Archive for the Biographical Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Postal Voting Par Avion

Posted in Biographical, Cardiff, Politics on December 7, 2019 by telescoper

After giving the matter much thought, some weeks ago I decided to apply for a postal vote so I could vote in the general election in the constituency of Cardiff West where I still (for the time being) have a house. I couldn’t vote in person owing to work commitments in Ireland on Thursday 12th December. Teaching term doesn’t end in Maynooth until 20th.

The postal ballot paper was sent to my address in Cardiff because I wasn’t confident in the post between the UK and Ireland. (It takes over a month for my copy of Physics World to reach Ireland. Last night I flew from Dublin to complete it and this morning I put it in the mail, so it should arrive in time to be counted.

In case you’re interested, I voted for Kevin Brennan (Welsh Labour).

I fear this will turn out to be a futile gesture, and that this election will put liar and charlatan Boris Johnson in Downing Street with a significant majority. The prospect of a government headed by this creature appals me, as does the thought that so many people don’t care that he’s so demonstrably dishonest and untrustworthy. As far as I see it, anyone who votes for the modern Conservative Party must be either a simpleton or a sociopath. Or possibly both.

Update: relevant advice from today’s Financial Times:

(It’s actually about dealing with cold callers, but is in my opinion more widely applicable..)

21 Comments »

What would you have done?

Posted in Biographical with tags , , on December 3, 2019 by telescoper

The shocking news of the violence near London Bridge on Friday 29nd November in which two people were murdered by a terrorist who was himself subsequently killed by police has had me rattled for several days, and I was nowhere near the event. I can’t begin to imagine what it must have been like for those caught up in this awful episode especially those who were wounded or lost loved ones. Condolences to all affected.

I was particularly affected by the images of the civilians who tackled the murderer on London Bridge, one with a fire extinguisher and one with a narwhal tusk he took down from the wall of Fishmonger’s Hall, where the attack began.

These men showed unbelievable courage putting themselves in positions of extreme danger to keep others from harm. The man with the tusk (who is called Lukasz and is from Poland) received five stab wounds in the course of this desperate struggle but kept going until the police arrived. `Hero’ is an overused word, but it definitely applies to Lukasz.

I always find events like this very disturbing because I can’t resist mentally putting myself in the position of those caught up in them. What would I have done? Would I have had the courage – and the speed of thought – to react the way these men did? Would you?

None of us really know the answer, of course. In the heat of the moment ordinary people can perform extraordinary deeds but, speaking for myself, I don’t think I would have been of much use in that situation. I wish I could believe I was hero material, but I doubt that is the case. Above all, though, I’m just grateful that I’ve never been tested in such a way. Had I been, I suspect I would have been found wanting. On the other hand, it seems likely to me that anyone who is a hero in their own mind is nothing of the sort in reality.

On that note I should mention that after Saturday’s Open Day I went home and had a short nap before dinner. As often seems to be the case when I have an bit of kip in the afternoon I had a rather vivid dream. On that occasion the dream found me using my walking stick to fight off a masked assailant, the stick being a more effective weapon in the dream than I think it would have been in reality!

Anyway, I won’t give the terrorist any notoriety by naming him and I won’t link to the odious comments of the (several) politicians who have sought to make capital out of these terrible events. I’ll just say that Britain needs brave Polish immigrants far more than it needs cowardly Old Etonians.

4 Comments »

Two Years in Maynooth!

Posted in Biographical, Maynooth on December 1, 2019 by telescoper

Mí na Nollag (the Month of Christmas) is how you say December in the Irish language. Today is the first of that month, which it makes it precisely two years to the day since I started work at Maynooth University. That seems a very long time ago as so much has happened since I wrote my first blog post after arriving in Ireland!

When I first moved here quite a lot of people asked me why I was moving to Ireland so I wrote quite a long post about it here. In december 2017 I wouldn’t have predicted that the UK would still be in the European Union but as I said in that post:

I think it’s still quite possible that the Brexit project will fail under the weight of its own contradictions, but that no longer matters. The damage has already been done. The referendum campaign, followed by the callous and contemptuous attitude of the current UK Government towards EU nationals living in Britain, unleashed a sickening level of xenophobia that has made me feel like a stranger in my own country. Not everyone who voted `Leave’ is a bigot, of course, but every bigot voted for Brexit and the bigots are now calling all the shots. There are many on the far right of UK politics who won’t be satisfied until we have ethnic cleansing. Even if Brexit is stopped the genie of intolerance is out of the bottle and I don’t think it well ever be put back. Brexit will also doom the National Health Service and the UK university system, and clear the way for the destruction of workers’ rights and environmental protection. The poor and the sick will suffer, while only the rich swindlers who bought the referendum result will prosper. The country in which I was born, and in which I have lived for the best part of 54 years, is no longer something of which I want to be a part.

Although two years on Brexit still hasn’t happened, the intervening two years have confirmed my worst fears. England has become increasingly intolerant and xenophobic and the forthcoming General Election looks set to usher in an utterly terrible government of fraudsters, liars and charlatans who will destroy all that is decent in the United Kingdom. The one silver lining I can see is that there is a chance at least that within my lifetime there will be a united Ireland. I’m very much looking forward to the party if that happens!

I’ve had several academic visitors from the UK over the last few months (including two on Friday). None have asked why I moved to Ireland. With UK universities currently on strike and the wider domestic political situation a shitshow of epic proportions, I’m not surprised about that at all. Ireland is by no means a paradise, but I’m glad I’m here.

1 Comment »

Open Day Friday

Posted in Biographical, Maynooth with tags , , , on November 29, 2019 by telescoper

It’s a busy day today in Maynooth with two very important jobs to do. Until lunchtime I’ll be preoccupied with an Open Day here at Maynooth University, the first of this year’s cycle. Here’s the poster advertising them (with dates included):

You’ll see that I have a new role as Poster Boy for Maynooth University, though they have understandably put me at the extreme edge of the poster (bottom right). I’ve got plenty of people helping on the stall in the Iontas Building today but I do have to give a talk to prospective students. There’s another Open Day tomorrow, for which I’ll be on the stall and doing the talk for most of the day.

Here’s a little promotional video:

Today’s  Open Day winds down by 2pm after which my second major task of the day begins. But that’s a secret, at least for the time being.

 

 

 

Leave a comment »

Mission (Almost) Accomplished

Posted in Biographical with tags , on November 20, 2019 by telescoper

Well, it’s been a fairly intense couple of days in Munich with not much time for anything other than work but I think we’ve finished everything we were supposed to do. The authorities will shortly evict us from the offices up in which we have been cooped and I’ll have to take a short walk to the Terminal Building at Munich airport in order to catch my flight back to Dublin. This may take me through the Christmas Market which has appeared at Munich Airport, complete with skating rink:

 

 

I anticipate falling asleep on the flight back as I’m more than a little knackered.

UPDATE: My flight back from Munich with Aer Lingus was due back in Dublin at 21.50 last night so I should have missed the last airport hopper bus to Maynooth (which departs at 21.50). Fortunately the flight was 30 minutes ahead of schedule, so I got the bus I should have missed and was able to get home and to bed at a reasonable hour!

 

 

 

5 Comments »

Somewhere near Munich..

Posted in Biographical with tags , , on November 19, 2019 by telescoper

There’s an episode of the old television series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (about Geordie migrant labourers working on building site in Germany) in which the character Oz (played by Jimmy Nail) comes across a German person wanting directions to München. Oz says that he doesn’t know where München is exactly but believes it is somewhere near Munich…

Anyway, here I am somewhere near Munich myself. I’m not on a building site, though, but in a hotel near the airport which is some distance from the old city. I arrived last night on a flight from Dublin, using my Irish identity and travel documents.

I’ve just had a nice breakfast and am about to embark on two days of meetings as part of a secret mission on behalf of an intergovernmental organization. I and the other secret agents will be held here incommunicado in the environs of the airport until we are released tomorrow (Wednesday) evening.

It’s a shame that we won’t get to see the real Munich, which is a great city that I’ve visited on a number of occasions. To make up for it, here’s a picture of Marienplatz in the historic centre of Munich:

Still, the hotel isn’t bad – as airport hotels go – and everything seems reasonably well organized so far. I don’t think I’ll time to post anything substantial until tomorrow morning so until then, Auf Wiedersehen.

Leave a comment »

No More Poppies

Posted in Biographical, History, Politics with tags , , , , on November 9, 2019 by telescoper

Over the years I have written quite a few pieces on this blog, around the time of Remembrance Sunday, about the wearing of a poppy, the last being in 2016. I have worn a poppy at this time of year for most of my adult life, but in 2017 I decided to stop.

For one thing, there is no pressure to wear a poppy here in Ireland. Indeed, many Irish people see the poppy mainly as a symbol of British militarism and colonial oppression. At a concert to mark the Armistice last year I saw only a few audience members wearing a poppy, and most of them were the shamrock version commemorating the sacrifice of Irish soldiers during the Great War.

But I don’t think I’ve ever really been that susceptible to peer pressure, so that’s not the main reason for my not wearing a poppy. The main reason is that over the past couple of years the poppy has been appropriated by the likes of racist thug, career criminal and founder-member of the EDL, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (also known as Tommy Robinson):

I simply cannot bring myself to wear the same badge as this horrible racist gobshite, nor can I stand the hypocrisy of those politicians who make a show of wearing it while happily encouraging the rise of nationalism that caused all the suffering just a century ago. The message of the poppy is supposed to be `Lest We Forget’. I’m afraid far too many have already forgotten.

I have a lecture on Monday 11th November at 11am, when the traditional two minutes’ silence to mark the 1918 armistice is observed. Fortunately, lectures at Maynooth run from five past the hour until five to, so I will be able to observe this on my own before I start the lecture. But I won’t be wearing a poppy.

Is it disrespectful to the war dead to refuse to wear a poppy? No, of course it isn’t. What is disrespectful to them is to seek to reoeat the mistakes that led to wars in the first place.

3 Comments »

Back to Ireland

Posted in Biographical, Maynooth on November 9, 2019 by telescoper

I’m back in a very cold and windy Maynooth after a trip to Newcastle (via London) for my Mam’s funeral. It went as well as could have been expected, though it was a difficult occasion for all concerned. It was nice to see such a good turnout, though, including several members of my family I haven’t seen for many years. The service was both simple and dignified (and entirely secular).

I’ve got a lot of things to catch up on after the few days I spent away so I don’t have time for a long post today. I did, however, want to put up a short message to express my gratitude to everyone who has contacted me privately to offer condolences and good wishes. All your messages mean a lot, so thank you all. That also goes for all the friends I met at the RAS Club on Friday evening, all of whom were very supportive.

Now, I have three examination papers and two problem sets to write by Monday, five lectures to prepare for next week, and a lengthy review article about the Hubble constant to finish by Friday so I’d best get on with it. Moping about isn’t going to help.

Leave a comment »

A Musical Memory: Mabel’s Dream

Posted in Biographical, Jazz with tags , , , , , on November 7, 2019 by telescoper

So that’s that. The funeral is over. We all said our goodbyes, and there many tears.

My Mam chose the music for her funeral a long time ago, and the piece that was playing as we arrived in the West Chapel of the West Road Crematorium was one that I wrote about about a decade ago, so I thought I’d indulge myself by posting here the version we heard today.

Years ago my Mam told me that she heard the tune Mabel’s Dream played on the piano by a friend of the family by the name of Johnny Handle. Best known as a folk musician (and founder member of a well-known band called The High Level Ranters) he is also a music teacher and musicologist with a wide range of interests in music. I read somewhere that this lovely tune was originally written by Jelly Roll Morton and performed by him on solo piano, but by far the most famous recording of Mabel’s Dream was made by King Oliver and his Creole Jazz Band in Chicago in 1923. This was the band that the young Louis Armstrong belonged to before going on to make the classic Hot Fives and Hot Sevens, one of which I posted a bit ago. It’s interesting how different the earlier band sounds: with two cornets (King Oliver and Louis Armstrong), clarinet (Johnny Dodds), and trombone (Honore Dutrey) playing together virtually all the time except for short improvised solo breaks. King Oliver usually played lead cornet, at least in their earlier recordings, with Louis Armstrong playing a decorative counterpoint around him rather like a clarinettist might. Later on, they swapped leads freely and completely intuitively producing a sound that was entirely unique.

The ensemble playing is intricate, but the band had no written music, preferring to work exclusively from “head” arrangements. Their music is consistently delightful to listen to, with a succession of marchy themes that makes it impossible not to want to tap your feet when you listen to them.

Over time, this classic type of polyphonic Jazz- derived from its New Orleans roots – gradually morphed into musical form dominated by much simpler arrangements and a succession of virtuoso solos. This change was also reflected in the differing fortunes of Louis Armstrong and King Oliver. The former went on to become an international celebrity, while the latter lost all his savings when his bank went bust during the Wall Street Crash.

Considering the relatively brief time that they played together, King Oliver and Louis Armstrong made an astonishingly large number of astonishingly beautiful records, including this one which I’m posting here to show that as well as many other things my Mam had great taste in Jazz.

4 Comments »

In Memoriam

Posted in Biographical on November 2, 2019 by telescoper

This is going to be a very short post, but also a very difficult one to write. My Mam has passed away, having lost her struggle against Alzheimer’s Disease. Mercifully at least the end was peaceful and she’s now at rest. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.

This is a picture of us in happier times taken just outside the Brighton Centre just after I received my doctorate from Sussex University in 1989.

Can that really have been 30 years ago?

The first I knew about her final illness was at the end of 2015 when I visited for Christmas and noticed how much her memory and behavior had changed. Shortly after that came the official diagnosis. Her condition deteriorated rapidly thereafter as dementia cruelly took hold and about eighteen months ago, being virtually completely incapacitated, she had to move into a care home. Fortunately she seemed relatively happy there. In the end it was pneumonia that took her, but at least she slipped away gently.

During the years of her illness I have never written about it here because I couldn’t find the words. Now I have to admit that when I heard the news that Mam had died my first reaction was a sort of relief that her torments were over. That was quickly overtaken by a sense of guilt (a) that I had felt like that and (b) that I hadn’t been there enough or done enough to help. Now I just feel numb, unable really to take it in. I keep hoping for some sort of catharsis, but it doesn’t happen.

My Mam’s illness was one of the causes of stress that led to my decision to step down from my role as Head of the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at Sussex University back in 2016. I had a notion that moving to a part-time job I might be able to help look after Mam, but I found the whole situation too painful and other things got in the way. I wasn’t strong enough to contribute anything significant and the burden fell on the shoulders of others. Now I’ll never be able to put that right.

I have to reorganize quite a few things next week so I can attend the funeral in Newcastle, so I’ll occupy myself doing that.

19 Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »