01.05.07 mayday

Magdalen College (pronounced "Maudlin") has a 500 year old tradition called May Morning in which their church choir sing from the top of Magdalen Tower at dawn on May 1st, to crowds on the streets below. Also included in the tradition is jumping off of Magdalen Bridge into the Cherwell river, as well as the optional all-night drinking binge before the ceremony... this is England after all. Skipping the bender, I got up at 5 to make it to the event. The streets were full of people in various garb... some still in formals from last night, some in "may queen" hippie outfits with garlands, others with wacky outfits such as giant sparkly bow ties and union jack hats, etc. Everyone was moving toward Magdalen, and many were clearly drunk.

high street at dawn

magdalen tower

I ran into Pat Butler and some friends of his... they had been rocking the all night fantastic. I got some great footage of Pat's friend going on about how hot Reba is, I think her reaction is based on the show we played at the business school the other day. Pretty funny stuff.

the tower

Apparently the river has been so low recently that a couple of years ago some 50 people were hospitalized because they jumped off the bridge. So, today the cops barricade the bridge and try to keep the students from killing themselves. Not all that unreasonable, really.

cops keeping people off of the bridge

After a stop at the Merton MCR for some brunch, I walked back across the meadow, and got a few snaps of the cows. I like the meadow cows, they are funny and always want to smell you.

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