OH MY GOD EVERYONE NEW BAD MEDIEVAL MOVIE

You need to watch this trailer right now.



It fulfills so many of the basic requirements of the Bad Medieval Movie:
1) Crusaders
2) Inexplicable American in a sea of British people
3) AN ANCIENT EVIL WHICH THREATENS TO UNDO US ALL
4) Ron Perlman

All we need is a Token Moor and a Scrappy Blond Child, and we got ourselves a bona fide Bad Medieval Movie.

Here is the plot, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Nicolas Cage [Yes, Nicolas Cage] stars as a 14th century Crusader who returns with his comrade (Ron Perlman[!!!!]) to a homeland devastated by the Black Plague. A beleaguered church, deeming sorcery the culprit of the plague, commands the two knights to transport an accused witch (Claire Foy) to a remote abbey, where monks will perform a ritual in hopes of ending the pestilence.

A priest (Stephen Campbell Moore), a grieving knight (Ulrich Thomsen), an itinerant swindler (Stephen Graham) and a headstrong youth who can only dream of becoming a knight (Robert Sheehan) join a mission troubled by mythically hostile wilderness and fierce contention over the fate of the girl.


LET'S ALL GO SEE IT.

New blog

My very dear friend and mentor Professor Evelyn Vitz at NYU has recently launched a new blog based on her book A Continual Feast, with lots of interesting recipes and ideas from the Christian tradition. Lots of interesting medieval cultural and historical tidbits in there for the culinarily adventurous medievalist. The blog is called A Continual Feast Continued, and she has just posted about the upcoming feast of St. Nicholas. Check it out!

Best Thanksgiving Present Ever.

Okay, only Thanksgiving present ever. But still the best.

This weekend, my dad surprised me with a copy of Medieval Games for Wii. I'm putting off trying it out until the semester is over, but for now I'm looking forward to partaking in such traditional medieval pastimes as slaying dragons, jousting, fighting ogres, et al. It seems to be your standard mini-game collection for Wii,



Hysterical.

Quick update

Oh hi. Sorry about the long absence. It will likely continue till the semester's end, at which point I may try to liven up the winter break with some Bad Medieval Movies. The BMMs have been generating some hostile comments lately. This is confusing, since I wrote them so long ago, and funny, since, hey guys, they're just opinions on the internet. I will fight for your right to enjoy In the Name of the King till Judgment Day. I'm just not gonna like it with you.

Our fall roundtable was splendid, and I'd like to extend my thanks to all our participants once again. We had five brilliant scholars from different departments studying very different things, but by the end of the talk everything had come together in a lovely, felicitous way. It drove home for me how, though what we do is largely done alone, we are all very much a community working towards the same things. Now it's time to get with the planning of our spring graduate conference, which you'll hear about soon.

That's all that's new over here. I've just been reading, grading, writing, and grading some more for about three months over here. It's glorious. I hope all of your semesters are just as crazy and wonderful. Happy Thanksgiving to all you Americans, and happy Wednesday to everyone else.

NY Medievalists!

Be sure to check out this upcoming roundtable I helped organize at the Grad Center. And do please help spread the word!

Download the original attachment
Pearl Kibre Medieval Study

Second Annual Roundtable

New Directions in Medieval Scholarship

November 13, 2009

2:00 p.m. ◊ Room 5414

CUNY Graduate Center

Moderator:

Ottavio Di Camillo, Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Literatures & Languages, Graduate Center

Presenters:

Andrew Arlig, Department of Philosophy, Brooklyn College
Medieval philosophers and material objects

Marlene Hennessy, Department of English, Hunter College
Medieval ideas of reading, the book, and religious practice in late medieval England

Nicola Masciandaro, Department of English, Brooklyn College
“The Truth of Commentary”

Emily Tai, Department of History, Queensborough Community College
Medieval Mediterranean piracy

Following the presentations, all are encouraged to participate in open discussion regarding current trends in medieval studies. The roundtable will be followed by a reception.

We also invite everyone to attend the November 13 meeting of the Friends of the Saints at the GC, room 5105, at 7:00 p.m. Prof. Timmie Vitz of NYU will be speaking: Can we re-awaken the performance of the hagiographical folktale of the 'Seven Sleepers of Ephesus'?

Oh, hi!

Yikes! Has it really been over three weeks since I blogged? That's insane.

It's been a pretty crazy semester so far: I'm taking three courses, preparing for writtens, and TAing three courses at Baruch, Hunter and NYU. I'm always working, but I'm loving it. I've never felt so productive! Here are a couple shots of my bookshelves to give you an idea of what I've been up to.

Here are the books I'm reading for my classes this semester:



I'm taking a Medieval History Lit Survey, an Early Modern Lit Survey (for my minor field), and a class on Medieval Women and the Family at Fordham. And here are the books I'm teaching, at NYU:



The course is called "Conversations of the West: Antiquity and the 19th Century." Whereas my TA gigs at Baruch consist mostly of grading and one-on-one tutoring, at NYU I am teaching my very own weekly discussions to accompany the jumbo lectures. It's my first time in front of a classroom, and I am absolutely loving it. It's nice to know I picked the right job! So far we've done the Old Testament, Hesiod, and Plato (I cannot BELIEVE I am qualified to teach people Plato), and next week we're doing the New Testament and Augustine. I am PUMPED for Augustine.

How are all of your semesters shaping up? Here is one picture from my trip to Medieval Times for my birthday- I never did get around to that post, did I? One of these days. This might be a light blogging semester for me, but I'll make a point to check in every once in a while and see how everyone's doing.




This was right after my knight died. He died first. It was very sad.

The Golem

The Golem from Tablet Magazine on Vimeo.

In this video featuring Jonathan Katz and Jon Benjamin, a group of Jews create a Golem to fight the Williamsburg hipsters. And a manticore is mentioned!

It's actually a book trailer for The Jewish Body by Melvin Konner.

Thanks to Steven!