in all its glory. it might be ten years since your parents last dragged you round a myriad of castles, museums and stately homes hoping to improve your mind, while all the time you yearned to visit the joke shop, but ‘touristing’ in Oxford is an underrated and little-explored pastime. choose not to numb your intellect in front of vacuous television or dVds you’ve seen thousands of times. there is another option, which will give you numerous anecdotes for the conversation in the bar in the evening, as well as something constructive to say to your parents during the inevitable weekly phone conversation. Believe me, your mother will be impressed. Gaggles of tourists crowding the streets during the summer months can’t be wrong.So without further ado welcome to the tourists’ Oxford. You’re spoilt for choice when it comes to attractions, so in order to cut through the dross, here are a few recommendations. start your day with a brisk climb to a vantage point from which the city can be viewed as a god. essential for this kind of behaviour is one of those cold crisp days without a cloud in the sky; the view is spectacular. Often in an Oxford student the view also produces a kind of warm yet slightly self-satisfied feeling as, viewing the ancient college buildings, you can point out ‘home’ much to the excitement of the Japanese tourist standing beside you. there are three towers or spires in Oxford city centre: carfax, st Michael’s on cornmarket and Mary’s on the high street. While all of them give 360-degree panoramic views of the city, my particular favourite is Mary’s with its unrivalled outlook towards the camera. it is worth bearing in mind in your choice of tower that the saxon tower at st Michael’s is Oxford’s oldest building; quite an achievement in a city such as this.Next head up to Broad street for your original education in all things Oxford. the Oxford Story is a little pricey for the average student budget, but is the ubiquitous Oxford attraction. Also for those new to touristing as an activity this one’s just like a theme-park ride, complete with life-size plaster models illustrating scenes from Oxford past and present. The little train which takes you through these scenes creaks and groans on the steep inclines of the ride, but be assured you will make it to the end. at the beginning there is a short film detailing the brilliance of Oxford university, which inevitably brings out more superior pride in the Oxford student as they realise that this amazing stimulating university is in fact the one that they attend. In a swell of golden satisfaction head towards the jewel in the crown of Oxford’s libraries, the Old Bodleian. Of course, all Oxford students can enter the Bod free of charge and if the mood takes them even study there, but the daily tours can provide you with plenty of impressive information to regale friends with as you stumble towards the stack of books which need reading before that essay can be written. For the true bibliophile library experience, a visit to the duke humfrey’s Library is essential. Here, where the air is thick with centuries of dust and the books are chained to the walls, learning seeps through the very pores of the walls. standing in the should make you cleverer and if it doesn’t at least you can admire the ornate ceiling and the terribly intellectual people who actually need to read the manuscripts this library houses. tours of the Bodleian leave every hour from the divinity School and the tour guides are clearly absolutely passionate about their topic, which can’t help but rub off on even the most cynical anti-library tourist. in particular i’ve always liked the idea of the underground system of stacks of books, housing the Bodleian’s vast collection. my mind it’s just like the vaults of Gringott’s bank in harry potter, although Inever quite had the audacity to ask my tour guide whether it’s staffed by goblins. While you’re in the vicinity, it might well be an idea to have a little nose round the radcliffe camera if you haven‘t done so already in conjunction with your studies. although not open to the general public, the rad cam will be open to all Oxford students via the magic of a Bod card. the real joy in this pursuit is the jealous looks on the faces of tourists standing by in the square, forced to take measly pictures of the exterior of the building as you stroll merrily in. Be sure to get your bag checked for lighter fluid and food on entering; a sandwich packet can be a dangerous item in an enclosed library. points of interest include the staircase to the upper camera, the scene for the stairs to the divination classroom in harry potter, and the dome roof which, according to the testimony of an Oxford walking tour i once heard, opens up mechanically in the sunny weather. this, must stress, has yet to be proved and seems just a little unlikely. Leaving the rad cam make your way through the Bod to the Museum of the history of science. don’t scoff at the name, congratulate yourself on how intellectual you’re being and proudly ascend the steps (just avoid the displays of ancient compasses). top floor of the building is the earliest purpose-built museum in the world and was the original precursor to the ashmolean, but it is in the basement, the former university laboratories, where the real gems can be found. most remarkable article on display is one of albert einstein’s blackboards from his 1931 lectures, on which he outlines a relatively simple model to explain the apparent expansion of the universe. Naturally this goes entirely over my head, but it is difficult not to be impressed by the significance of the item and the personality of its one-time user. There is also a large collection of old cameras among which is one belonging to charles Lutwidge dodgson, better known as Lewis carroll. he was considered to be one of the best amateur photographers of the time, renowned especially for his photographs of children and in particular alice Liddell who would eventually be immortalised in the literature for which he is now better known.Having briefly absorbed some science in this visit, it’s then time to move on to the ashmolean itself, the Granddaddy of Oxford’s museums and by far the most imposing building. the ashmolean can be viewed by visitors as a calming, reassuring entity. it’s just so big and austere that somehow things couldn’t possibly go wrong where miniscule pieces of ancient history are meticulously preserved and labelled for all eternity. As a museum in this particular guide to touristing in Oxford, the ashmolean doesn’t really fit in. it would take a veritable lifetime to absorb everything on show and the speed with which people reach saturation point when it comes to ancient artefacts is relatively rapid. still, a quick look round one of the galleries is always rewarding. My special favourite is the Egyptian gallery; you simply cannot ask more from a museum than phallic statues and mummies. Finally then, with sore feet and bursting mind, head towards the Museum of Natural and the pitt rivers Museum. Both of these museums are housed within the same building just by the radcliffe science Library. the Museum of Natural History is fun in an eight-year-old ‘look at the big dinosaurs’ way. as well as marvelling at the enormity of a t-rex, you can also see the sad remains of the Oxford dodo which is now little more than a small, blackened bone. original Oxford skeleton disintegrated, but will live on in the imaginations of many in the works of Lewis carroll. the Oxford don used to bring Liddell and her sister to the museum on rainy afternoons and based many of the stories he told them around exhibits they had seen when out touristing with him. tale of the dodo was a particular favourite as it played on Carroll’s stammering when he pronounced his own real last name, ‘do-dodgson’. Moving on from the Natural history Museum, you can enter the rivers which is somewhat akin to entering an alternate universe. By far the most interesting museum in Oxford, the pitt rivers Museum is officially a museum of anthropology, made up of items donated by General augustus henry Lane Fox pitt rivers from his extensive travels around the world and then built upon over the years. the museum is dark, pokey and old-fashioned, but it’s also absolutely brilliant. the artefacts are arranged into cases, each under a different theme and supposedly showing the differing ways in which cultures attack problems. case entitled ‘treatment of the dead’ therefore shows how african tribes created death-rattles from human skulls, while in the upper amazon regions these heads were shrunken and worn in a ceremony to prove the killer’s manhood and avenge the deaths of relatives, a tradition, learnt to my surprise, which only died out in the 1960s. while we might all try to take the moral high ground and affect a kind of aversion to such practices, the overwhelming popularity of this particular exhibit testifies that our interest in the macabre is alive and well. in fact, at the height of their popularity in private collections and museums the demand for shrunken heads was such that many fakes were created, using sloths’ heads. these specific shrunken heads, or tsansta as the custom is known, are especially illustrious because of their appearance in the his dark Materials trilogy by philip pullman. Other disgusting and therefore compelling exhibits include fly-headed ballerinas, which consist of a tiny model of a ballerina with the head and thorax of a large fly mounted on the shoulders to constitute a head. the dinginess of the pitt rivers simply adds to its colonial charm and it is one of the few museums where the collection, its layout and ethos have become objects of curiosity just as much as the items themselves. And now, as the closing bell rings in the pitt rivers, you are ejected blinking into the late afternoon sunlight and can head to a bar, full of interesting facts with which to divert your friends. touristing in Oxford will never die because of the bus loads of foreign tourists who wish to experience the delights of such an auspicious seat of learning, but the student body should share more in the innumerable diversions afforded by the many attractions of Oxford.ARCHIVE: 6th week MT 2005