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Archive for December, 2009
New Year, New Olly
Thursday, December 31st, 2009The Only Way
Thursday, December 31st, 2009As I write on the very last day of 2009, we have probably just lived through what will become the last full calendar year of a Labour administration for some time. Many media outlets would have you believe, a little misleadingly, that the election is done and dusted, 100% decided. I’m not sure this is true.
However, what I might proffer to suggest is that Labour will not win an election under Gordon Brown. Are the majority of people really likely to go to election booths, and tick the box which says “Yes, I’d love Gordon Brown to lead the country for the next five years”? They will not. I have a reasonable confidence that I will be proven right in this respect, if they opt to retain him as leader. The only way for them to win the next election is to hold a leadership election. He can even stand if he’d like.
The problem is, that after all of the hype of the Blair vs Brown saga, Brown is just too intrinsically linked to the irritating Blair administration that everyone has tired of. Labour have essentially been hypocritical. Their name ‘Labour’ implies that they look out for the needs of those who work hard, but seem to receive a small share of the profits which they create. In truth, privilege has remained well-guarded, and social mobility is still nowhere near as easy as it ought to be.
There are people in society with far more than they need, and a ludicrous amount more than they deserve. These people are few, but massively significant. There are people in society with just enough, or less than, what they need to prosper, and who deserve significantly more. These people are incredibly high in number but lack empowerment. Labour has not done enough to resolve this.
Meanwhile, a modern government which respects its people would be expected to behave more transparently over matters such as the Iraq war. Most people were probably against going to war, yet were not consulted. Although politicians are democratically-elected experts, war is a severe measure which the population should be able to veto.
Gordon Brown has not distanced himself from this. He has not created policies which make society fairer, and which reward hard work above privilege. He has not showed a desire to include the population in the government of their own affairs after Blair’s despotic neglect to do so.
I don’t think Gordon Brown sounds like a particularly evil guy. It would seem that he genuinely does want what it best for the country. Rumours about how he became leader are not complimentary, and it should probably be constitutionally necessary to call an election if the Prime Minister changes. This doesn’t really matter. However, he does not seem like the man to deliver, and he does not have a cabinet which would itself be capable of delivering.
The only way for Labour to possibly win the next election, and I am by no means suggesting it would be a good thing for them to do so, is to call a leadership election, and reconsider some of their policies.
Seeing as the odds are vastly against a Lib Dem government, who at any rate have become more right-wing than I would have hoped, a non-Labour future will almost definitely mean a Conservative government. The slightest of interrogations of their policy will reveal that, if you want a society which rewards hard work, and gives decent and diligent people their legitimate share of society’s rewards, you ought not vote Conservative.
Ideally, people would vote Green. Although they would seem to focus overly on environmental issues, the truth is that their policies on economy and welfare put the needs of normal citizens above all else in a way that no other main party would commit themselves to do. Unfortunately, their election prospects are gloomier than those of the Lib Dems.
So, the hopes for a fairer society ride on someone stepping up and offering their vision for a more just political and legal system, and becoming leader of the Labour party before May. Oh well. I suppose we shall just have to wait. Then again, we have waited thousands of years for a fair society. That’s long enough, really.
My Music Taste Takes A Turn Towards Middle-Agedness
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009My music taste seems to be getting more and more cheesy and English. It’s like a Double Gloucester of old pop music on my playlists these days. It used to be a medium cheddar at best.
There seems to be an increase in Bowie, Queen, Elton John, Sting and so on. I have no idea why this is. I used to find most of those individuals rather annoying on several counts. Yes, listening to Queen seems to remind me of sofa adverts, but for some reason I don’t find this grating. Nor do I seem to find Bowie irritatingly weird.
Even Phil Collins is creeping in. I just don’t get it. I have often labelled myself as an old man in a young person’s costume, but this may be ultimate proof of premature middle-agedness.
Ch-ch-ch-changes indeed.
Ho Ho Ho!
Friday, December 25th, 2009Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it! Have a tremendous day.
Hello, It’s Your Freezer Here
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009Last night I was in the Dadmobile as he turned round on Meredith Road in Ipswich, to get the car refuelled. A van turned the corner at a stupid speed, and due to the icy conditions, slid onto the wrong side of the road. Thankfully, nobody else was in that bit of road at the time; they would have been obliterated if they had been. The guy driving was clearly an idiot, lacking the mental capacity to develop an ounce of common sense.
Anyhow, having turned round (which we had to do because the entrance was initially blocked by cars on the other side of the road) and entered the petroleum-vending establishment, I sat in the warmth of the car, listening to Heart FM pump out some quality adverts. To my great amusement, one of them began along the lines of “Hello, it’s your freezer here”.
It continued: “I need to be defrosted regularly so I can do my job properly”. “I am more energy efficient if you defrost me”. I’m paraphrasing, but this is pretty much the gist of it. I couldn’t help but feel that the people who made the advert had a very low estimation of the listeners’ intelligence.
How stupid do they think people are, that to tell them it’s wise to defrost a freezer, they have to make an advert wherein a freezer itself talks to the listener? And then I realised, we live in a world where, in incredibly icy conditions, people bomb round residential street corners in a large van. Where people tailgate you in even worse conditions on a less-than-ideal stretch of road between Ely and Cambridge. People are that stupid. Even if their freezer became a big ice-cube, it wouldn’t occur to some people to defrost it. I take back my initial reservations; the advert was targeted perfectly.
Film Review: Where The Wild Things Are
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009Where The Wild Things Are, the children’s book penned by Maurice Sendak, is a true classic of its genre. It has apparently sold the best part of twenty million copies since being released in 1963. If, like me, you are embarking on a career in primary education, you ought to be kicked right out of the profession for not being familiar with, and fond of, the book.
The story is as brief as it is fantastic, and centres on Max (who amusingly shares the same name as my dear brother) being sent to bed without his dinner for threatening to eat his mum up. His bedroom turns into a forest, and he sails off to the land of the Wild Things.
The film adapts this, and necessarily adds plenty of detail to flesh it out into a feature-length event. They have adapted it in a way which doesn’t stray far from the original plot, whilst creating new content which sits worthily alongside the old. It’s also remarkable how well the team have created cinematic versions of the delightful cartoons in the book itself.
As a James Gandolfini fan, I was delighted to hear his voice behind one of the wild things. Although I am biased, I thought he was brilliant here. The real plaudits obviously go to Max Records, the youngster playing the part of the boy who shares his forename. He was incredibly convincing, and seems to have a lot of promise.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about this film is how sad it is. I expected it to be touching; there’s something overwhelmingly powerful about the way Sendak evokes the essence of childhood in the novel. But this film is sad. It nearly became the third film in history to force tears from my eyes. (The first was Lion King when I was ickle, and the other was The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas just a few months ago).
Anyhow, it would have been easy to make a mediocre, or even poor, film in contrast to the splendour of the book, but the cast and crew have succeeded in creating a picture which is just beautiful. Five stars.
Trainee Teacher Diaries #13: Even a trained monkey could do it…
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009In order to become a Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) in the UK, you have to pass three skills tests. One in numeracy, one in literacy, and one in ICT. They each last a maximum of about forty minutes, and you take them at the same place where people take their driving theory tests.
I must confess that in the build up to these tests over the last few days, I had been feeling a little nervous. Not because I was expecting something which would prove too difficult, and that I would be exposed as a poor user of grammar and arithmetic. I was expecting the tests to be fairly easy. As my friend reassured me about the ICT test, ‘even a trained monkey could pass it’. Lamenting the fact that I didn’t own such a monkey, let alone one which could impersonate me and pass the test on my behalf, I realised I’d just have to do it myself.
I’ll admit, this irked me slightly. My GCSE results from all those years ago included an A* in English and an A in Maths. I naively hoped that these results might prove that I’m a tad better than a banana at spelling and whatnot. But the authorities-that-be need more proof.
So I toddled on down to the test centre earlier this afternoon. In fact, I set off about four hours ago. First up, ICT. This was the biggest challenge. The test has been designed by people who don’t appear to possess the slightest knowledge of how clever a computer is. Using a sort of fake Windows which they had designed, you have to edit documents, presentations, send emails and whatnot. I don’t have a problem on computers. I designed this blinkin’ website for christsakes. However, on their weird fake operating system, you can’t use any keyboard shortcuts. All of my zipping about between applications via ALT+TAB isn’t possible, nor is a simple CTRL+C copy. You have to do everything painfully manually. This has the effect of handicapping anyone who is proficient on a computer in a test of one’s computing abilities. Reverting back to the ancient techniques was really, really tough because all of my usual methods are practically subconscious now. Ridiculous.
Thankfully, I passed, despite the fact it doesn’t let you operate the computer more efficiently if you know how to. Anyways, next up was English, and then Numeracy. These didn’t throw any curve balls so all was well. My relief, that I hadn’t been shown up by some tests which are essentially easy, but contain banana-skins in the form of ambiguously-phrased questions and counter-intuitive fake software, was not negligible.
Maybe now I can go back to concentrating on becoming a better teacher again.
Just putting it out there, but Google Wave is rubbish
Saturday, December 19th, 2009For non-nerds who don’t keep track of technological developments, I may have to explain what Google Wave actually is. Google’s quest for world-domination has been taking on many forms recently, including the creation of their own web browser, the operating system of a mobile phone, a mobile phone itself, and a computer operating system. There is no end to the outstretching roots of Google.
Google Wave is a project of theirs aimed at revolutionising communication. The most common description seems to be a variation of “email on steroids”. And rather like taking steroids to better your body shape, it’s entirely pointless and counter-productive.
Email has its flaws, but essentially its asset is its simplicity. It’s an efficient way of sending information. Google Wave is a complicated way to mash information together into a gloopy electronic mush. It’s like an email which multiple people can edit, as well as do things inside, even including playing games.
It’s a curious resolution to a problem which may not exist. It’s like a football fan who wishes to watch their team play at 15:00 on Saturday but also has to play for their own team at the same time, and has also pledged to play their brother at a football computer game again at the same time. The solution is not to attempt all three at once via an intricate system meaning you can’t do either of the things effectively. Yet, this seems to be what Wave does.
Much as I love Google, I still suspect this project is a pointless one. Prospect magazine held this opinion also. I’ve often been wrong on such matters, so I shan’t be surprised if it becomes an amazing success, but just right now, I can’t see why it would.
Rowan Williams’s Interesting Definition of Faith
Friday, December 18th, 2009The fact that I am not a Christian, and that I do not believe in ‘God’, are things I have consistently put down to a lack of ‘faith’ on my part. Of course, this attribution hinges entirely on my definition of faith.
Interesting to note then, that on the first page of the main section of the Cambridge Primary Review is an extended quote from Rowan Williams which includes the phrase:
Education is training in what you can trust and what you can share… Faith and hope are at work and they’re at work in the training of reason… Faith as the capacity to trust arguments which can be shown to be trustworthy.
And alas, Rowan Williams’s idea of faith is much different to mine. In fact, my idea of faith is that it runs contrary to reason. Faith – which to me is at best an optimistic and mildly-informed belief, and (more likely) at worst, blind belief – is not something which falls under the remit of reason. Reason is about forming your arguments based on premises which are empirically provable. Unfortunately, it is far from possible to prove empirically that there is a God, and the odds of it being the God described in The Bible are incredibly long. Everything appears to contradict the biblical account of the history of the Earth, and hence why we must supposedly worship God.
Faith is an interesting idea. The whole point of faith is that it constitutes an unwavering belief in something. No matter what the evidence seems overwhelmingly to suggest, ‘faith’ can be used to ignore these arguments. No matter how obvious something is, or how provable it is by reason, you can always play the trump card named faith.
Faith can eclipse reason. The two are different outlooks. It is slightly deceptive to suggest, I think, that faith is an essential part in training oneself to reason. It is not surprising to hear, as one would expect a high-up member of the church to defend the notion of faith, but to link it to reason in this manner is to clutch at straws to which faith is not entitled.
Of course, it is nonetheless massively important for children to learn about faith. It plays a key role in society. We just have to be very careful about how we present the idea. Children would need to be aware of both the Williams-esque perspective on faith, and opposing perspectives which are also held by many people.
Jesus unwittingly sums up capitalist society
Thursday, December 17th, 2009It’s been an on-off project of mine for the last year to read The Bible. Most people’s reaction on hearing that I’m reading it is a puzzled ‘Why?’. After all, I’m agnostic about the existence of a supreme being, and sceptical of the idea that we can know how it thinks humans should act. There’s no evidence for the existence of God, and faith alone seems a hollow delusion.
Anyhow, The Bible is a very important text. It has had a profound effect on humanity for over 2,000 years. Many metaphors and sayings which are commonly uttered seem to originate from it. It is a fascinating book (or set of books in truth), there’s no doubting that.
As a guide to living though, I feel that it’s wholly unsuitable. It contradicts itself, can be interpreted vaguely (one wonders if this is deliberate), and at times supports values which seem completely contemptuous. I should think that most people who call themselves ‘Christians’ by one denomination or another, have never actually read The Bible in full. My conversation with Christians so far supports this thought. I could probably count on two fingers, let alone two hands, the number of people I have encountered who have read it in its entirety. Yet, they claim to be ‘followers of Christ’ and have not read the main text about his life. They claim to believe in God, but can’t truly know about the way God seems to change its mind throughout the book which gives us his word.
So I’m reading The Bible so that I might know what God is supposedly saying, and what Jesus Christ supposedly did, more than those who emptily claim to follow them, and that I might enhance my knowledge of literary tradition on the way.
Much to my amusement though, whilst reading The Parable of the Sower in Matthew (13:1-13:23), Jesus seems to confirm a belief of mine about capitalism. I am often irked that in our society, it is easy to get more money if you already have lots to begin with, and impossible to get any if you have none. Jesus, talking about something else entirely (perhaps people’s strength of belief in his teachings), says
Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
Which seems to sum up very well the nature of our society. You were talking about something else, but nonetheless, well said JC. Just goes to show that The Bible is of constant use, even to non-believers such as me.