This afternoon I’m going off to get my head examined (!) and thereafter will be indisposed for a few days during which I’ll unable to connect to the interwebs. Nothing serious, I hasten to add. Normal services will be resumed as soon as possible (probably on Monday 7th October) but, for the time being, there will now follow a short intermission.
Follow @telescoperArchive for the Uncategorized Category
Let’s talk about the Black Bird..
Posted in Uncategorized with tags crows, jackdaws, magpies, Maltese Falcon on September 8, 2013 by telescoperI’m writing this using my Blackberry as the train I’m on trundles towards London. Since it’s standing room only (as usual on First Great Western) I thought I’d just pass a little time rambling on about birds.
I took this picture the other day. The bird – a jackdaw? – is one of a pair who joined me for lunch but suddenly became camera shy when I got my phone out to take a picture. As you can see, I didn’t get very close.
I don’t know much about birds, but these are regular visitors to my place of work and I find them very amusing company. I love the way they strut about like officious constables when inspecting their surroundings for morsels of food. When in a hurry they bounce along like small boys do when they pretend to ride an imaginary horse. All members of the crow family, including magpies and jays, seem to share this peculiar style of getting about on the ground.
Anyway, whatever this bird was, at least it wasn’t a seagull. They’re rarely amusing, and often downright vicious. And it’s clearly not a falcon either, let alone a Maltese one…
Blue, the Hotel Cat
Posted in Uncategorized with tags British Shorthair, Edinburgh on July 30, 2013 by telescoperI’m in Edinburgh Airport waiting for a flight home after a day spent conducting a PhD Examination at the Royal Observatory. I stayed overnight last night at a nice B&B and made the acquaintance of a handsome cat called Blue, a fine example of a British Shorthair..
Interlude
Posted in Uncategorized on July 20, 2013 by telescoperWell, dear readers, the next few days are going to be very busy so I’m going to be taking a short break from blogging until next week. Normal services will be resumed as soon as possible but, for the time being, there will now follow a short intermission…
Follow @telescoperRest In Peace, Alex Jansons
Posted in Uncategorized on July 16, 2013 by telescoperToday the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at Sussex University is in a state of collective shock after receiving some terrible news. Alex Jansons, a first-year Mathematics student in the School, died suddenly at the weekend near his family home in Penn, Buckinghamshire.
Now you all know why I posted that poem by John Donne this morning..
It’s so devastating for all of us in MPS to have lost such a bright and popular student at such a young age that I can barely begin to imagine what his family and friends must be going through at this difficult time.
A funeral service for Alex will be held next Friday, and we will be organizing a memorial event to be held on the Sussex University campus near the start of the next academic year so that it can be attended by students from Alex’s year when they return from the summer recess.
But for now, on behalf of everyone in MPS, all I can do is offer my sincerest condolences and deepest sympathy to everyone who knew Alex Jansons.
May he rest in Peace.
Follow @telescoperBang Goes the Accelerator
Posted in Uncategorized with tags Accelerator Building, Bang Goes the Theory, BBC TV, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Sussex on May 28, 2013 by telescoper
No time to post anything energetic today, so I just thought I’d pass on a little snippet of information that not a lot of people know. The BBC TV series Bang Goes the Theory – or at least the part of it that isn’t done on location – is filmed in the building shown on the left, the Accelerator Building, located just behind Pevensey 2 at the University of Sussex, where the Department of Physics & Astronomy is based (and wherein my own office is located). It’s actually quite a large space, extending underneath a car park, which was (as its name suggests) built to house a linear accelerator (which is no longer there). The building is currently leased out to the BBC by the University, but perhaps before too long it might once again be used for physics…
An Apology: The Royal Institution
Posted in Uncategorized with tags Christmas Lectures, Outreach, Science, The Royal Institution on May 21, 2013 by telescoperEarlier this year, in common with other media, this blog pledged its support to a campaign to save the Royal Institution from financial oblivion. In doing so I may have given the impression that the Royal Institution is a venerable and highly esteemed organization dedicated to the task of bring science closer to the public and inspiring future generations with its exciting range of outreach activities, including its famous public lectures.
However, in the light of the Royal Institution’s recent decision to trademark the phrase “Christmas Lectures” , I now realize that this was misleading and in fact the Royal Institution is just another rapaciously self-serving organization, run by small-minded buffoons, which is dedicated to nothing but its own self-aggrandizement. It has further become clear that the RI will do anything it can to maintain its cushy existence in a fancy property in Mayfair to the detriment of all outreach activities elsewhere, and should therefore be shut down immediately as a threat to the future health of UK science.
Moreover, as a protest, this blog calls upon all University science departments in the United Kingdom to organize their own series of Christmas Lectures Yuletide Discourses under the title Not the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, beginning each presentation with a lengthy preamble describing the unpleasant and idiotic actions of the Royal Institution and explaining why its Christmas Lectures® should be boycotted.
I hope this clarifies the situation.
P.S. For more blog outrage, see here, here , here…. (cont., p94).
Follow @telescoperBank Holiday in Bute Park
Posted in Uncategorized with tags Bank Holiday, Bute Park, Cardiff, crosswords on May 6, 2013 by telescoperWell, I’ve done next to nothing today. Just yesterday’s Azed crossword in which I found
All too public ‘diary’ left in the loo (4)
which clues what this is.
I also held my last ever project meeting with Cardiff student; hand-in dates are looming across the country, I suspect.
Other than that, I’ve just been strolling around, and otherwise enjoying, Bute Park in the sunshine along with half the population of Cardiff. It is a pity the Council don’t take better care of the grass, though..
Maurice of Montpelier Terrace
Posted in Uncategorized with tags Brighton, cats, Maurice on May 4, 2013 by telescoperI chanced upon this old picture just now. It was taken in Brighton in 1989, and it shows me with Maurice, a gorgeous Burmese cat who was a resident of the basement flat in which I lodged for a while, in Montpelier Terrace. This photograph was taken in the little yard at the rear of the property, from which Maurice frequently tried to escape.
Burmese are wonderful cats, very talkative and full of personality, but their claws are like needles!
Operation Wheeler
Posted in Uncategorized with tags Brighton, March for England, Operation Wheeler. on April 21, 2013 by telescoperIt has been a bit scary in Brighton today. The so-called March for England, took place this afternoon organized by the neo-Nazi English Defence League (no link to their website from me, you’ll observe). There was a massive police presence in town, at first concentrated on the seafront where the march was routed.
There were localized brawls between marchers and counter-demonstrators from the outset, and after the march ended various splinter groups from both dispersed around the city trying to cause disruption. The town has been at a standstill since about 2.30 as police sealed off isolated disturbances and protected bystanders. I was with a group of people near the Sea Life centre when half a dozen EDL thugs began hurling abuse and moving towards us in a very threatening way. The police intervened promptly and the agressors moved off. They may have subsequently joined a melee that then developed in the Old Steine and was attended by riot police but which did not last very long.
The number of marchers was about 150 (my estimate) with a similar number of counter-demonstrators; they were probably outnumbered by the Police, who had brought in reinforcements from elsewhere to assist with Operation Wheeler, their name for today’s huge activity. I saw vans from Hertfordshire, Norfolk and the City of London.
Anyway, with no serious injuries reported, I’d say Operation Wheeler was a success. I’ve heard that 13 arrests were made, for a variety of offences. I think the police did a very good job in extremely difficult circumstances.
Why have this march in Brighton? I don’t know, but judging by what I heard, the typical EDL marcher is not very fond of gay people and they probably came here because of Brighton’s large gay community and embrace of other forms of diversity. Racism, homophobia and other forms of prejudice seem often to be acquired as a package. To be honest, I think the EDL just came looking for trouble and didn’t really care that much where it was to be found.
Though the only violent acts I saw were carried out by EDL supporters there were extremists on the other side also spoiling for a fight. I think it would have been far more effective if the counter-protest had been totally peaceful. If thugs come looking for trouble, the worse thing to do is meet them at their level because that’s exactly what they want. The way to defeat people like the EDL is to behave better than they do which, based on today’s evidence, is by no means difficult..
The seafront remained closed for some time after the march had finished…
You can’t see very well in this image, but in the background a group of EDL supporters are being detained by the police.
These police horses are right next to “Legends”. There was a nice bit of banter going on between them and the largely gay clientele drinking out front.
Police standing by, just in case, as business returns to normal
Police vans from Norfolk and the City of London. I can’t be sure, but I think the seagull was local.
Old Steine, around 4pm. Ongoing disturbances in the background contained by police; nothing too serious by the look of it.
In the Dark 