I’m in London for the Monthly Open Meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society, followed by dinner with the Club. I just popped into the courtyard of Burlington House in front of the Royal Academy of Arts to see what was going on, and I found this giant fish tank full of tiny rusty submarines. Not sure what it represents but at least It makes a change! It’s part of an exhibition by Anselm Kiefer, apparently.
Follow @telescoperFeeling the effects of advancing years, and ahead of another weekend out of circulation, I purchased a copy of the December edition of The Oldie last week to help pass the time. I heartily recommend this magazine to readers of a certain age for its eclectic mixture of articles, cartoons and, best of all from my point of view, a splendid crossword (set by Antico). In fact there are two crosswords, a tricky thematic cryptic puzzle called Genius, and a straightforward definition puzzle, namely, a little harshly, Moron. For the December edition there was a bumper-sized Genius puzzle which took me a good hour to solve, a distraction that I found most welcome. I’ve posted off my solution already in the hope that I can win another dictionary to add to my collection.
The Christmas OLdie also included a calendar which is already hanging on my office wall. Here is a cartoon from the calendar, which tickled me because of its topicality and operatic connection:
I’ve decided to take out a year’s subscription, so I hope they’ll forgive any copyright infringement involved in including that cartoon!
Follow @telescoperThis lunchtime I put on a black tie and went to the funeral of Stuart Keir, who died suddenly a few weeks ago at the aged of 55. Stuart had only just retired, on grounds of ill health, having worked in IT services for over twenty years here at the University of Sussex. When I first started in 1985 the observational astronomers at Sussex were primarily based at the Royal Greenwich Observatory (RGO), which was at that time located in Herstmonceux and Stuart was one of the staff there supporting the computer systems. The RGO moved to Cambridge in 1990 (for reasons which still escape me) at which point some of the astronomers and support staff relocated permanently to the University of Sussex while others went to Cambridge; Stuart moved to Sussex when the Starlink node was consolidated here following the loss of the RGO.
Stuart Keir
I remember Stuart very well from my life here as a PhD student and then as a postdoc in the Astronomy Unit, both before and after he moved full-time to Falmer campus. He wasn’t always the easiest of characters to work with – he insisted on doing everything his own way, which sometimes conflicted with what the astronomers wanted – but it has to be said that he did usually know better than us about the important things. He also worked extremely hard at his job and was definitely a great help to me during my time at Sussex. I’m very sad that he didn’t have long to enjoy his well-earned retirement.
The news of Stuart’s death made me all nostalgic for my days as a PhD student, when life was definitely much simpler. It also made me look back affectionately at the Starlink system as it was in the 80s. I had been lucky enough to get a series of temporary jobs, between school and university and during summer vacations at university, that involved the use of VAX computers of exactly the same type as that used in Starlink so I was well prepared when I started my PhD. In fact, looking back, I still think the native Virtual Memory System (VMS) and Digital Command Language (DCL) were terrific to work with. Unfortunately it seems that DEC, the company that manufactured the VAX systems, made some unwise business decisions and they lost ground to SUN. During the 1990s there was a rapid phase transition within Starlink from VAX machines to a range of SUN workstations.
Much of the value of Starlink in the old days was the connectivity it provided in what was basically a pre-internet (enabled by DECNET) which allowed sharing of software across all UK astronomy groups. In this sense it was an important step towards Open Science. The growth of the internet however let to a reduced role for Starlink from the mid-1990s onwards. Stuart transferred from Starlink to general IT services at the University of Sussex when Starlink was winding down.
In its heyday, Starlink was a great resource that provided a superb environment for astronomical researchers. It would have been nothing, however, without the dedicated team of Starlink Managers like Stuart who managed the local nodes and worked so help the astronomers that worked there. Data-intensive subjects like astronomy depend as much now as they did then on the hard work of computer support staff, an effort that is in my view not given anything like sufficient recognition by universities and other research institutions.
Rest in Peace, Stuart Keir.
Follow @telescoperToo busy for a proper post today so here’s a bit of music. On Saturday I had the pleasure of listening on BBC Radio 3 to a live broadcast of the opera L’elisir d’amore from Covent Gardens, one of my all-time favourite works. I definitely have a thing for the kind of Italian Bel Canto exemplified by the work of Gaetano Donizetti and this is one of his greatest; certainly his most performed anyway. One the surface it’s a light romantic comedy with a very silly plot involving a quack doctor and a fake potion, but it’s beautifully characterized and has considerable dramatic depth and wonderful music. I don’t mind daft operas, as long as they’re sufficiently daft to be true to real life…
Anyway, listening on the radio made me realise how long it has been since I went to see an opera live. Looking at the Covent Garden website to see if there were any more performances due, I saw the prices of the remaining tickets, which brough tears to my eyes. All of which brings me to the highlight of L’elisir d’amore, the Act III aria Una Furtiva Lagrima, one of the most famous and beautiful tenor arias in the entire repertoire. Here it is, sung by the late great Pavarotti. Enjoy!
Oh, and while I am on the theme of opera I’ll just mention that Maria Callas was born on this day in 1923. Happy Birthday, La Divina!
Two days ago, on Thursday, I had the pleasure of spending all day at an “Awayday” trying to work out how to implement the University of Sussex Strategic Plan, Making the Future. My main contribution was this beautifully clear diagram summarising a lengthy discussion on research strategy:
Obviously the diagram needs no further explanation, but members of the audience were so impressed with it as a piece of graphic art that the end of the day I was asked to sign it.
Now, who’s going to nominate me for the Turner Prize?
Follow @telescoperSo it seems that I’ve made the shortlist for Beard of the Year 2014. No doubt many would consider it to be unseemly for me to tout for votes on this blog. All I can say to such people is VOTE FOR ME!
Beard Liberation Front
Press release 27th November
Contact keith Flett 07803 167266
Cricketer Moeen Ali & author Philip Ardagh on Beard of Year shortlist as Russell Brand doesn’t make cut
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has revealed the 10 names that will go forward to a poll for the Beard of the Year after a public vote eliminated such well known beard wearers as Russell Brand and Pink Floyd’s Dave Gilmour.
England cricketer Moeen Ali who has just scored the third fastest England ODI century and author Philip Ardagh are among the favourites to win the coveted Award, along with surprise contender the Bishop of Brentwood.
After an on-line vote which opens on 28th November the winners of Beard of the Year will be revealed on December 28th.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, it’s fair to say that competition for the Beard of the…
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Tonight is a big night for the town of Lewes, which is just up the road from the Sussex University campus at Falmer. The traditional bonfire night celebration draws thousands into the town. I won’t be going, as I have too much work to do and in any case the combination of huge crowds and fireworks is not one that I find particularly attractive.
The occasion for the festivities is of course Guy Fawkes’ Night, which celebrates the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, which intended to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Guy Fawkes was supposed to light the blue touchpaper on that occasion and it has been a tradition to burn his effigy on the bonfire on the anniversary of the attempt, every November 5th, while letting off fireworks. It’s all a bit more involved in Lewes, where many different figures are usually burnt in effigy and there’s a lot of dressing up and parading around to boot.
When I was young, Guy Fawkes’ Night was the thing we celebrated rather than Halloween. Although we didn’t put on anything as elaborate as the Lewes event, most families held their own bonfire in their garden and fireworks could easily be bought from local shops who stocked up at this time of year. Since we had open ground right in front of our house, we had very big bonfires where I grew up in Benwell which lots of other kids came to. The number of private bonfire parties has decreased markedly since then, owing to safety concerns and they have largely been replaced by large scale organized celebrations.
Another tradition associated with November 5th also seems to have died completely. When I was a kid the thing to do was to make an effigy of Guy Fawkes (called a “Guy”) and parade him from door to door asking for “Penny for the Guy”. The idea was if you had an impressive effigy, people would give you money which you used to buy fireworks for the forthcoming party. Of course you were hoping for a bit more than a penny.
I suppose that this tradition has been displaced by the American import “Trick-or-Treat”, which I think is a shame. It’s true that many bonfire celebrations have an unpleasant anti-catholic undertone which is a reminder of the religious intolerance that blights much of British history. But although it may be an ugly history, but at least its ours. Next thing you know we won’t have Guy Fawkes’ Night at all; we’ll have to call it 5/11.
I remember one year spending ages making a really good Guy with a head made from papier mâché and plasticine for his eyes, nose and mouth. I was really proud of him, especially when he sat on top of the huge pile of wood that was going to form the bonfire. When it was lit – which happened before the fireworks started – the heat from the flames started to melt the plasticine features of the Guy.
The other kids rushed around in excitement as the adults sorted out the Roman Candles, Catherine Wheels and the rest of the soon-to-be-ignited pyrotechnics, things that would go bang and whizz though not necessarily in that order. But I stood transfixed, staring at the Guy. After a few minutes I started sobbing and ran to my mum in anguish as molten plasticine dripped from his eyes.
Guy Fawkes was crying…
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It’s been a very strange weekend. Some horrible bug hit me with a fever on Thursday evening, so I had to cancel my Friday appointments.
Then I remembered I was supposed to be in Cardiff this weekend so dragged myself out of bed and onto the train. Although I wasn’t at all comfortable, I slept for most of the journey. I hope I didn’t infect too many other passengers…
An early night on Friday and most of Saturday in bed seem to have helped, though I was clearly still delirious this afternoon when I dreamt that Newcastle managed to beat Spurs 2-1 at White Hart Lane. I also seem to have won another dictionary in the Sunday Independent Crossword competition.
Now the fever seems to have morphed into a fairly standard cold-type thing and I’ll have to face getting an early morning train back to Brighton tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll get back about lunchtime.
Follow @telescoperI should have known something would go wrong.
When my flight landed at Gatwick yesterday, I was quickly off the plane, through passport control and into the Baggage Reclaim. And there I waited. My baggage never arrived.
After almost an hour waiting in vain went to the counter and filed a missing baggage report before getting the train back to Brighton.
By then my phone battery was flat but the charger was in my lost bag so I was unable to receive the text message I was told I would get when my bag was located. This morning I had to buy another charger and when I recharged my phone I discovered the bag had arrived at London Gatwick at 0800 this morning and a Courier would call to arrange delivery.
Great, I thought. Gatwick is only 30 minutes away from Brighton so I would soon get my stuff.
Wrong. Using the online tracking system I found the bag had been sent to Heathrow and had sat there until after 2pm before being loaded onto a vehicle for delivery.
There’s nobody answering phones at the courier company so I guess I just have to wait in the flat until they decide to deliver it.
I don’t know how BA managed to lose a bag on a direct flight in the first place, but their idiotic courier has added at least half a day’s delay in returning it.
UPDATE: My bag finally arrived at 1940. It seems it was never put on the plane I flew on.
So here I am, then. In the British Airways Lounge at Roma Fiumicino Airport waiting for a flight back to Gatport Airwick. This morning’s bus journey from L’Aquila was as incident-free as the outbound journey, and I actually got to the airport about 10 minutes early. As I always do I planned the journey so I’d arrive in plenty of time for my flight, so now I get to relax and drink free wine among the Business Class types until I’m called to totter to the gate.
Fiumicino is strange airport, clearly built in the 1960s with the intention that it should look futuristic but with the inevitable result that it now feels incredibly dated, like a 1950s Science Fiction film.
Anyway, I’ve at last got a bit of time to kill so I’ll take the opportunity to brush up on my Italian. Let’s try translating this:
It’s obvious of course. House of Wind.
Ciao Ciao
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