Journal Entries
Marvellous thing, this modern technology
Posted Jun 8, 2006
Some of you may know I have bought a new (for me) car. Being the top of the line spec, when it came out four-odd years ago, it has lots of little gadgets and gizmos. Apart from the four-wheel-drive, anti-skid and ABS and all that safety stuff it actually has something *useful*, a CD autochanger.
This is important because over the past few years I have *stopped* listening to music. I have too much to do in the evenings. But having a 30 to 40 minute run into and out of work now means I have been picking up stuff I had completely forgotten about or never bothered listening to in the first place.
Currently on the jukebox are
* Stokowski's Bach Transcriptions (inspired by an entry of mine currently in PR)
* Duke Ellington
* Tapestry by Carol King
* Shostakovich's 7th Symphony (again, inspired by a PR entry)
* Arvo Part
* John Addison's film score to A Bridge Too Far
This is a pretty eclectic mix. I was listening to the Shostakovich this morning and noticing I was driving faster and faster as the famous second movement got louder and louder and more insistent. I think I topped a ton easily before I realised.
I'm looking for suggestions for new CD's to listen to, as I am now rediscovering the joy of being able to listen to music. Seeing as it's a Czech motor I thought I start off with some Janacek or Dvorak and then make my way slowly westward.
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Latest reply: Jun 8, 2006
Excuse me, but *why*...
Posted Jun 7, 2006
... is there an Orange Prize for women's fiction? I mean, it's not exactly as if women have been underepresented in the ranks of authors or unrecognised of late. Long gone are the days when Mary Ann Evans had to write as George Eliot.
So why exactly? Can anybody tell me what *purpose* this prize serves? Can anybody tell me what purpose *any* literary prize serves, for that matter?
Discuss this Journal entry [13]
Latest reply: Jun 7, 2006
Taking a Stand #2
Posted Jun 5, 2006
Just read this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1786504,00.html
Sums up all the mahjor points in the argument quite succinctly. I would, however, like to add my own. If animal testing is wrong *on principle* then activists should be prepared to defend this principle with arguments as to why it should not be broken. They should not, as they tend to do nowadays, simply *lie* about the efficacy of animal testing.
I don't *like* the idea of animal testing just as I didn't *like* the idea that the RAF bombed Dresden during WWII. In a less than perfect world, we are forced to make difficult choices, but if the choice is between a lab rat and my child, or a hundred thousand lab rats for that matter, the choice is pretty easy for me.
Discuss this Journal entry [8]
Latest reply: Jun 5, 2006
Taking a Stand
Posted Jun 3, 2006
It isn't often that I get on a soapbox, but i think it's time I drew people's attention to the following organisation: http://www.pro-test.org.uk/
They are holding a march in Oxford today to support animal testing. If you want to give support from a distance, then sign http://www.peoplespetition.org.uk/, like I have done.
I am now waiting for the emails and telephone calls telling me that 'we are going to ****ing kill you!'.
Discuss this Journal entry [4]
Latest reply: Jun 3, 2006
This is how I dispose of the evidence
Posted May 17, 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/4990662.stm
well, under a cairn on a mountain should have been a perfect hiding place...
Discuss this Journal entry [8]
Latest reply: May 17, 2006
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