Eva Luna

An Alternative Blog

2009-01-22T15:44:00.002Z

For anyone who might still be looking at this, or who misses doing so, I'm keeping a personal blog now over here. Laura won't be posting (I'm not sure she even knows it exists!), but as you can see I'm getting back into doing so fairly regularly.

More Pics from 2nd Californian Christmas

2008-12-29T19:09:00.004Z

The Pacific ocean from 17-mile drive, outside Carmel.

Laura and I on 17-mile drive at sunset.

Mary Clare and Hugh on 17-mile drive.

Hugh on the beach at Carmel at sunset.

2nd Christmas in California

2008-12-24T18:48:00.005Z

Some photos from our recent adventures...

Half moon bay, where we recorded your video message.

Looking out over Palo Alto and into San Francisco bay. Doesn't it look like Scotland!?

Looking towards Woodside, which is where the wedding will take place (we'll be visiting the venue next week).

Diana's living room, before the tree was 'decorated' (I use the word advisedly, the 'decor' is a bit OTT for my tastes!). The window looks out onto a golf course.

The climate here means there are extraordinary vegetables all year round. Add this to the extraordinary affluence in this area, and it means that one of the coolest places to visit is a California supermarket! This is the 'downmarket' Safeway just round the corner.

It's hard enough to adjust to the climate, the presence of unseasonal sights (below: the trees think it's Autumn) and foods (above) makes it even stranger.

Finished

2007-09-13T10:13:00.001Z

I handed in the finished product yesterday; a process featuring little or no fanfair. I feel like the university ought to employ some people to clap and toss ribbons and put some flowers in your hair or something when this happens. Neither the binders nor the lady at the Graduate Research Office even bothered to say 'Congratulations', and so for a little while there I felt more like I had crossed some minor administrative task off one of my interminable lists, than like I'd just finished a gruelling four year rite of passage and begun my career as a professional philosopher. (Notwithstanding the impending viva voce of course, but I can't bring myself to worry about that just yet).

Hey, never mind. Laura was ready and willing to bump up the joy, and after a delicious lunch in the sunshine at Thyme Cafe and later a scrumptious dinner with the housemates, I consolidated my feeling that I have finally shed a huge weight off my shoulders and reverted to a nicer, less stressed and inscrutable version of myself.

This is a bittersweet post though, since I think it will be my last on this blog for a long time, or possibly ever. The coming term brings a huge quantity of work, and promises to take away a lot of my leisure time. Until that's over - come January or so - I think I will be too swamped to keep you up to date on me and Laura's news and continuing travels through the mild to moderate peril of academia. So unless the unthinkable happens, and Laura starts posting on here, I must say farewell to you all dear readers, and many kind thanks for patronising our humble blog. Be good to each other.

Drew.

Engagement Complete

2007-08-29T12:17:00.000Z

I once saw a feature on a television programme about the rationale for giving expensive engagement rings. The presenter suggested the original rationale (way back when) was this: if the man were to break off the engagement, the woman would have some financial compensation for the damage done to her reputation (by his rejection). The presenter rightly remarked that this rationale is now rather archaic. I like to think we live in more enlightened times, when broken engagements, horrible and painful though they may be, don't lead to be people being shunned or treated differently than anyone else.

This naturally raises some questions: isn't the traditional arrangement rather sexist? Not only is the giving of gifts one-sided (getting engaged is nice for BOTH of us right?), there is a presumption that the man is the flaky one, more likely to break off the engagement than the woman. If it is sexist, then why do we keep doing it?

Happily I somehow convinced Laura that we should once again subvert tradition by exchanging gifts of equal value in celebration of our engagement. Of course this is a more expensive course of action, which is why it took until yesterday for us to complete our engagement gift giving.

Yesterday saw the arrival of a beautiful new guitar, which was my preferred way of celebrating our engagement - and something I intend to enjoy for the rest of our life together. I know they won't mean much to many of you, but here are some pictures of what is truly the most wonderful instrument I have ever played...

Actual News

2007-08-11T17:47:00.000Z

I'm delighted to say I've just been appointed to a one-semester Lecturing post at my soon-to-be alma mater Sheffield. I will be teaching two courses: a 2nd Year course called Descartes & the Empiricists and a brand new first year introduction to critical thinking called Reason & Argument. Hooray for gainful employment, however short lived!

Soundtrack to my Thesis Daze

2007-07-25T11:36:00.000Z

I've been listening a lot to Patrick Watson lately, an entirely new discovery courtesy of Regnyouth archives, my main source of new music (instructions for newcomers here). His extraordinary, surreal and bizarre music is the ideal soundtrack to the sense of unreality that accompanies being incapable of thinking about anything other than concepts and truth. In that sense, it may be unwise to listen to too much of it. (Imagine Jeff Buckley and Björk had an adult child who was best friends with Martin Grech and whose uncle is Ed Harcourt.) Nevertheless, I'm excited about the slightly more experimental/electronic direction mainstream music seems to be taking in the US - at least if the rise of MuteMath can be considered significant (this discovery courtesy of John Mayer).

Neil's Birthday Weekend

2007-07-22T16:01:00.001Z

Here are some pictures from this weekend, notable for two things: (1) it was Neil's birthday and (2) Laura and I didn't have to spend several hours driving!

Presents were ready for Neil's arrival in the morning, and we all sat down to a delicious breakfast of croissants, fruit salad and Raven Road Muesli (patent pending).

Penny arrived later in the day - on holiday from Jane's parents. She seemed nonplussed by the fesitivities, along with pretty much everything else.

Neil is 8 - for the 5th time!

The night before was also a culinary wonderland, featuring Jane's most excellent fishcakes...

And of course the essential birthday cake... (Plum upside-down cake in this case).

Neil struggles to blow out eight candles - by my count it took him five attempts...

But he looked very pleased with his lot afterwards...

At least until his medication wore off...

Funny

2007-07-09T09:58:00.001Z

Enough said...

Caption Competition

2007-07-03T13:43:00.000Z

Perhaps it's our esoteric sense of humour, but Laura and I found the university's choice of new brand graphics slightly amusing...

Your own suggestions of captions involving the salient notion of firing arrows at people are welcome.

My suggestion:

Sheffield Undergraduates: like a shower of arrows, somewhere becoming rain.

Safe on Dry Land

2007-06-29T13:15:00.000Z

Many of you have probably heard that much of the North East of England is under water at the moment. If you find this hard to believe (we all do), check out these pictures. The village of Catcliffe, outside Sheffield, was built on a flood plain, so as far as I know it's still under water. The same thing happened there in 2000 apparently (although not quite as bad). The council went ahead and rebuilt the place anyway (what's that kids' song about the wise man building his house upon the rocks?).

It's hard not to assume this is all the result of climate change (in fact, in a trivial sense, it just is climate change). Climate scientists predict that with the rising temperatures on the planet, evaporation will increase and so therefore will precipitation, where atmospheric conditions are right. This means deserts getting drier and places like Britain getting a lot wetter. I'm glad at least to hear many newscasters saying (in that wonderfully passive voice of theirs): "It is expected that this kind of weather situation will become more and more common in future".

When we were in the US I was thoroughly impressed by how much more seriously people seemed to be taking climate change in the wake of Katrina - among other things, like films everyone should see. There is a real sense that at the grass roots level - or at least, at the level of cities and states, rather than higher up - people are genuinely starting to take the idea of climate change seriously, along with the need for us to change our habits en masse. (Granted it's a serious and worrying problem that the administration seems to disagree, but - fingers crossed - that will change.) While in Michigan, Laura and I caught a special on CNN - granted it wasn't exactly on in prime time - about what will probably happen when we run out of oil. I find this idea terrifying, especially since yesterday I gained a niece. What sort of future lies in store for little Eilidh (that's 'Ay-lee' for non-Gaelic speakers) I wonder? It's hard to see anything but violent conflict, famine and general misery on a large scale in the next 50 years - probably within our lifetime. The real pessimists, like George Monbiot seem to think we have only half that time till we hit the point of no return. This in turn makes me wonder - if Laura and I were to have kids, would it be fair on them? Would it be fair on the planet, which is already so grossly overburdened, its resources desperately over-stretched?

In Britian, as with perhaps most things, I think most people still expect the government to do the hard work for us. I'm all for seeing some leadership, but a depressing number of people seem not even to contemplate taking the little steps that might make a difference: switching to low energy lightbulbs, taking plastic bags with them to the shops, never mind reinsulating their houses properly or changing the way they travel round the country (cheap short haul flights are seemingly irresistible in the UK).

This balance of personal vs. national or collective responsibility is a really tough one to strike. How much difference does it really make if Laura and I fly to the US once or twice a year? Is it really reasonable to ask anyone not to see their loved ones for the sake of the world's climate? Isn't the onus therefore on the airlines to produce cleaner - or even carbon neutral - jet fuel? I'd feel a lot happier saying 'yes' if it seemed like any of the airlines - besides Virgin Atlantic, god bless their cotton socks - seemed willing to take on that responsibility.

My pessimism might be genetic, or it might be a result of the thesis blues I'm currently suffering. Irrespective, if anyone sees any signs of hope, or has a rosier picture of humanity's future to share, please do so. I could use a pick-me-up. In the mean time, I'm counting my blessings that for now at least, we're safe on dry land.

Pictures from our Chicago/Vail/Michigan Adventures

2007-06-18T18:27:00.000Z

Hiatus

2007-05-28T11:06:00.000Z

Laura and I are heading to the USA tomorrow (hooray!), so no entries for a little while.

Stuff & Nonsense

2007-05-07T11:38:00.000Z

As poor Laura lurches from deadline to deadline (AHRC, Uni funding application, comp exam, two marking deadlines), I'm afraid you're stuck with me filling in for now with bits of silliness. As silliness goes however, the following ranks very highly, providing a good dose of unexpected Monday morning laughs.

I'd also like to throw in a link to something Richard recently recommended (thanks Richard!). This is an excellent site featuring audio and video lectures from all kinds of fascinating intellectuals on a fantastically diverse range of topics. My favourite so far - I couldn't stop downloading these yesterday - is the charming Bill Bryson on A Short History of Nearly Everything.

Happy Bank Holiday, enjoy.

Spring & Scandal

2007-05-05T11:28:00.000Z

Sheffield - like many places - is awash with all kinds of beautiful blossom. This view is on our walk to work each day along (ironically enough) Winter Street:

To our great surprise, Sheffield is also apparently awash with cannabis, or at least, our little corner of it is. The innocuous looking house pictured below is just across the street from us (this was taken from our upstairs bedroom window). On returning late from our friends' house last night we discovered three police cars and a substantial police van on Raven Road. There was a fair bit of activity, but no clear reason why. This morning, officers from South Yorkshire police have been removing plants, tubs of fertiliser, heat lamps, small humidifiers and all the gubbins associated with a cannabis factory from the house and dumping them in a skip (where they proceeded to smash them all up with a sledgehammer!). And all of us had absolutely no idea (honest guv!).

Sunday Links

2007-04-29T10:01:00.000Z

Some weekend internet tipples that tickled my fancy:

Exploit children for percussive purposes. (Just pick a child and click).
The cheap and eco-friendly way to clean almost eveyrthing.
Fun tips on how to learn stuff faster.(However, number 4 is a croc, at least if this slate article is to be believed.)
Speaking of crocs, here are 10 reasons to wear them, which leave me somehow unconvinced; maybe because it's pretty darn cold in the UK a lot of the time.
Radiohead are still insane. Wait about thirty seconds then press 'Return' to play.

Pictures from Lochgoilhead

2007-04-24T16:36:00.000Z

At last! Here is a preview of what you'll find if you head over to our Flickr page. Reminiscences to follow perhaps.

Save Internet Radio

2007-04-17T16:39:00.000Z

Whilst the BBC still makes some bloody good radio programs, I am one of many who uses and enjoys independent internet radio stations. Perhaps the best of these is Pandora, which is incredibly good for finding new artists amid the dizzying array of genres and hype. Sadly, Pandora and other stations are now facing extinction thanks to an apparently irrational decision by various copyright authorities to charge them way over the odds for playing music. Please help to save these excellent and invaluable independent voices in internet radio by reading more details here and signing the relevant petition here. You need to be a US citizen, alas, since the decision has been made by US Copyright authorities.

Our Dublin Trip

2007-03-27T12:02:00.000Z

It's about time we got around to sharing photos and news of our recent excursion to Dublin. As you all know we were there primarily on business, but we also managed to fit in a fair bit of pleasure...

This was my first ever Irish Guiness. I don't like Guiness and never have, although I can drink other stouts (I went through a Murphy's phase during my adolescence). I was also sceptical about all the claims that it tastes different in Ireland, but I must eat my hat now, because it's all true! This went down beautifully in the sleepy but authentic O'Donoghues. Just around the corner was a restaurant called 'Ely' where we treated ourselves to a fabulous meal on our first night out. We can heartily recommend the delicious food and dizzying array of excellent wines. We cannot speak so highly of the clientele, who were loud and a little obnoxious (two old (married) blokes hitting on two considerably younger ladies). My suggestion would be to book ahead, as we were seated on stools near the bar, where the wine was flowing more freely than at the quieter (but reserved) tables round the corner.

We saw some stunning paintings at the National Gallery (especially the Vermeer), which was just round the corner from our extraordinary accommodation: the Kildare Street & University Club.

Our very generously proportioned room looked out over St. Stephen's Green (which for those who don't know Dublin, is a lovely park right smack in the middle of the city).

The rather ornate dining room (blurred because I was being extra discrete with my mobile phone!) was where we ate breakfast each morning. Those are real chandeliers, and you can just make out the selection of imposing portraits on the walls, presumably of eminent academics and public figures who are related to the club in some way. The whole place was extremely quiet, all of the time, there was only the sound of old wind-up clocks and the occasional teaspoon hitting China.

We were lucky enough to enjoy some very un-Irish weather (I think it only rained once), which made for scenic walks around the city at sunset, and great light for photographs where O'Connell Street meets the Liffey...

This could almost be Amsterdam don't you think?

O'Connell Street, with the intriguing 'spire' art project in the distance. According to the Lonely Planet guide, the 120m Spire is 'a risqué homage to the fight against one of Dublin's greatest social ills, heroin addiction'. Apparently it's now known among droll locals as the 'Eyeful Tower'.

Sunset on the Liffey... (For a larger versions of some of these pictures, see the flickr page.) Finally, on the way home we stopped into an excellent cheese monger on Duke Street (highly recommended) to buy a wee present for the housemates, in the form of 'Coolea', an intriguing and delicious cheese from West Cork.

Petition Against Funding Cuts for Research

2007-03-20T22:27:00.000Z

Some of you may already know that the British government has decided to cut funding for scientific and other research in order to plug a black hole in the Department for Trade and Industry's (DTI) annual budget (see this story). The absurd consequences of this decision will be that at a time when we're trying desperately to find ways to slow climate change (I'm no scientist, but I have a feeling that some research might make this easier?) and when the UK education system is failing to recruit new young scientists, we're taking money away from science (especially aspiring young scientists and researchers) in order to prop up the Nuclear industry and the failing car manufacturer Rover. To any of you who are UK citizens and agree with me that this demonstrates some badly skewed priorities on the part of our Government, I recommend you go and sign this petition. A letter to your local MP probably isn't a bad idea either.

Some Old Photos

2007-03-09T15:28:00.000Z

We're both off to lovely Dublin for a very big and snazzy philosophy conference in honour of the eminent Hilary Putnam's 80th birthday.

So while we are away, and probably unable to post - depending on whether we have any internet access - we thought we'd leave you with some photos we forgot to post of our recent jaunt up to Scotland to celebrate our engagement with my family.

We spent an afternoon in the company of the irrepressible Gregor, who just loves his books (in this picture he was laughing uproariously at my sister counting stars for no obvious reason). He was also just beginning to walk on his own...

Apparently he's now thundering around the place without the need for assistance; we look forward to witnessing this for the first time during the Easter break.

My Mum collects these Angel figurines, which I had fun photographing in the unseasonable sunshine.

On the Sunday we went to visit Deep Sea World, where I discovered that photographing fish swimming around in a tank is extremely difficult, at least with my rather primitive Fuji Finepix. Laura however, is easier to catch standing relatively still...

My Domain

2007-03-02T12:26:00.000Z

I've just managed to buy http:///www.andrewhowat.co.uk for a measly £6. I had no idea it was so easy, or so cheap! Hooray for technology.

Hints of Spring

2007-03-01T10:31:00.000Z

Walking around our neighbourhood over the last few days, one could be forgiven for thinking it was mid- to late-March. We've had bright, breezy days, with long spells of sunshine that seems to feel stronger every moment. There are also flowers out in force: huge clutches of snowdrops and little colourful explosions of crocuses, our favourite of which is pictured above (believe it or not, I took that with my mobile phone!). Some other colours we've seen on our walks...

Notice the letters 'VR', standing for 'Victoria Regina', which means this postbox must be over a hundred-years old.

Anyone know what these are? I'm guessing they are inedible, for all their spectacular looks. (This picture has the unique quality of appearing upside down, irrespective of which way you turn it; or at least, it seems that way to me.)

Unfortunately, the temperatures haven't been SO high that we haven't noticed that our boiler is broken (the plumber is downstairs doing his best as I type) or that we have no hot water or central heating.

Good News!

2007-02-20T15:51:00.000Z

I just received an invitation from Routledge to write an entry for their upcoming Encyclopedia of American Philosophy on realism. It'll be a 1000 word piece and it ought to be quite a challenge, what with 'realism' being probably the most Protean of all philosophical terms! Anyway, good news for someone like myself, increasingly desperately seeking employment, and I thought I would share my joy with you all.

Gathering Moss

2007-02-18T20:40:00.000Z

I live in a damp, damp place.

The air is damp. The ground is damp. Even the light is damp.

When you walk through our neighborhood, the damp makes the trees a deeper, more pungent black and the contrasting sky more thin and... escaping, somehow. Like oil and water. The damp settles down, nesting over Sheffield, while the sky and air dodge and whistle between clouds and puddles. This damp can make you feel bedraggled, soggy, and woebegone, especially if it comes at you from all angles as some evil precipitate sent by God to punish you for the sins of your fathers. Those days I stay inside, nursing my tea and wondering what will become of us all.

But the damp can also be cozy and generative.

Flowers bloom and throw their fragrance at passing strangers in mid-February. The streets smell of old stone walls and crafty, crafty earth that is scheming away beneath your unknowing feet. And moss covers absolutely everything. There are moss-laden walls, crumbling beneath the weight of time and heavy, water-logged air. Moss creeps up flowerpots and over gates. It covers driveways and sidewalks. It blankets all of the trees.

I have never seen so much moss in all of my life. I think that I could acquire a moss-coat of my own, were I to sit still for long enough. Provided, of course, that I didn't mind the damp seat.

You wouldn't think, with all of this moisture, that Britain could ever suffer from lack of water. But only last summer the balmy South was struggling to hydrate all of its thirsty people, lawns, and toilets. Some people suggest that this shortage was/is due to the Victorian infra-structure of pipes and reservoirs that now leak almost as much as they provide. Even if this is so, what becomes of the leaked water? Surely it is not spirited away to some other country with too many golf courses? Doesn't it just seep back into the water table? Perhaps it is a logistical problem. I don't know. One of life's deep ironies.

As a side note, Andrew has a new web page for you all to admire. It is mostly work-based, (i think) so that potential employers can find out just how fabulous he is simply by means of Google. For any and all who are interested in the fabulousness of my fiancé, the link is now on the sidebar. If any of you have your own web pages and wouldn't mind, could you please post a link to Andrew's work page? It raises the profile of the page and increases the likelihood that the right people will stumble across it. I guess this is the new version of 'who you know'. Thanks.

Engagement Party

2007-02-11T14:57:00.000Z

On Saturday night we held The (or at least An) Official Engagement Party at Raven Road. It was an intimate gathering of friends, nine of us in all, which meant we could afford to have a proper sit-down meal. Laura was in charge of the fabulous menu, which featured these delicious items...

Home-baked herb & beer bread (which came with green olives marinanded in olive oil, thyme, garlic and coriander).

Unfortunately I was too busy eating to get around to photographing the Tarte Tatin with green salad (2nd course), the Risottos Primavera and Walnut/Porcini with red pepper puree (main course). But after the cheese course, I was full enough to be distracted by the two very beautiful cakes. First, my friend Claire's Banana Caramel cake...

And second, Laura's lemon drizzle cake (from a book I'm afraid, but with coercion you might get her to post it here)...

With mascarpone filling... Yum!

Here are some other photographic vignettes from the evening:

1. Sticking balloons to the ceiling with static. Ken & Fiona win the prize for the most productive balloon placing team I think.

2. Origami - not just party hats made from kitchen roll, but a whole origami zoo, courtesy of this weekend's Guardian.

3. And an amusing conversation about pinching people's bums, with excellent role-play illustrations by Jane & Neil.

4. And of course, cousin Ken being, well, Ken...

It's Snowing in Britain!

2007-02-08T12:09:00.000Z

So naturally the country has ground to a halt.

Laura and I are staying indoors, away from the hysteria, marking exams and trying to recover from a mild dose of flu. I've had perhaps my unluckiest week in history:

Monday - my first ever parking ticket, thanks to some very ambiguous signposting.
Tuesday - wake up with a fever and a sore throat, my brain is so addled I turn up at my second lecture at the wrong time, spend rest of day in bed being furious with myself, but trying very hard to laugh about it.
Wednesday - Try to hold extra lecture in what is normally a seminar slot (and seminars don't usually start until week 3). Turns out the department has put a student in my room doing an exam on the assumption I wouldn't be using it. Have to relocate everyone at last minute, and only 5 people show up anyway.

So you can see why staying at home, browsing the web for cool photography, is an attractive option right now.

Sunday Morning

2007-02-04T17:01:00.001Z

Last summer there were a couple of weeks where our schedules were so out of whack that we didn't end up seeing each other very often. This made us both grumpy, so we suggested The Sunday Morning(track 4). This is our weekly date; it is our time together when we don't have to talk about anything specific or do anything specific except have a yummy brunch with papers, etc. and generally hang out together.

After a decent lie-in, and once we have braved letting the daylight into the room - today was a sunny one, our favourite kind - we start with planning breakfast (well, it is the most important meal of the day). Today Laura baked these lovely (and deeply orange) pumpkin muffins (recipe here):

We often accompany our special brunch with some fresh juice, usually apple/carrot/ginger, made with our excellent juicer.

What is Sunday brunch without the right reading material? Our weapon of choice is the LRB.

Birthday Pics (at last!)

2007-01-28T11:13:00.000Z

This was a post that was meant to appear on my birthday, but was tragically gobbled up by the internet gremlins. They hate me. I hate them. It has taken me a long time to regroup from the loss, but Andrew is heckling me, so here I (resentfully) (stupid gremlins) go:

My new home is at 6a Raven Road in Sheffield.

This is my street. The houses are all joined together. This is a really great idea in principle. Unfortunately there is an unemployed singing teenager living next to my bedroom (I put him in the same box as the gremlins... I hope they enjoy each other).

Lavender grows right outside of my house! A really big bush! With bumblebees. I like it a lot.

There are these little alleys between the joined up houses. If you walk down this one and look left, you will see my front door. If you go through that gate, you'll get to my garden, where we keep the bikes and the herbs that we steal from the neighbors.

C'mon in! (Careful, the stairs are steep!)

Downstairs, we have the kitchen (now thankfully sans Buddhists),

and the lounge, complete with fire place,

comfy chairs, and sheep. If you go upstairs,

and along the hall,

you'll get to my favourite room in the house. I love the bath. It loves me. No gremlins allowed.

I guess that just leaves my bedroom (OUR bedroom, Ed.), where I sleep and work. It looks pretty different now; a lot can happen in six months. We have new furniture, including a desk for me, which means that I can't work in bed any more. I blame the gremlins. Stupid gremlins.

Anyway, this is my house. I like living here. I like my housemates (I like them now, a lot has changed in six months). I like most of my neighbors (except the singing gremlin boy), I like the neighborhood (I can run around and there is a bakery and a green grocer and a scuba diving shop). So all that's missing is you.

Laura's New Haircut & Wedding Rumours

2007-01-24T15:56:00.000Z

(Here is Laura talking about her new haircut...)

So most of you (who had a chance) didn't even notice. But I DID actually cut seven inches off of my hair. It was really fun. I haven't been to a hair salon in years, because my lovely and talented sister Sarah has been my hairdresser extraordinaire. However, Sarah has been temporarily replaced by Emma, my new friend at the Toni & Guy salon in Sheffield. I was a little uncertain about making my appointment, as Toni&Guy have levels of stylists, and I had no idea which level to choose. (i chose the cheapest one, in the end.) Thank goodness, as Emma was just about as much stylist as I could handle. The higher level ladies and gentlemen would have had no idea what to do with me. And vice versa. Emma had a kind of mod Marie-Antoinette thing going on, with a bouffant hair-do, very pink cheeks, big fake eyelashes and a fake mole. She was cool. I am still not quite cool, but here is what Emma and I came up with:

(this one is my favorite, as it obscures most of ME and just puts Emma's handiwork on display)

Oh well. Maybe if I keep this stylist thing going... I won't always look like a potato.
-------------

Okay, I'm signing on to talk briefly about wedding stuff. Obviously a lot of conversations are taking place at the moment on what may or may not happen wedding-wise, and I'm sure everyone is excited to hear about our plans. Well, here's all we can tell you right now.

One, we don't have any definite plans yet, and we won't have any definite plans (not even a definite time frame) until April at the earliest - that is, once we know where Laura intends to research her PhD. Once we know that we'll be in a better position to discuss where a ceremony and reception might take place (viz. which side of the Atlantic) and when (viz. a time when we are both living on the same side of said ocean). Two, we're happy to hear people's suggestions of what you would like to see/hear/eat/do during our wedding. The Big Day is all about us sharing our happiness with all of you, so naturally we'd like to know how you think we might best do this. Three, the only thing we're pretty sure we don't want is something heavily traditional. It is unlikely to be a ceremony in a church, followed by a reception in a hotel or a castle or anything. We want the focus of attention to be our friends and family getting together to have fun and get to know each other, so we'll be focusing our efforts on creating a happy, fun and relaxed environment in which that can take place.

We look forward to hearing any suggestions that you might have. Nothing is too outlandish! Let your imagination run wild.

The Good News

2007-01-21T12:30:00.000Z

Something wonderful happened on Saturday, January 13th: Andrew proposed, and I accepted.

(Thanks to Lucy for the photo!)

It was a wonderful, terrifying, completely surprising moment, and I am still recovering. We both walk around with silly grins. I am trying out the word 'fiancé' and calling everyone I know. (not calling them 'fiancé', of course...) Until we know more about where we will be living (due to jobs, PhDs, etc) we are trying our very hardest not to talk too much about plans and dates and practical things like that. But the reality check is made easier by my beautiful new ring...

(Andrew discovered that it's surprisingly difficult to take good pictures of a diamond ring!)

Sparkle, sparkle.

Hooray for the Local Government Association!

2007-01-11T16:29:00.000Z

I sent them an email to express my support for the 'War on Waste' campaign they have just launched. The campaign involves proposals to tax people who do not recycle their household waste. I received the following interesting email, with more details about the scheme, in reply...

Dear Mr Howat
Thankyou for your comments regarding the launch of the Local Government Association 'War on Waste campaign' that was launched this week.

I will be passing on your comments to Cllr Bettison, and I am sure he will be delighted by your support. I also wanted to let you know a couple of the points of what the campaign is trying to do and say.

In terms of the 'save as you throw' proposals, we are very keen to stress that this would not be an extra tax. The way it would work is that there would be a cut in council tax and then you would pay for the rubbish you throw away. The UK is the only country in Europe (and indeed most of the western world) that doesn't have some sort of scheme like this. One argument that has been put forward to me is that we would not expect to pay, say, £300 for as much petrol as we wanted to drive our cars on the roads for the year - we have to pay for it by the gallon. In that respect why should rubbish be any different?

If I may, I would like to make a couple of other points. We are not calling for every council in the country to use these powers. If the local people and the council felt it was the best way forward to help cut the amount of rubbish thrown away then that would be up to them. As a country, we are facing some tough challenges in the long term. We are running out of landfill space and the UK is set to be hit with landfill fines by the European Union if it doesn't reduce its' reliance on simply throwing away our rubbish - which according to the National Audit Office, will mean that by 2013 councils, and therefore taxpayers, will be subjected to £205million in fines. Not only that, but the cost of throwing our rubbish away is going to almost double to £4.2billion by 2013.

We are anxious that council tax and bills that council taxpayers are kept as low as possible and therefore, by cutting the amount of waste we throw away each year, we can keep bills down.

On a final note, our campaign is not just about local people and throwing rubbish away and hopefully in the coming weeks you will see the LGA turn its attention away from what local people can do to what manufacturers can do. Over the coming weeks we will be targeting the producers of rubbish as well. From supermarkets who wrap their coconuts in clingfilm, to the amount of junk mail, to the amount of space taken up by disposable nappies, we will heap the pressure on those who make the waste in the first place to try and help them to help us keep council tax bills down and preserve the environment for future generations.

I hope this provides some information on what we are hoping to achieve.

Kind regards

Richard Stokoe
Chief Media Officer
Local Government Association

Organ Donation

2007-01-11T16:23:00.000Z

This is for all the UK citizens (Scots) & subjects (the rest of you) among you,

this petition seems to me to be in favour of a worthy cause, those who agree can sign up by following this link, supplying a valid email address, then following the link they will shortly receive at that address...

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Organ-Donation/

Now all we need is for our attitudes to death and organ donation to shift in the same enlightened way they have in Spain. Luckily our housemate Jane is thinking of pursuing research into exactly this topic, so I'm sure she'll have a cultural sea change under way in no time.

Announcing the iPhone

2007-01-10T10:30:00.000Z

You all know I'm a big Apple fan, and that I like to keep up to date with latest technology. It shouldn't therefore be that big a surprise to me when I read about next the next leap forward, and yet for some reason I find this thing rather jawdropping. It reminds me of the scene in Casino Royale when Bond is following a map to his Hawiian resort on his carefully product-placed, futuristic Sony Ericsson phone. Only now it turns out it's not only not futuristic, it's positively behind the times! Does anyone else suspect these will become the next must-have, flying-off-the-shelves e-accessory?

How Much Fun is This?

2007-01-09T11:47:00.000Z

Check this out for hours of hypnotizing fun. My favourite is the one with the crank handle.

Redundant Post

2006-11-24T22:42:00.000Z

Dear all,

apparently I can't post a picture of myself in my profile until I have posted it on the blog (I don't have anywhere else to host it - apparently my Flickr images are too large). Anyway. I'm posting it here only so I can put it on my profile page, and now you are wishing you hadn't read this!

Me, by Richard Wanderman.

Bond & a bit of Beatboxing

2006-11-20T16:36:00.000Z

Two little things that lightened up my rather dark recent days... An amusing and I think quite accurate review of Casino Royale, which we saw a few nights ago, and an interesting study in how technology can make people (seem?) more talented (I'll be surprised if this kid doesn't eventually take the world by storm in some way or other).

Two Amusing Animal-Related News Stories

2006-11-14T21:48:00.002Z

...featuring a pair of drunken elks and an ill-fated rare-Robin siting.

New Flickr Photos

2006-10-25T10:30:00.000Z

I realised today I actually had a few pictures I hadn't posted on Flickr yet and that thesis work hasn't completely eclipsed my photographic hobby these past couple of months after all. Since it only took five minutes or so, I've stuck them on the Flickr page for your perusal (for those of you still reading this). By the way, I haven't officially reopened the blog, I'm merely sticking one or two things on lately out of a combination of guilt and boredom. I will still email in a month or two when we're ready to start posting again properly. Thanks to those of you who have stuck with us!

Laura Relaxes

2006-10-17T10:41:00.000Z

Laura suggested I post this picture. It's an attempt at using my new mobile phone's 'panoramic' setting, which involves taking three pictures which overlap. I think the phone smoothes out any minor incongruities automatically. It worked well for the first two shots, but the eagle eyed amongst you can probably pick out where I messed up the blend of shots two and three. Still, not a bad picture we thought... (Click on it to enlarge it slightly). It's from the weekend we spent with my cousin Ken & his lovely new lady friend Fiona only a fortnight ago. You can see their vague outlines in this other interesting picture...

One Small Thing

2006-10-08T15:50:00.000Z

When I said we wouldn't be posting for a while, I wasn't counting on something this amusing coming along...

Thesis Blues

2006-10-05T13:01:00.000Z

Sorry for the long hiatus from posting. Needless to say I'm entering a tough phase right now, the last couple of months of my thesis, combined with the beginning of the scary process of building a career, thinking about jobs, publication, conferences, networking, etc. etc. Ick.

Laura and I are both having a difficult time with other bits of our lives too. We have a long list of minor gripes that put together makes for one big boat load of stress. We're down to one computer (Laura's iBook is still not quite recovered), which is tough when we both have so much work to do. Certain housemates are making our lives pretty hellish. And well, we won't trouble you with a long list of moans. Suffice to say however that there will likely be a long break before we post on here again. Once we're in a mood to take pictures and update you on happier events, we'll send an email round, for those of you who don't use RSS to keep track of developments on the blog.

We hope you are all doing all right and will keep in touch/bear with us through this stressful time.

Gling Glo

2006-09-10T13:30:00.000Z

Sorry we've been away for a while, but on Thursday Laura and I were at a conference in Cambridge. This was surprisingly good fun, particularly for Laura I think, mostly thanks to the Wittgensteinian leanings of talks and attendees. For me it was a little bit like attending a conference in a foreign country. Although everyone spoke my language, there was definitely some kind of intellectual culture these people shared, but which I did not. Thankfully, Crispin Wright was there to give voice to my mainstream unease with the various talks. While I enjoyed Avner's talk on contextualism and Wright's talk on rule-following, Laura headed up to Scotland for Jane's wedding. Now that I'm back, and enjoying Sunday with my ever expanding music collection, I just popped on to share with you this amusing description of an excellent (though deeply obscure) Bjork album I've been listening to a lot lately. It's translated pretty roughly from Icelandic, but somehow I suspect that even with better translation, it wouldn't make very much more sense than it does now. The album is one of Bjork's early collaborations with a jazz trio of all things, and is a tour de force of her unique vocal stylings.

...when the forces of nature Bjork Gudmundsdottir enwraps it self, the partners [the trio] fly high and deep into the core of the jazz-pop of the fifties to the extend that they escape time and space. Listeners will get an unique opportunity on this CD to experience the mysterious and random meeting of umbrellas of the past and sewing-machines of the present, on the keyboard. Katie rocks in Bjork's disguise. Bjork is Bella telephone-operator and Adda Ornolfs. Bjork is Ingibjorg, Sigrun and Soffia. Bjork is. The lyrics span old and classic realms of passion. These are the final scenes of Electra and Oedipus. It is man's wish to kneed together, from time and space, their own special dream-dough. Here is where the dream comes true. Enjoy. (From Bjorkish.net)

The Uses of Philosophy

2006-09-02T20:24:00.000Z

I found this story (discovery courtesy of the Guardian's Wrap service) somehow reassuring. Even if I don't manage to make it clear to anyone over the course of my career what possible use philosophy might be to anyone but philosophers, perhaps someone else might come along one day and do it for me.

Housemates Needed!

2006-08-29T10:27:00.000Z

Jane and Steven have decided to move out! They both seem very ready for a place of their own, and good luck to them. But it leaves us needing a couple or at least two individuals to fill their room (and/or the spare room). I attach the following ad in case any of you know someone who knows someone, etc. or in case in a freakish coincidence someone who is looking for a place in Sheffield stumbles upon our humble blog.

- - - - - -

ROOM TO LET - NETHER EDGE

Us
Three open-minded, quiet but friendly academics who like home-cooking, drinking wine and looking out for each other.

You
One couple, or two individuals (two double rooms available), vegetarian/pescetarian, friendly (and eco-friendly) professionals or students (esp. postgrad or mature); chilled, quietly sociable, open-minded, tidy.

The House
Modern 4-bedroom, 5-person house in Nether Edge (near Jacksons); rather gorgeous for the money (excellent kitchen with tiled floor & high quality appliances; bright living room with hardwood floor, bay window and working fireplace, lovely large bathroom & separate shower room); landlord requires non-smoker, prohibits pets & DHSS; we prefer to share household & food expenses; Rent is £150 pcm/pp (excl. bills), £250 pcm/pp (inc. bills: 2GB wireless, cable TV, food, council tax, etc.); available immediately.

Contact
Comment on this post!

Gilliam for Potter & Pullman!

2006-08-26T10:01:00.000Z

A fun interview with top-notch, underappreciated film director Terry Gilliam (Brazil, Twelve Monkeys, Time Bandits) also featuring everyone's favourite movie critic Mark Kermode and an amusing discussion of the merits of Pirates of the Carribean (I'm with Gilliam on this). But most of all it makes you think, how cool would it be to have Gilliam doing Harry Potter 5 or the Philip Pullman films (His Dark Materials), he would be perfect! In fact, he's the only director I can think of who might pull off the Pullman books without ruining them. Alas, it looks to me like these magical stories are at the mercy of a bunch of hacks. How on earth is Chris Weitz of all people going to cope with the extremely tricky religious material? My greatest fear is that he simply won't bother with it, spoiling the real substance of the books.

Our Strange Academics and Intellectuals

2006-08-23T17:22:00.000Z

I hesitate to recommend this, because it's surprisingly disappointing, yet it might well be something people should look at, in case they're curious about the strange worlds and minds of contemporary academics. It's a Slate feature, whose premise is a rather irritating man interviewing a large number and variety of influential academics on various topics, all with distinctly religious under/overtones. Among the guests are our beloved (ahem) Dan Dennett, Francis Fukuyama, Steven Pinker, and lots of others I'm not so familiar with. Apart from the interviewer going on at greater length than seems to me polite, never mind interesting, the attempts of some of our supposedly greatest academics to talk about these really exciting and interesting issues are often disappointingly dull. I'm sure there are some gems in there however, so perhaps people could comment if they have the patience to search and manage to discover something amusing. The following link is to Dan Dennett discussing death and the afterlife. Notice his rather poor initial effort not to 'disparage' the comforting illusion of an afterlife!

By the time he was 27...

2006-08-19T18:10:00.000Z

...Stephen Arnold Douglas had been appointed to the Illinois Supreme Court.
...van Gogh had been a theology student, a semi-trained evangelist in the slums of London and the mines of Wasmes (in Belgium), a French tutor, an unsuccessful art salesman and spurned by love. [I got to that one way earlier!]
...Yann Martel was earning his living as a writer.
...Cho Chik-un held four major Japanese titles as a player of 'Go'.
...Orson Welles had already made Citizen Kane.
...Louis the XV had already fathered ten children.
...Tom Brady (quarterback for the Patriots) had already won three superbowls.
...Alexander the Great had already conquered 90% of the known world.
...Kurt Cobain was dead.

Hmm. Maybe I have some work to do? Or maybe I'm doing pretty well?

(By the way, there are now more holiday snaps on the Flickr page)

On the Market

2006-08-10T13:11:00.000Z

We're back, and very slowly getting around to the idea of blogging again. (I haven't yet tried persuading Laura to come back to her nice photo post, but once I get hold of some cake I will get to work straight away). In the meantime I just thought I would share with you the news that my humble little Edinburgh flat is now on the market. So, in case any of you are looking to invest, or know someone who might be, you can have a look at details on the ESPC website and get bidding! (Or more likely, you can just have a nosy at where I used to live when I was an undergraduate.) I have also posted a few initial holiday photos on the Flickr page.

Holiday Hiatus

2006-07-20T19:04:00.000Z

Laura and I are heading off to France for two weeks, so there will be a hiatus from blogging during that time. I've left a few new pictures for you to look at over at the flickr page, including some from Laura's birthday. There are many more of these, which we were hoping to have shared by now. Alas, as is customary whenever Laura tries to do technological things, events conspired against her: Blogger mysteriously crashed and ate up the post. In understandable despondency she has elected to leave reconstructing the post until after the holidays. Maybe after a relaxing fortnight I'll be able to persuade her that blogging really can be fun.

Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest

2006-07-13T09:43:00.000Z

The results are out for what is usually the most entertaining award ceremony of the year, and this year is no exception. My favourite passage is probably this one from the romance category, though they are all tremendous examples of really, appallingly bad writing.

“Despite the vast differences in their ages, ethnicity, and religious upbringing, the sexual chemistry between Roberto and Heather was the most amazing he had ever experienced; and for the entirety of the Labour Day weekend they had sex like monkeys on espresso, not those monkeys in the zoo that fling their faeces at you, but more like the monkeys in the wild that have those giant red butts, and access to an espresso machine."

Dennis Barry, Dothan, Alabama

You can read a few more here.

My Mum's Retirement Party

2006-07-12T18:17:00.000Z

As promised some news and pictures from this weekend's trip to Scotland. Laura and I had a lovely time. We were on the catering staff for much of the Sunday, which was mostly quite good frantic fun, although only because the majority of the food was provided by Marks & Spencer.

(Apologies for the strange layout errors, it seems that Blogger's handling of images is only partly fixed.)

My dad and my sister did an amazing job arranging a number of lovely surprises for my Mum, one of which was the treble clef cake. The guy who made it did a bang-up job except for failing to notice there are five lines on a stave and not four.

My Dad holding my nephew Gregor. I was really struck by the different colours and textures of their skin (less obvious in this copy than in the original, which I might post on Flickr). I think it makes for an aesthetically pleasing contrast.

Laura spent lots of time playing with Gregor, as did we all since he's so much fun at the moment, but I think they formed a special bond.

Gregor in a gigantic chair. I think it speaks for itself.

Ruth and Laura in a spare moment - when we weren't running around refreshing drinks or organising food - having a natter.

Infuriatingly, I didn't manage to get many decent shots of my Mum, this one is the best I can muster (and I had to modify it a bit). This is partly because she was darting around talking to so many people, and partly because I found myself shooting into the light all the time. I still have so much to learn about photographing people.

Back Issues

2006-07-06T10:51:00.000Z

(I think there might be an endless supply of puns involving the word 'back').

For those of you who care or are at least slightly interested in the continuing medical saga of my back pain, I thought I would post the latest, closest thing to a diagnosis I've received, from a large Swedish chiropractor. I am sending this theory around every expert I know, hoping for some reassurance that the several hundred pounds this will all cost might end up being worth it. If any of you know enough about physiology to tell me if this sounds plausible (although I realise it's a little bit sketchy), I would be hugely grateful for your feedback.

- - - - - -

The chiropractor writes...

"I believe that your problem is essentially one of lack of strength in your spinal supportive musculature. Partly due to chronic deconditioning because of your long term back pain and partly due to the inhibited nerve supply to your lower limb and pelvic musculature. Therefore I do not believe that stretching is useful at this stage - it may even work against you. The more mobile you are - the more your weak muscles will struggle to support you at the end range.

We first need to restore normal mechanics to your spine which should get your nervous system firing again. Then, it is a matter of a fairly intensive rehab regime in order to build your supportive muscles up again.

4-6 treatments in phase 1 should get the mechanics pretty well sorted out and then we switch to phase 2 which is the intensive rehab. Phase 3 is then to increase the 'self-management' and reduce the need for treatment."

New Stuff on Flickr

2006-07-04T12:19:00.000Z

Sorry all, but the Blogger technical woes continue. You can find some more recent sights and inconsequential tidbits on the Flickr page, featuring summer chillies, self-portrait, new fish for old fish, a mystery door and traditional Yorkshire confectionery.

I am swamped with thesis work at present - I'm now officially behind schedule, alas, so I haven't had time or inclination for more detailed musings. Laura and I are heading up to Scotland again on Sunday, and Laura's birthday is next Thursday, so there should be news and pictures aplenty from the end of next week or so.

Technical Problems

2006-06-30T09:44:00.000Z

Sorry for the hiatus from posting folks. Blogger seems to be having some technical difficulties with uploading images, and I've been chiefly trying to share some recent images with you all. Since I've yet to receive any word back from blogger's support team, I'm sending those of you who might be interested to the Flickr page for updates on what we've been up to. Just follow the link to Andrew's Flickr page on the sidebar.

The headlines are:

Last weekend we entertained Laura's dad Mike. Laura and Mike went off for a nice walk round Burbage valley on the Saturday morning, while I was stuck at home having a rather awkward house chat with one of our housemates. The chat was aimed at resolving some difficulties we've been having with him not pulling his weight on the cleaning/cooking/generally contributing front. We all decided, without nearly as much awkwardness as I was expecting, that it was best if he moved out. So come August it should just be Jane & Steve, Laura & me, and occasionally Professor Bob Hale. Hooray for our cosy little den!

After this I joined Laura and Mike for a home-made picnic at Grindleford Station, followed by a saunter around Chatsworth, including some award-winning ice cream. After this we took afternoon tea in Bakewell then later an evening of Sushi with our friend Jules.

The one and only picture I got around to taking all weekend (the housemate situation had me flustered and I kept forgetting to take my camera with me) is of Laura and Mike at lunch on Sunday afternoon at a great pub called The Cricket out in Totley. The food is scrumptious there, and for anyone in the area I thoroughly recommend a visit.

Laura has been adding that proverbial 'woman's touch' to our room with some nice plants, pictures of which you will find on Flickr. I was hoping to upload pictures of both the citrus tree and the Orchid, but it turns out I've run out of space for the month, so all you are getting is the Citrus tree.

Yesterday and today are departmental 'research away days', meaning we're both holed up in a conference room with a bunch of philosophers learning about having a career in academia. It's not nearly as tedious as it sounds, especially because everything, including food is laid on free by the department. I presented a ten minute summary of my thesis yesterday, which seemed to go down reasonably well, and we enjoyed several other such summaries, right up until my back started to give in and we decided to take a break. We returned later for free Indian food however, and had a lively evening of socialising and free wine. Today Brad Hooker will be talking to us about current developments in moral philosophy and how to get published.

Pandora's Box

2006-06-18T13:55:00.000Z

Three pieces of (vaguely) music-related news.

First, I've been taking some photos this morning for the monthly competition on myfuji.com, which I try to enter as regularly as I can. The competitions are useful for the very large number of comments one typically receives. The theme is 'straight lines' and my chosen subject was my acoustic guitar (a Takamine TD-32 for anyone who might care). Two of the batch, done in black and white came out quite nicely, so I've stuck them on my Flickr page. Comments/suggestions are gratefully received.

Second, I've discovered this great new web-radio thing called Pandora, an offshoot of the 'music genome project'. The project is a massive database of music organised and interrelated based on its musical characteristics, i.e. things like its tonality, rhythmic pattern, style of arrangement, use of vocal harmony and so on. Pandora is a web-radio station that you can customise by entering bands or artists you like: Pandora will then use the genome database to select other music with the same musical 'genes'. This means it's a great way to discover new music, though not by any means an infallible one, since there is plenty of very bad music out there with the same musical characteristics as what we consider to be good music. Still, Pandora 'learns' as you listen - you give each tune that plays a thumbs up or a thumbs down, and Pandora will change its future selections accordingly. You can also add multiple artists to one radio station to skew its choice in a certain direction. Its dead easy to use and you can find it here.

Finally, I've recently created a MySpace page for one of my many music side projects 'Best Boy Electric'. It's electronic music, made on my Mac when I need a creative outlet but can't be bothered with guitars and microphones, so it's probably not something most of you would enjoy, but if any of you are curious about what keeps me sane while writing this thesis (besides Laura) please visit and (if possible) enjoy.

The Compassionate Omnivore

2006-06-14T17:31:00.000Z

I've been considering eating meat again lately. It's not that I crave the stuff, I'm not actually that fond of most kinds of meat. It's also not for nutritional reasons, though admittedly meat makes getting complete protein a lot easier (many people don't realise we vegetarians have to combine foods quite carefully to ensure we get enough protein - either that or eat Quinoa every day). It was a colleague of mine who recently pointed out that there might be good ethical reason - at least for someone like me who doesn't object to eating animals in principle - for buying meat occasionally, thereby supporting what's known as the 'compassionate omnivore' movement. This just means buying high-welfare organic meat, thereby ensuring that the relatively few farmers out there who treat their animals well can make a decent living. I was also spurred on by this piece on a philosophy blog I read. Here's an excerpt from the conclusion.

I suspect that most non-compassionate omnivores are simply unaware of what happens to the animals whose meat they eat. Luckily, I have just given the readers of this blog the means of disabusing themselves of any misconceptions they might understandably have about how modern farm animals are often raised. As a result, ignorance will not suffice as a justification. Moreover, neither will simply pointing out how delicious meat is. After all, I have not suggested that people should not eat meat at all. I have only suggested that certain forms of meat eating are morally suspect. Indeed, if anything, the meat produced by small family farms that treat their animals well and do not pump them full of hormones and antibiotics should taste better than meat produced by confinement agriculture--plus, it's better for you. This leaves cost as perhaps the main justification for eating factory farmed meat. But I am skeptical that enough moral mileage can be gotten out of cost alone to justify the practice under consideration. Would the people in this country really be that worse off if they ate meat a little less often? The statistics concerning obesity suggest we could all stand to eat a little less of nearly everything (except perhaps fruits and vegetables!). So, what (if anything) justifies non-compassionate omnivorism?

Gregor's Day

2006-06-13T09:13:00.000Z

Can this really be the first time we've posted since Laura got here? Scandalous isn't it? We have some sort of excuse, in that I've been snowed under with work, as usual and we spent this past weekend in Livingston with my parents. This visit was in honour of my nephew Gregor, for whom Ruth and Dean decided to hold a little ceremony to welcome him into the family and into the world. It wasn't a fancy or formal affair, just a few nice poetic readings, the planting of a lovely little tree, and a lot of eating and drinking. Nevertheless, there was sunshine aplenty, much enjoyable and raucous banter and even an impromptu boules tournament on the lawn. I've posted a selection of photos from the event on my Flickr page, a link for which you'll find on the sidebar on the right of this page.

Shaving Trends

2006-05-26T20:27:00.002Z

I've just stumbled upon an hilarious, rather ballsy (forgive me!) website, advertising a product designed to capitalise on one of the more bizarre recent fashion trends to sweep America (or so I'm told). Be sure to play around a bit, and especially to try the 'test drive', which is particularly funny. Am I the only one who finds this whole idea hard to take seriously enough to even consider spending money on it?

Happiness Myths

2006-05-26T14:06:00.000Z

An interesting, if disappointingly peremptory article here on why most of us suck at predicting what will make us happy. Of particular note to me and my Buddhist housemates is the conclusion that the 'myth of fingerprints' (I always wondered what that Paul Simon song was about!) seems to be one of the biggest problems with our predictive powers. Maybe you blog readers would consider posting a comment telling Laura and I what makes you happy, especially if they are things you think we might not have tried. Not that we're not happy people of course, it's just that there is always more to learn (and that fact makes me very happy).

Back Again

2006-05-24T11:39:00.000Z

Most of you know I've spent the last 18 months battling an as yet unidentified and unexplained back problem. Whilst there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon (I have recently found somewhere willing to give me a proper x-ray) I learned two bits of unfortunate news today.

First I visited my GP to refill my prescription of Diazepam, a small dose of which is handy if I have a particularly bad day or night, or need to travel or attend a conference. Dr. Pickering is strange about doing this, he always makes the same joke - "I guess we can safely say you're not addicted to it then". It's one of those remarks that's supposed to be rhetorical, but it always feels like I'm supposed to respond in some way. But how exactly does one respond? Does he really expect me to say 'No, I'm not a drug addict', or maybe I should say 'Just give me the goddam drugs old man!' (obviously not, but it would be fun to watch his face). Anyway, my other reason to visit was to ask him about Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). As a knock-on effect to my dodgy back, I've been experiencing pain in my arms and shoulders, which is clearly related to my computer habits (it gets worse when I type and better when I don't). He groaned when I asked him what he knew. It turns out he's the 'Occupational Health' doctor for the university. 'Oh good', I foolishly thought, 'he'll know all about it'. He said he would arrange to get me into the Occupational Health centre, which is technically only open to staff, to get some 'bumph'. When he said this - he didn't ask me any questions about my problem, what I was feeling, what I knew about it, what I was doing about it - my heart sank. Was this going to be useful? Or was it just going to be a load of stuff I already know? I should have been more assertive then and there of course, but I didn't want to seem rude, since he was doing me a favour of sorts.

Well, I wasn't surprised to find that the material I got was an extremely poor, misleading or just plain misguided version of all the things I've already read and known about for over a year now. Get up and stretch, position your monitor thus, blah de bloody blah. Heard it, done it chapter and verse, and got the pain anyway!

So far, I've found my doctor to be a nice chap, genuinely concerned about my problem and eager to help, even though he regularly reminds me that his own knowledge about back pain is almost non-existent. (This in itself is sort of astounding, given that every statistic I've ever seen puts the number of people experiencing back pain in their lifetime at between 6 and 8 out of 10... isn't that something GPs should know a bit about?). But this time I felt a bit disappointed in him for underestimating me in such an unflattering way. I mean, he knows he's sitting opposite a PhD student who spends most if not all of his time researching. It's what I'm good at, it's probably my primary way of entering and exploring the world. Does he really think I would come in asking about RSI knowing nothing? I've read extensively on the subject, and as it turns out, it looks like I know more than he does - and he's the bleeding occupational health doctor for the university!

This is a mistake a lot of people seem to make about academics. I know there are lots of us who actually do live in ivory towers where all we think, talk and read about is our subject, be it Iranian pottery or the mating habits of octopi. But there are also quite a lot of us who actually live in the world and put our skills to practical use on a daily basis. The academics I know are generally very astute consumers for example, because they like to learn all about a type of product, read reviews, know how it works, etc. before they buy it.

Anyway, ranting aside, on occasions when I despair of the National Health Service I console myself with the admittedly dim possibility that with a US citizen for a partner, it may be that if things get really bad I can go and try my luck with the US health care system. But reading this article today I realised I was being silly - no company is going to insure me for a problem like this, not when I've had it for years without anyone having the foggiest clue how to diagnose, never mind treat it. And by the sound of it this is an increasingly common problem in the US.

So maybe I should be looking to get a job in France or something, since they are supposed to have a healthcare system that works (although it sounds like it's one of the last things that does!). I could take up deconstruction, coffee and smoking. I think I'd prefer a hacking cough and regular headaches to this constant, unfathomable back ache.

Reading Genesis

2006-05-21T20:03:00.000Z

Thanks due to the Guardian's excellent weekly 'wrap roundup', for my discovery of a highly entertaining blog about the Torah on Slate. It is a relief and a pleasure to discover that even those with faith in God find the Old Testament stories - as I do - to be at best morally ambiguous, and at worst to make some of Hollywood's most gratuitous recent excesses seem positively tame (though perhaps Sin City, which I saw for the first time today, might give Genesis a run for its money; it's not for the faint hearted). Here's an excerpt (I had exactly these kinds of thoughts when I attempted the bible properly for the first time a few years ago). The full blog is here.

Chapter 19

This chapter makes the Jerry Springer Show look like Winnie the Pooh. The Sodom business is worse than I ever imagined. Two male angels visit Lot's house in Sodom. A crowd of men (Sodomites!) gathers outside the house and demands that the two angels be sent out, so the mob can rape them. Lot, whose hospitality is greater than his common sense, offers his virgin daughters to the mob instead. Before any rapes can happen, the mob is blinded by a mysterious flash of light. The angels lead Lot, his wife, and daughters out of the city, and God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah with brimstone. Lot's wife looks back and is turned into a pillar of salt. (God may have listened to Abraham's rebuke, but He surely didn't heed it. What of all the innocent children murdered in Sodom and Gomorrah? What of Lot's innocent wife?)

But the chapter's not over. After the attempted mass gay rape, the father pimping, the urban devastation, uxorious saline murder, it looks like Lot and his daughters are finally safe. They're living alone in a cave in the mountains. But then the two daughters—think of them as Judea's Hilton sisters—complain that cave life is no fun because there aren't enough men around. So, one night they get Lot falling-down drunk and have sex with him. Chapter 19 poses what I would call the Sunday School Problem—as in, how do you teach this in Sunday school? What exactly is the moral lesson here?

Skype Us!

2006-05-16T10:48:00.000Z

Since Laura is now on the move and on her way over to the UK, this might be a good time to alert those who don't know about it to the wonder of Skype. It's a simple piece of software that allows you to call someone over the internet free of charge. You can find it at www.skype.com. As it says on the site, all you need is a broadband connection, headphones for your computer and a microphone - if your comuter doesn't have one built in. You can buy a perfectly respectable microphone for a PC for less than £5. I won't post our usernames for fear of strange people getting hold of them and using them for nefarious purposes. We'll happily email them to you if you fancy keeping in touch this way.

Religion & Science

2006-05-15T22:23:00.000Z

Two brief things:

First, I've put up some more Spring photos on my Flickr page, so if you haven't looked for a while, follow the new link on the sidebar to 'My Flickr Page'.

Second, I spent a good bit of today listening to a recording of one of the debates from Professor Dan Dennett's recent UK tour, which was designed to promote his new(ish) book 'Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Global Phenomenon'. The book has caused a bit of a storm of controversy in the US apparently, although listening to this lecture from the more secular UK, it's a bit hard to see why.

Dennett - who for those who haven't heard of him from Laura - is a Professor at Tufts. He has a reputation for being rather intolerant of those who do not share his faith in scientific method or his view that it is of primary importance in philosophy. In other words, I'm not sure he and I would agree on very much, philosophically speaking. Still, despite this reputation, his contribution to this debate comes across as pretty gentle. He describes it as a 'sketch of a sketch' of what a naturalistic theory of the evolution of religion might look like. He's not claiming to have falsified religion, or indeed to have proved anything. Instead, he's just trying to provoke a bit of healthy debate on a subject about which a lot of people are still absurdly, disappointingly dogmatic.

The best thing about this lecture though is probably Alister McGrath. He's a Christian Scientist, which is the kind of title that would normally send me running for the hills. But he gives Dennett more than a run for his money. The nicest thing about him - and I guess about Dennett's performance here too - is that he is gracious and open-minded. He is genuinely interested in exploring the issues, and not in scoring points with the audience or with 'winning' the debate. Both speakers make some insightful points, and points that I think anyone can appreciate, whether they have any philosophical background and interests or not.

I think the recording, which you can find here, is around an hour long, so I recommend listening to it in bits as I did, but it is well worth listening to, as it encourages us all to reconsider our prejudices on these emotive issues.

[Thanks to Jess for pointing out my original mistake. I confused Alister McGrath (Oxford) with Alasdair MacIntyre (Notre Dame). This was a misunderstanding on my part, a result of a conversation I had with Laura about Notre Dame. Apologies for the confusion.]

The Walmart Effect

2006-05-07T16:50:00.000Z

For those of you who live outside of the UK, it may surprise you to know that the UK is still in the early stages of the anonymising, globalising strip-mall effect that long ago decimated many of the USA's local businesses (especially independent food retailers) at the expense of the global supermarket chains. Walmart for example, only made it's first appearance here within the last decade (buying up Britain's 'Asda' chain of stores). Nevertheless, as a recent article in the Guardian makes obvious, their mission is to conquer the rest of the world in much the same fashion as they have in the States. (More on this in a moment).

This will have a particularly devastating effect on the character of British towns and cities, because many of them - at least those older than a hundred years or so - were originally built around their local markets. Where such markets still exist, they constitute a rare source of income for local people - and that means farmers and food producers, not just vendors. If the markets go then so does that source of revenue and incentive for local food production, as well as one of the last vestiges of actual community that many British cities have left. (If any of you are wondering why local food production is so important, then just think about how much climate-altering pollution it takes to fly a plane-load of fruit from New Zealand to your fruit basket). The British folks amongst you will all probably have noticed that British city centres all look much the same these days, since they all have the same dozen high street chains, which carefully design all of their stores to look, sound and smell exactly identical. Local markets are probably the only things left in our towns and cities that remain distinctive.

For a vivid demonstration of how this sort of trend strips a town of its character, we can already look to the Newtowns - pre-planned towns based on a US-style zoning model, with a large shopping mall at its centre. I grew up in such a Newtown, a place called Livingston. In Livingston there are no longer - I'm not sure there ever were - any choices other than the big chains, such as Asda, Tesco, and Morrisons. Of these there is only the slightest evidence that any of them give a shit about local business. I was happy to discover recently that my own local supermarket Waitrose has started stocking locally produced foods (I immediately went in and bought a basket full, hoping to encourage them in this unusually ethical and positive project). Perhaps they actually read the slip I put in their 'Suggestion Box' (thought I doubt it, it probably just looked like a good marketing ploy).

Of course, some among you might be wondering what all the fuss is about, why it's such a bad thing if food is cheaper and staff are nice to you for a change. Here are just a few thoughts about what's wrong with Walmart and the power it wields over government and its employees (and I'm certain it's just the tip of the iceberg). It's taken from aforementioned Guardian piece, which is about a forthcoming documentary by director Robert Greenwald. The full article is here.

Robert Greenwald's [documentary]... builds a picture of the devastating impact Wal-Mart culture has had on the landscape of small-town America, and is having on the wider world. Greenwald... shows how the homey store created by Sam Walton in the Fifties, now the world's wealthiest corporation with a revenue of nearly $300 billion, blights almost every aspect of American life.

It is hard to say which part of the film is most shocking. There are the interviews with the owners of father and son stores in middle America who watch their life's work destroyed overnight by the arrival of a Supercenter. There is the footage from squalid Chinese sweatshops, where workers live in slave conditions to fuel the aggressive discounting that Wal-Mart (slogan 'Every Day Low Prices') prides itself in; there are the testimonies of former store managers forced to cut overheads every month by understaffing and underpaying and denying health cover to 'associates' (which is what they call the workforce); there are the antiunion Swat teams that fly in on private jets from headquarters in Arkansas to target and harass any individuals who make a motion to join a union; and there is the unbelievable litany of murders and rapes and muggings that have occurred in Wal-Mart car parks because the company refuses to shell out on security.

[...]

At Becton the Asda 'colleagues' (as they are known in Britain) seem happy enough to help, but it is hard not to notice the difference between someone who has been incentivised into 'welcoming you' and someone who does so because they want to... I wander the aisles for a while, beset by a familiar kind of superstore despond, take notes of prices which compare unfavourably with those at the market, and hope in vain to see a couple of colleagues chatting to each other, which is considered 'time theft' by Wal-Mart HQ.

There is something in all vast supermarkets' relentless demonstration of choice that seems to suggest the opposite. Asda colleagues may have pockets of pride and so on but, in among the deals of the week, I find it's hard to get a few headlines out of my head. The one about the store being fined nearly a million pounds in the North East because it attempted to bribe employees to leave their union. The one about the store in Leicestershire where, in a panic about illegal immigrants, any colleague with an 'odd-sounding name', even those who had worked nearly 20 years at Asda, was told over the store tannoy to report to the manager's office with their papers. I collected a basket of shopping, but didn't fancy the queue, so I headed back to Queen's Market.

[...]

[Says a market stall vendor] "What people don't realise is that the women who come here shop to cook. Ninety per cent of them don't work, but they do know how to cook. They will buy 10 kilos of onions, 10 kilos of potatoes, just for the week. They don't want any convenience food. We are told repeatedly that is what the government wants: home cooks.

[...]

Neil Stockwell sees the same indications that it is the beginning of the end for him. 'We've been told we have to close now at six o'clock for example,' he says. 'We used to go on, on a summer evening, as long as we wanted. Me and my grandad used to drive out of here at midnight. Lovely summer's evening we'd be selling grapes, oranges, lemons. For some reason Asda will be allowed to stay open all night. Explain that to me?'

[...]

1,306 the number of convenience stores currently owned by the Big Four (Sainsbury's, Asda, Tesco, Morrisons).
54 the number of convenience stores owned by the Big Four in 2000.

22% the percentage by which independent stores in the UK declined between 2001 and 2005.
40% the percentage of Britain's small independent grocery stores predicted to be lost by 2015.

£850,000 the amount Asda were fined by a British court this February for offering illegal inducement to try and get workers to leave their unions.
1.6 million the number of women who have sued Wal-Mart in a US court for gender discrimination, the largest class action suit in history.

Since I hate to finish a post with only depressing news, I wanted to say a big 'Well done!' to The Gap, who are at least making an effort to stop their clothes being made by starving children in sweat shops.

It's funny because it's true...

2006-05-06T17:44:00.000Z

...and yet so many people still don't realise it! Go Mac!

Colbert on Bush

2006-05-05T15:01:00.000Z

I'm posting this primarily because I think it won't get as much coverage as it deserves. There is a transcript (or if you prefer and have decent broadband a streaming video) of satirist Stephen Colbert's frankly extraordinary speech at the White House Correspondent's dinner last weekend available here. Whilst I think the full routine - especially the sketch at the end - is way over the top (not unusual for Colbert, if you've seen his show), you have to admire the breathtaking audacity it takes to get up in front of your country's most important politicians and journalists and say something like this. I can't imagine who booked Colbert for this event, but I'm fairly sure their career is now in tatters.

I don't take the same satisfaction from Colbert's stinging remarks as the Democrat bloggers seem to, since I think it's a sign of just how depressing America has become (politically) in the last few years. Still, at least someone is making the most of the 1st amendment, and how!

two weeks notice

2006-04-27T22:47:00.000Z

My friends are starting to shame me by calling this "Andrew's blog", so I thought I'd better poke my head up and say something. Two weeks remain of my two years in Boston, and I am eagerly counting the days. Not that I haven't enjoyed my time here, but the things that I love can be carried away with me, and there are one or two things that I don't love that I am prepared to jettison. (I didn't mention the Tufts philosophy department. Did you hear anyone mention the Tufts philosophy department? Not me.) One must be circumspect about these things: no Boston, no Andrew. Enough said.

Needless to say, I am not going to be a political blogger or an intellectual blogger or a photography blogger. If I have a propensity as a blogger it might be towards the food blog... but this sort of thing will have to wait until my life in Sheffield and Andrew's digital camera. I'll leave all the bells and whistles to Andrew and trust that those of you who read my posts are satisfied with occasional thoughts from within. And my thoughts lately have been largely about change and transition and moving... what to take with me in the practical sense, and what to take with me in some other sense that I don't quite know how to define.

Here is a list of things that I have done whilst in Boston:

1. Learned to knit (thanks to Eleanor Howat and my tuesday night knitting girls)
2. Taught my first classes.
3. Found my philosophical feet, so to speak. (no thanks to the Tufts philosophy department)
4. Found my Andrew.
5. Made friends with Jessica Darling.
6. Been a graduate student/nanny/writing tutor.
7. Learned to make the perfect apple pie (thanks to Anne Wanderman)

I can take all of those with me. Check. So what is it that I can't take? Why is moving hard?

Subjectivity in Science

2006-04-25T22:24:00.000Z

Listening to Radio 4's excellent All in the Mind this evening I heard in the article on 'survivors poetry' another encouraging sign that scientists and doctors in the West might be starting to take the subjective aspects of illness - mental illness in this case - as seriously as the biological and physiological bits. The program goes even farther, by suggesting that an appreciation of literature might make a substantial difference, especially to the unusually large numbers of writers who succumb to mental illness. And they say we highfallutin academic types can't make a difference in the world! (Overlooking the fact that teaching people's kids to write, think and generally communicate better might actually be a good way to make a living).

There is hope?

2006-04-25T09:19:00.000Z

There's an interesting testament to the real significance and possibilities of the 'blog' here. It's also the first vaguely optimistic thing I've read about the US Democractic party since W stole the country.

Little Gregor

2006-04-23T14:09:00.000Z

Isn't my nephew incredibly cute?

Pretty Mundane

2006-04-22T17:00:00.000Z

What constitutes news in my life - mostly thanks to my interminable PhD - has become alarming in its mundanity. I caught myself regailing my friends Jane & Neil (back from New Zealand, and lovely to see them again) with a story about the fate of a tub of beans last night. Just to cement this impression I thought I'd share the latest bit of excitement, which is that my landlord Nick finally came round to take away the huge pile of unwanted furniture that's been in our living room for about two weeks now. It's exciting for me because, well, almost anything that doesn't relate to philosophy is right now, but also because it makes our front room look vastly more spacious, as you may be able to tell here...

It's not that I never leave the house though. For example, wandering around Sheffield this afternoon in the unusually warm evening sunshine, I was noticing how many trees we have in our neighbourhood that have been sometimes savagely trimmed back, presumably to prevent them doing any damage to people's houses. I took this picture of one, later modified to black and white to emphasise the interesting, vaguely ominous elephantine character of trees rudely stripped of their limbs.

At least my weary academic eyes aren't yet completely closed to the world around me...

Spring in Sheffield

2006-04-18T15:00:00.000Z

Some fairly random sights around my house on a suddenly sunny day in April.

I think the Gargoyle belongs to Tom, along with the thermometer thingummyjig. It's so hideously kitsch I almost like it.

Tom's pet fish Thor, who has been entrusted to our care while Tom is away in New Zealand.

Civilisation

2006-04-13T09:24:00.000Z

I thought this was an unusually good example of Radio 4's rather hit and miss attempts at comedy. Perfect to brighten up a dreary day's lunch break (just give it a minute or so to load).

Excellent Chilli* Recipe

2006-04-11T19:54:00.000Z

My lovely housemates Steven and Jane cooked us this fabulous chilli the other night and even baked home made banana bread and served it with fresh blueberries for dessert. I really do live a life of the utmost luxury! I wanted to share the recipe because it had an unusually authentic Mexican flavour to it - although not having been to Mexico, this is based on my limited experience of decent Mexican restaurants (this one in particular). Oh, that plus what Laura tells me about it when she waxes lyrical, as she often does, on the joys and wonders of the world's peasant foods (she's quite right you know). In particular, it's the addition of dark chocolate that gives this a 'mole' like texture and flavour.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp Olive Oil
3 Onions, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 red chilli, deseeded and diced (we used two, but obviously it depends how spicy you like it)
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp allspice
1 cinnamon stick
3 tsp ground cumin
25g chocolate (I think we used more of this too, just for fun)
2 sticks celery, sliced
3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
250g (8 oz) pinto beans, cooked weight, or 1 x 400g (14 oz) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
250g (8 oz) red kidney beans, cooked weight or 1 x 400g (14 oz) can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 x 400g (14 oz) cans chopped tomatoes
salt and pepper

TO SERVE: salsa of spring onions, avocado and fresh coriander; soft tortillas, grated cheese.

- - - - - -

1. In a large pan or casserole, heat the oil and gently fry the onion and garlic until soft but not coloured.
2. Add the chilli, thyme, allspice, cinnamon, and cumin to the pan and fry for about 2 minutes.
3. Then stir in the chocolate and let it melt.
4. Add the celery, carrot and green pepper and cook slowly for 7-10 minutes. Then add the beans and mix in well and cook for a further 4-5 minutes. Then add the canned tomatoes and bring the mixture to the boil. Season well, cover the pan and simmer for 40-50 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Adjust the seasoning and serve hot with a range of accompaniments.

(This is from an excellent book called 'Sarah Brown's World Vegetarian Cook Book' published by The Book People (Ivy Press) in 2004.)

- - - - - -
*Any American folks who may think I'm misspelling this word might be interested to know that the US spelling 'chili' derives from the Spanish version 'chile'. The Spanish corrupted this word - during the conquests - from the original Nahuatl word (the indegenous Mexicans, who spoke a dialect of Uto-Aztecan), which was also spelled Chilli.

Oh What A World

2006-04-10T21:30:00.000Z

Grim news about the US and Iran in the British press today, especially here and here, along with Andrew Brown's piece for the Guardian today. An excerpt:

The reports from the Pentagon and the White House are somewhat chilling. Not only do they suggest the president is prepared to use a tactical nuclear weapon to hit underground bunkers, but that he hopes that "saving Iran" will be his legacy.

This follows on from Symour Hersh's piece in the New Yorker, whose reporting though unknown to me is very highly regarded by other sources I trust.

Since I'm not ready to live in a world where people are even talking about using nuclear weapons never mind actually using them, I've sent a short e-pistle to the PM voicing my concern. I recommend that any other British citizens who share my concern for the fate of planet, never mind the middle east do the same. And you US citizens? Well apart from voting for someone else - which I know many of you have tried, twice now, without success - it looks like it will take some kind of national uprising to stop the increasingly psychotic GW. Or you could just continue to pretend you're canadian.

The Cult of Relativism

2006-04-09T10:39:00.000Z

I'm currently reading an interesting book on the broad topic of relativism by Paul O'Grady (Trinity College Dublin). This is both because relativism seems to be in vogue in philosophy at the moment, and because it contains very accessible discussions of some issues I deal with in my thesis.

His Preface won me over immediately, so at the risk of violating copyright (I'm sure he won't mind, I thoroughly recommend anyone interested buy the book!), here's a short quotation:

Philosophy is an abstract and theoretical discipline. Because of this, many outside it (and not a few within it) think that it has little impact on the everyday life of people. This has been especially accented in recent years, as increasing standards of professionalisation mean that philosophers tend to write explicitly just for others in their field and leave the general public in the dark. Nevertheless, philosophy has always had an impact on human culture, shaping currents and tendencies, supplying ideologies, vocabularies and concepts and offering ideals that penetrate to all aspects of society. For example, the works of Aristotle and Aquinas influenced a great number of people over many centuries through the mediation of the Catholic Church. The dialectics of Hegel, turned on their head by Marx, reached a multitude through various socialist movements. The existentialists' analysis of nihilism, meaninglessness and boredom pervaded the literature and cinematic culture of the twentieth century. (From 'Relativism' by Paul O'Grady, Chesham: Acumen, 2002, page ix)

After forgetting all about this for some weeks, I was listening to a show on Radio 4 recently about Pope Benedictus. One of his catchphrases when he was first inaugurated (or whatever is the appropriate obscure ecclesiastical term) was that the world was in the grip of a 'dictatorship of relativism'. The programme went on to explain that Benedict's problem with relativism (apart from its being inconsistent with Catholicism I imagine) is that its natural companion is totalitarianism (hence the 'dictatorship' reference). Supposedly this harked back to Benedict's reaction to German National Socialism in his youth. This caused me to remember Dr. O'Grady's preface.

Here are three very rough premises. (1) Relativism is in vogue philosophically, (2) philosophical ideas eventually filter down into culture at large, (3) relativism's natural companion is totalitarianism. The rough conclusion is that culturally, society is heading in a very worrying direction, towards some kind of totalitarian way of thinking - or at least a way of thinking whose 'natural companion' is some such political system. (Maybe the dying interest in democracy in many countries is a symptom of this?)

This 'natural companion' business - apart form being horribly vague - seems counter-intuitive to me, and I wonder what other people think about this. In a dictatorship, the people - assuming they are genuinely loyal to the state - put all their faith in the words and actions of one person. That person is the political and perhaps even the moral and spiritual authority. But how is this like relativism?

My own encounters with relativism both in the classroom and round the dinner table have been of a doctrine that's either (as someone I know calls it) a 'lazy man's answer' to excessively difficult problems or of an apparently benign diffusing of tensions between people who radically disagree on some highly emotive issue. The first manifestation is like this: you get someone who finds it hard to see how there can be a right answer to a problem saying 'it's all relative innit?'. The second is like this: John and Cynthia are violently disagreeing about politics/religion/morality or whatever, and someone says 'well what works for you John won't necessarily work for Cynthia, everyone is entitled to their own opinion'.

Now obviously I don't think these experiences exhaust the social manifestations of relativism (neither do I think their being pretty harmless is any kind of argument in favour of them), but I find it hard to draw a line between these apparently benign phenomena and the totalitarian state. Can anyone help me?

Moreover, consider this analogy. Christians, I take it, by and large, are not relativists, but absolutists. Christians generally hold that there is one true moral code, namely the one codified in Christ's teachings. But if God were the leader of the state, wouldn't it be a totalitarian one? I mean, at least in the sense that what the leader says goes on any given question. Matters wouldn't be up for a vote or a discussion, this is God after all.

Then there's the Euthyphro contrast, which without boring the pants off you - which I may have already done by now - goes thus: are actions good because God commands them? Or does God command actions because they are good? If you lump for the latter, then you don't get relativism. Moral and political truths aren't relative to whatever the dictator says this week. Instead, the dictator is just exceptionally good at picking up on moral truths, better perhaps than anyone else, and therefore fit to be a leader.

Suffice to conclude I'm confused about these questions: is relativism as a cultural phenomenon a bad thing? If so, is it really because it somehow leads us to totalitarianism? Comments gratefully received.

Spring Forward

2006-04-08T19:13:00.000Z

I was thinking this afternoon about how best to write my first blog entry... Those of you who know me well will know my aversity to most forms of technology (well... 'incapacity with regard to' more than 'averstiy to') as well as my love of words and writing. So it is not entirely without some sense of wonder that I embark on an enterprise that involves the two together. I have a feeling that there is some very apt metaphor here for my relationship with Andrew, but let's not go too far in my very first entry!

Anyway, it is not long now until I move across the water to live with Andrew (53 days, or thereabouts), and this countdown is the inspiration for my post title. (I am so glad that I get to title my posts. I like naming things.) The pieces are in play. Planning a transatlantic move is a bit like preparing an elaborate meal with lots of dishes. You have to time things very carefully. When should I ship my books, and where? (storage with Mom, or Sheffield) What should I bring in my two airline-allotted suitcases? Can I bring my favorite tea cup, or should I just find a Sheffieldian substitute? I have found a replacement housemate for my apartment here in Boston, and she moves in on May 15th. That date marks the end of my time in Boston and the beginning of my time in transition to a new life. If only Andrew could somehow manage the logistics of the situation for me. He's so good at that...

It's sort of funny, the way that we divide up our time, isn't it? I mean, speaking of the whole "spring forward" thing, did you know that Britain moved its clocks forward for daylight savings time a whole week before the States? Andrew and I were six hours apart for a week. It was very strange. That extra hour makes a lot of difference in a transatlantic relationship between two academics who like to go to bed early. And I was reading that President Bush has met with his energy advisors and decided, in his infinite wisdom, to change the date of daylight savings time in the future quite dramatically. Is this how we determine how to divide up our lives? On the advice of GW and his gang? Political rants aside, I think it is really funny that we depend so much on the time and divide up our lives based upon these demarcations that seem almost arbirtrary. As to whether it is funny-peculiar or funny-haha... I am still working on that one.

Environmental Ethics

2006-04-07T13:07:00.000Z

Now here is a vivid and depressing illustration of just how complicated it can be trying to save the planet.

But for all you fish-eaters out there, help is at hand. I recently discovered this site's excellent species to eat/species to avoid resources designed to help us make good, ethical choices at our local fishmonger (well, for those of us who still have local fishmongers).

Jack Winter on How He Met His Wife

2006-04-06T16:25:00.000Z

Okay, so this is recycled from my Sheffield PG blog, but nobody reads that, and it's worth recycling.

How about this for a mind-straightening, genious bit of writing?

- - - -

It had been a rough day, so when I walked into the party I was very chalant, despite my efforts to appear gruntled and consolate. I was furling my wieldy umbrella for the coat check when I saw her standing alone in a corner. She was a descript person, a woman in a state of total array. Her hair was kempt, her clothing shevelled, and she moved in a gainly way.

I wanted desperately to meet her, but I knew I'd have to make bones about it since I was travelling cognito. Beknownst to me, the hostess, whom I could see both hide and hair of, was very proper, so it would be skin off my nose if anything bad happened. And even though I had only swerving loyalty to her, my manners couldn't be peccable. Only toward and heard-of behavior would do.

Fortunately, the embarrassment that my maculate appearance might cause was evitable. There were two ways about it, but the chances that someone as flappable as I would be ept enough to become persona grata or a sung hero were slim. I was, after all, something to sneeze at, someone you could easily hold a candle to, someone who usually aroused bridled passion.

So I decided not to risk it. But then, all at once, for some apparent reason, she looked in my direction and smiled in a way that I could make heads or tails of.

I was plussed. It was concerting to see that she was communicado, and it nerved me that she was interested in a pareil like me, sight seen. Normally, I had a domitable spirit, but, being corrigible, I felt capacitated--as if this were something I was great shakes at--and forgot that I had succeeded in situations like this only a told number of times. So, after a terminable delay, I acted with mitigated gall and made my way through the ruly crowd with strong givings.

Nevertheless, since this was all new hat to me and I had no time to prepare a promptu speech, I was petuous. Wanting to make only called-for remarks, I started talking about the hors d'oeuvres, trying to abuse her of the notion that I was sipid, and perhaps even bunk a few myths about myself.

She responded well, and I was mayed that she considered me a savory character who was up to some good. She told me who she was. "What a perfect nomer," I said, advertently. The conversation become more and more choate, and we spoke at length to much avail. But I was defatigable, so I had to leave at a godly hour. I asked if she wanted to come with me. To my delight, she was committal. We left the party together and have been together ever since. I have given her my love, and she has requited it.

(Jack Winter, "How I Met My Wife," The New Yorker [25 July 1994])

RSS

2006-04-06T15:43:00.000Z

For those of you who don't already know, there's a thing called 'RSS' (Really Simple Syndication) which will automatically tell you the number of new posts on our blog (so you don't have to check regularly only to discover there's nothing new). It does this by displaying a number next to the site's bookmark.

Using RSS will involve one of two slightly different but easy methods.

(1) Look in you browser's address bar (where it says andrewandlaura.blogpsot.com right now). If along at the end of that bar there's a little blue RSS icon, then all you need to do is this. Click on the icon and you'll go to our site's 'feed' - this site's content in a slightly different format. Bookmark this feed by adding it to your bookmark bar or menu. Each time I add a new post a number will appear next to that bookmark, telling you there's one or two or however many new posts to look at.

(2) If you don't have that little icon, scroll down to the bottom of this page's sidebar (the links on the right) and click on the link to 'RSS/XML Feed', which has the same result. Bookmark the feed that appears and the bookmark should alert you with a number whenever there's a new post.

Because I've set the site to print whole blog entries in RSS view, you can just read the site's feed if you like. If you'd like to comment, say hello or simply like the mellow colour scheme I've chosen however, you'll have to go to the site itself. This can be done by simply clicking the title of the post you want to comment on.

I hope that makes sense, these things are pretty difficult to describe. Improvements on this post are welcome, as are any queries from those who are still horribly confused.

For anyone who is already tech savvy and just wants to know the feed's address, then here it is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/EvaLuna

Bokeh

2006-04-06T09:57:00.000Z

There's a link already posted (to the right of this message) for Richard Wanderman's page. Richard is a big photography buff and when Laura and I took a trip up to Connecticut a few months ago he taught me some cool stuff about taking photographs. Much of it was basic but extremely useful insights about composition and light, while some of it was only really for those who have really sexy cameras and a selection of stunning lenses (like Richard). Still, it was one of the latter insights that was especially interesting, about the Japanese word 'bokeh', meaning 'confusion'. This picture (by Richard, not me, I hasten to add) is a good showcase. It's hard to describe, but the bokeh is the swirl of unfocused background - the stuff behind the subject you may not want to focus on, but which nevertheless provides a rich backdrop, even (or especially) when it's not in focus. Richard has more and better examples of nice bokeh in his many other pictures, which is one reason among many you should check out his page. HIs stunning aerial shots are another. I had no idea you could take such good shots from inside a regular passenger plane.

Cutout Cathedral

2006-04-05T22:05:00.000Z

Cutout Cathedral
Originally uploaded by andrewhowat.

Okay, so that post was disappointing, but this one is better! This is because it is meant to remind you all that you can see our pictures (of Laura and me and our many beautiful friends) on Flickr at this address:

www.flickr.com/photos/andrewhowat

But many of you knew that already. Drat. Okay, I'll go back to the drawing board and come up with something better I promise.

Welcome All

2006-04-05T21:45:00.000Z

Dear everyone,

thanks for coming along to our blog. I'm sorry there's nothing worth reading right now. I'm sure Laura will get right to writing something interesting for y'all (did I just say 'y'all'? Sorry). In the mean time, here's a really weird picture of me, which I venture to suggest is mildly amusing.

Bookmark us! And come back soon. Or you can RSS us, if you're comfortable with that sort of thing.

Oxen,

Andrew (and Laura (in absentia/Boston))