Ok, I've been. . . a little delinquent about putting up pictures. Rummaging through my photos today, I noticed just how many still weren't up.  Well they are now!  Have a look at the new albums.  Stories from this summer will also soon be up in my next Journal entry.

First we go back quite a ways.

All the way to last summer!

I finally had my film put onto CDs, and so I can now show the world more pictures from Austria, and also my run-in with royalty in Liechtenstein!

Next we head to the end of Michaelmas, where New College graduates get together for a night of revelry and enjoyment in black time at the annual Christmas Dinner.   

I have to say that we were really in true form that night.

Also, there's a few shots of the Catz party that I crashed.  Catz always has great parties.

Next we have the James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization's first World Forum, which took place in March (yes, I do realise it's now nearly October).

This series of pictures takes you (a little bit) behind the scenes of those four days of events.

If you haven't seen much on the Forum yet, which discussed technologies for life extension and enhancement (and their social aspects), I encourage to visit the Institute's Forum webpage.

I put up a few pictures from Trinity already (Brussels and Easter),  but I've really filled it out now. 

There are shots from the Races at Newbury, More rowing pictures, birthdays, Vivas, dinners, and the Queen!

It was actually quite a term, when I think back on it.  Including the initiation of the Culinary Expedition Club.

And then we get to this summer! 

You've seen the pictures from the cabin, but now I've put up some pics from the Renaissance Festival and Minnesota State Fair as well (unfortunately no pics from my trip to Houston).

 I didn't get any pictures of swing dancing, but I did snag one from New York!

And finally there's the invitation I got from Cindy to visit the National Air and Space Museum archives, at 3 hour tour through some of the 30+ hangers that house all of the artifacts that didn't make it into the Museum or its new addition. In particular, I found Neil Armstrong's lunar suit made the hairs on the back of my neck tingle.

And that, my dear friends, brings us just about up to date.  On pictures, at least.  Now for the stories! 

The New York Times last week had an interesting article on the new residential development in Northfield, Minn., the town home to St. Olaf College. Apparently no one's a fan of cul-de-sacs.

It raises an interesting dilemma of whether we should support insular societies that promote security, or more open societies that possibily integrate the community more while, a side effect of which may be integrating the bad with the good.  I wonder how many people on cul-de-sacs actually speak to their neighbours on a regular basis, and would even call their neighbours friends.  Perhaps you hate your neighbours, but you still feel it's better the enemy you know than the one you don't.  

Playing The Sims 2 over the Labour Day weekend (thanks to Emily reintroducing me to my addiction to computer games), I noticed that when I first moved into my house, the neighbours all came over and met me (and continued to come over on a regular basis).  I'm not sure how often that happens in real life.  In Oxford, I've lived in a ranged of houses, from one in the city centre where my neighbours were a pasta restaurant and a homeless shelter to north Oxford, where the neighbours were never home, to student houses, where I often had breakfast, lunch, and dinner in different houses in our row.  I discount the last as not being an adequate representation of 'real life' - it is college after all.  But what about the others?  Do neighbours really play a part in our lives anymore, regardless of where we live?  This summer I'm living in an apartment, and I haven't met anyone in the 10-story building.

I started this post thinking that I was against cul-de-sacs because they don't allow much interaction with a wider society, but looking at the agruments I've just presented, I think I can't go either way any more, because I have no evidence that neighbours really matter at all.