On Constitutional Reform, Gerrymandering and Political Expediency

Prime Minister David Cameron's hurried announcement of UK wide constitutional reform in the wake of the Scottish Referendum result risks breaking his pledge to the Scottish people and leaving England with an ill thought through settlement driven by narrow party political considerations.

His coupling of more powers for Scotland (which the three big Westminster parties promised in the independence referendum campaign) with constitutional reform in the whole of the UK brings together two issues, one of which has been thoroughly worked through and one of which hasn't. Scotland has had two years of intense debate and campaigning on these issues, England only started thinking about it on Friday morning when the Scottish result came through. Getting the promised Scottish reforms through Parliament was always going to be challenging with the promised timetable of proposals in a couple of months and draft legislation by January, especially as we have a General Election next year.

Cameron's solution to the 'West Lothian Question" involves stopping Scottish MPs voting on English matters. Now, at first glance this seems fair enough, why should they vote on matters affecting only voters who did not elect them? However such a solution would, entirely uncoincidentally, remove a whole swathe of Labour MPs and give the Conservative Party a pretty unassailable (and given past voting patterns, a seemingly also permanent) majority in any English Parliament. And presumably if Wales and Northern Ireland also win new powers (as seems likely) their MPs would be barred too, further strengthening the Conservative position. Indeed any future Labour government for the UK as a whole would need a pretty hefty majority of about 100 to stand any chance of getting legislation through an 'English only' Parliament.

Trying to ram this through from a standing start in double quick time without a proper breathing space for debate and consideration in the wider country is not good for democracy. By linking the issue of more Scottish powers with wider constitutional change, which David Cameron did within an hour of the referendum result coming through, he risks the promises to the Scottish electorate being broken, which will reawaken the whole independence question again. Boris Johnson more or less confirmed this on the BBC News channel on Friday afternoon when he said that if the English reforms did not go through, he could not see how the Scottish ones could either. One of the main gripes of the Scottish 'Yes' campaign was with the remote and arrogant Westminster elite who break promises.

If the Prime Minister does get it through this has gerrymandered us all. The Labour Party may not be strong enough to stop this. They want to devolve more power to the English cities and regions rather than to England as a whole, but may not see that this might also be a good time to push for proportional representation. While the Scots seem to have got the best of both worlds (effective autonomy while still remaining within the UK), in contrast those parts of England north of the Home Counties or left of Nigel Farage (who seems to be effectively driving Conservative policy at the moment from within UKIP Towers) look screwed. 

The country deserves better than this. Sort out Scotland as promised and don't rush through proposals for the rest of the country based merely on expediency. 

Review: Goddesses of Water and Sky: Feminist Ideologies of the Worlds of Hayao Miyazaki by Daniel Nienhuis.

In this short book, Nienhuis gives a feminist reading of the films directed by Hayao Miyazaki (including Nausicca of the Valley of the Wind, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, My Neighbour Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and Ponyo). He does not cover Studio Ghibli films by other directors, such as Only Yesterday, My Neighbours the Yamadas and Grave of the Fireflies (Isao Takahata) or Whisper of the Heart (Yoshifumi Kondo) which is a shame as it would have given scope to examine Miyazaki's influence on the studio and also give wider context for the place of his films within Japanese animation more generally.

Nienhuis states in the abstract that: “a central theme of Miyazalki’s work has been his unique utilization of female protagonists. This paper investigates the gender ideologies espoused by Miyazalki’s feature films. Questions regarding narrative structure, character agency, gender role deviation, and genre precedence are addressed.”

Nienhuis examines the sometimes blurred gender roles Miyazaki gives to his female leads (from the point of view of traditional film tropes, both Western and Japanese), the unusual use of moral ambiguity in some of the plots, and 'big sister, little sister' pairings. He also contrasts the psychoanalytic feminist readings of female characters by Laura Mulvey and Linda Williams with that of Cynthia Freeland's 'intra-filmic' readings (which he favours) and Miyazaki's use (and adaptation of) 'Shojo' heroines (female characters "between childhood and adulthood, cutely attractive, but outside the heterosexual economy").

It is certainly the case that female characters in Miyazaki's films (and those of Studio Ghibli generally) tend to be a lot more nuanced than the simple, often highly formulaic and sexualised portrayals given in many anime and for that reason alone they are worthy of serious study. Don't be put out off by the fact that this book is essentially a reproduction of a Master of Arts thesis; while written from an academic viewpoint it is accessible enough for a general audience and fans of Studio Ghibli films and those interested in the portrayal of female characters in film will find it a worthwhile read.

Emmet Gowin

Emmet Gowin, 2013, Aperture, New York

ISBN 978-1-59711-261-1

This is a beautifully produced book, giving a representative selection of work across Gowin's career from 1963 to 2004 which featured in an exhibition by Fundación Mapfre in Spain.

The work presented can be divided into a number of sections: Family (early), Italy, Mount St. Helens, Petra, aerial, and Family (later), each of which is well represented in the selection of 181 photographs in the main part of the book. There are also essays by Gowin, Carlos Gollonet and Keith F. Davis (all illustrated by further pictures), a chronology and a List of Works.

The early family pictures are for me Gowin's strongest work, there is both a simplicity and an honesty to them. He documents his wife Edith and their children and Edith's family, their houses and gardens. At first glance many could be mistaken for snapshots, but a deeper look reveals undercurrents; Edith opening her blouse to her husband while an elderly relative sits unaware in the foreground, complex expressions, ambiguous situations, the intensity of children's games.

The Italian shots don't work as well for me, despite their subtle duo tone look they feel cold compared to the earlier family work, precise but a bit clinical. The Mount St Helens pictures fare better. Again the initial impression underwhelms, but what seem to be normal landscapes reveal hundreds of shattered tree trunks scattered on the ground, at once beautiful and unexpected. You are drawn in to the incongruity, to the patterns on the ground, a theme Gowin later explored more fully in his aerial work.

The Petra photographs suffer from the same detachment as the Italian photographs, neither emotionally involving like the family pictures nor puzzlingly abstract and mysterious like the aerial work. Although in the introduction to this section Gowen refers to the colour of the landscape and the infinity of stars seen there, the work reproduced here is in monochrome and was all shot during the day, possibly a case of the vision not matching the reality. The look and feel of these pictures seems almost Victorian, if they had been dated a hundred years earlier I would not have been surprised.

The aerial work, in contrast, is successful. Many of the images could easily be abstracts or close ups, that they are straight shots of landscapes (albeit ones transformed and often damaged by the activities of man) is a jolt to the system. For example '92. Off Road Traffic Pattern along the Northwest Shore of the Great Salt Lake, Utah, 1988' could be the tracks of subatomic particles in a cloud chamber or the output from an experiment at CERN, and '93. Aeration Pond, Toxic Water Treatment Facility, Pine Bluff, Arkansas, 1989' looks weirdly like a collection of breasts. Perhaps that is appropriate, the landscape now reflecting Gowin's earlier pictures of Edith.

With ‘Landscapes Andalucía’ we are for the first time in colour. The textures work very well and most retain a pleasing abstract quality. The use of the low sun to delineate the contours of the landscape is particularly effective in '148. Montes Occidentales, Granada, Spain, 2012'.

The final photographs feature of the older Edith and silhouettes. Youthful vigour may be gone, Gowen recording his wife in thoughtful, almost melancholy moods. But the enigmatic look and the power of the earlier work still remains.

As an object the book is a pleasure to handle. A substantial hardback with a quality cloth cover and large photograph glued to the the front (I can't help but feel that the addition of a slip case would have been justified here). The paper is a thick 170g with a smooth finish and slightly creamy brown colour, which gives a pleasant look to the pictures which are reproduced rather better than many photography books manage. I bought this on spec knowing nothing of Gowin's work other than what I had read in an article in Black and White Photography Magazine and was glad I did, the work is of high quality and the book is pleasing as an object in itself. Recommended.

Favourite pictures from the book:

11. Edith, Rhode Island, 1967. A simple study, it's the expression that makes this one stick in the memory.

17. Elijah and Donna Jo Danville Virginia 1971. Children playing with a hose.

28. Edith - Danville - Virginia 1971. Edith stands in a shed. And then you realise what she is doing.

35. Edith, Chincoteague Island, Virginia, 1967. A beautiful over the shoulder study

39. Edith and Isaac, Newtown, Pennsylvania, 1974. Mother and baby.

77. Mount St. Helens, Washington, 1982

93. Aeration Pond, Toxic Water Treatment Facility, Pine Bluff, Arkansas, 1989

148. Montes Occidentales, Granada, Spain, 2012

174. Edith in Panama, Leaf Predation, 2005

On…. Mike Oldfield

Looking back, Mike Oldfield became a significant musical influence for me when my Dad said Tubular Bells as 'boring' and 'repetitive'.

I was listening to my older brother's vinyl copy of Tubular Bells and found it fascinating. This was the moment when I knew that my musical tastes had diverged from my Father's. How could he possibly think something that subtly complex repetitive? (I may not have expressed to myself it in quite that language as I was fairly young, but the sense of it is clear on my memory).

Oldfield has been, on and off, part of my musical landscape ever since. He led me first to Jean-Michel Jarre, and then to Philip Glass and the Minimalists, and to Kraftwerk; music at once contemplative and challenging. But as the years went by the distractions of life meant I listened to less and less music of any sort. Rather like regular meditation listening to an album seemed somehow to be hard to justify when there are so many other calls on my time. However having recently treated myself to a home cinema amplifier, I wanted some surround sound music to try out on it. I spotted that Oldfield had reissued some of his old albums with 5.1 surround versions on a DVD, took the plunge and bought the Deluxe Edition of Hergest Ridge. Different artwork. Had Oldfield messed about with the original too much and spoiled it? No, luckily, a light touch had been applied.

I made some notes after that first listen:

“I liked the 5.1 mix, but thought it a little too 'back speaker' heavy. The stereo mix is rather pleasing, and better than my previous 'remastered' CD version which was based apparently on the 1976 quadraphonic mix, which has always seemed a bit muddy in places, the loud sections in that being sonically somewhat incoherent. Whilst not solved completely (possibly due to limitations on the original recordings?) things are much better here. A bit different yes, but not so much that it spoils my memories of the work from my original cassette versions. Later, I popped on my headphones and listened to the original 1974 demo recordings. Really liked the first side, a well developed sketch of what the work would become, likeable in its own right. The demo of side two did not work quite as well, the massively overdubbed guitar section not being fully coherent (or complete), but still an interesting listen.”

Pleased by how much I had enjoyed Hergest Ridge Deluxe Edition, I ordered Ommadawn Deluxe Edition:

“Surround mix of Ommadawn pretty darn good. Pretty similar to original mix. Vocals clearer on ‘On Horseback’. The 2010 stereo mix exceptionally detailed, vocals on ‘On Horseback’ are much easier to separate into their individual components for example. On the down side it makes the Uilleann pipes on Part 2 seem a bit too realistic, bagpipes have always seemed a little harsh to my ears. In Dulce Jubilo sounds as I remember it, but I had not heard First Excursion before, bit of an experimental feel to it, and some unsettling piano. Argiers (another new one for me) is more melodic if a little inconsequential at first listen, Portsmouth is always fun. The original 1975 stereo mix is inevitably a bit less detailed, but still stands up well against my old CD (dated 1996), there is a nice roundness to the sound. I am trying to remember what tv programme used the tune from about seven minutes in. I associate that tune with watching tv in the mornings on school holidays, maybe something to do with science or art. Didn't know it was Mike Oldfield until much later but the tune stuck with me. The pipes on the 1975 version are indeed somewhat less harsh…. Any song why starts "I Like beer, and I like cheese" is good in my book….. Ironically, the decreased separation of the vocals on the 1975 On Horseback make the children's voices seem sweeter than the more detailed 2010 version…. Hang on, this 1975 lost demo version is interesting…synths!....Oh, that's lovely!....What on Earth? Bizarre comedy overdub to the start of the final section. No, sorry, that does not work. Let us not speak of it again…..Nice ending though….. So, I have listened to four versions of Ommadawn in about six hours. And frankly, I could happily listen to another.”

So, with the one reservation about the comedy overdub on the 1975 lost demo version, a big thumbs up for Ommadawn Deluxe Editon then. The Deluxe Editions of Tubular Bells and Five Miles Out should be in my possession in a couple of days time, and I am certainly looking forward to that.

For me, Mike Oldfield’s music evokes nebulous impressions from childhood of some lost Elysium ideal, plus teenage memories of something special that not many of my peers really got, and of an idealized vision of the English countryside; a heady mix of nostalgia and appreciation of its musical qualities.

Oldfield has recorded a lot of albums, and frankly some of the later ones are not in the same league as his earlier ones (for example Tubular Bells II (1992) and Tubular Bells III (1998) both sound good in isolation and are well recorded, but are not as interesting as the original).

Here is my list of recommended Oldfield albums, in chronological order:

Tubular Bells (1973)

Hergest Ridge (1974)

Ommadawn (1975)

Incantations (1978)

Five Miles Out (1982)

Crises (1983)

Discovery (1984)

Amarok (1990)

Water Bearer by Sally Oldfield (1978) is also worth a listen, if you can find it.

“Hey and away we go, through the grass, ‘cross the snow….”

A note on equipment:

My father was always keen on music and he was also interested in hi-fidelity; through the 1970s we had a succession of Ferguson music centres; combinations of a radio, record player and later cassette player in a yard wide case of orangey wood and smoked semi-transparent plastic. Aesthetically rather more pleasing than the vertical faux-separates monstrosities of the 1980s and compact compared to the first stereo I can remember him having which was built into a fairly substantial cabinet, more furniture than technology. Objectively, Music Centres were perhaps not the last word in HiFi, but to my young ears they reproduced music pretty well and even now there is a part of me that rebels when I listen to the flattened sound of a 128kbps mp3. Today I will buy a CD in preference to a download simply because they sound better, I like the sound of vinyl but it is fragile and less convenient to play. Mp3 is fine for speech, but for music I go for lossless. 

Flooding in Boston

Some pictures taken this morning showing the aftermath of last night's floods in Boston, Lincolnshire

 The Stump reflected in the river (inverted)

 Boston College Sixth Building

 The old workhouse and grain silos

Skirbeck Road looking towards Mount Bridge

On... the portrayal of women scientists in the media

The Daily Mail featured an article on it webpage a couple of days ago titled “Trainee botanist, 17, who has the delicate job of pollinating flower that only blooms for two nights a year in bid to create largest lily in the world” about an attempt by Ventnor Botanical Gardens to grow the world's largest water lily. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2363946/Botanists-attempt-create-largest-lily-world-cross-pollinating-flowers-bloom-just-nights-year.html

It featured several pictures of a trainee botanist in a bikini. It mentioned that she was seventeen three times and that she “had to bravely don her swimsuit to hand-pollenate lilies”.

This raises a number of questions that students of the Public Perception of Science and how science and scientists are portrayed in the media might like to ponder:

• How did the pictures of the curator of the gardens and the trainee botanist differ?
• Why did the article mention her age three times?
• Would the Daily Mail have been less likely to run the article if it did not feature the bikini shots?
• Do you consider the article to be written in a leery way, did it contain there any innuendo / double entendres?
• Look at the sidebar on the right with links to other articles: is the tone of the article typical of the way the paper portrays women?
• What does the comments section tell us about attitudes of readers? (click on the “view all” button)
• Why do you think the the paper is “no longer accepting comments on this article”
• Is this article typical of the portrayal of women in science? Are there any other stereotypes and might these discourage women to take up careers in science?

Tags: Perceptions of Science, Public Understanding of Science, Public Engagement with Science, Science and Society, Women in Science

#WomenInScience #botany #media #feminism

(I came across this article via @DMReporter on Twitter)

Reflections on the Science and Maths Specialist Conference, University of Huddersfield, 2013

Having finally handed in the Year 2 portfolio for my part-time University of Huddersfield PGCE, it is perhaps time to reflect on what was for me the highlight of the course, the two day specialist conference held at at the University during the Easter holidays. I was in the Science and Maths group, but this was a small part of a much larger cohort of students who were all approaching the end of their PGCEs and CertEds.  

Lockside Building

Studying part time at a local centre, I was looking forward to a little taste of the student experience. Whilst I thoroughly enjoyed my previous studies with the Open University (where I had deliberately chosen courses that did not require attendance at summer schools as my then job meant it was impossible to be sure of getting the time off to attend) and having gone into industry after taking my A Levels, I have always had a nagging feeling that I missed out on the student campus experience.

The hotel myself and a couple of colleagues were booked into was on the outskirts of the city and so there really have the opportunity to try out the nightlife, in retrospect this was probably a good thing given the state of some on the second morning! Luckily I was not on the noisy motorway side of the hotel, the view over the backyard of the pub was not especially salubrious but at least I got a decent night’s sleep.

view from hotel room

Never having visited Huddersfield before I had imagined it to be a rather bigger place. Many of the buildings were constructed from a rather attractive pale stone giving a solid, well maintained but slightly old-fashioned air. There were lots of friendly staff about to guide us from the car park as we arrived and overall the organization of the event was very good.

University buildings

All the attendees had prepared a short academic paper on an aspect of teaching and learning as it relates to their specialist subject and were allotted a half hour slot in which to deliver the content and answer questions. I was up second, with a paper was on ‘Engaging Level 3 science students with “The Public Engagement with Science”: problems and opportunities’. The first person to present was very impressive which made me a tad nervous, how was I going to follow that? However once I got going the nerves dropped away and I actually found myself rather enjoying the experience.

There were two formal lectures during the conference which everyone went to in a large lecture hall; Steve Baker on Behaviour Management (useful) and Trevor Gordon on Equality and Diversity (important content but delivered in an almost a ‘revival meeting’ style which was a bit hyperactive for my taste).

Pavel, Adam, Helen and me in the lecture hall for the Steve Baker lecture

We also had a session on Using Social Media in Science and Maths Teaching which is really what inspired me to do these blog entries. I also actively Tweeted during the conference (search for the hashtag #Hud13), this proved to be a very useful and immediate way to share and receive information and experiences with other attendees - even those in different groups who I did not have the opportunity to meet - and with the staff. Following the Twitter streams of people I met (in real life or virtually) has provided me with an ongoing new stream of resources and ideas which has continued to be useful weeks after the conference finished.

lecture on day two - think I may have arrived a bit early!

The second day was rounded off with a discussion of issues from the equality lecture, which we were asked to summarise in the form of a haiku. Here is my attempt:

E&D musings / law encompasses us all / we are not a box

Hmm, I think you had to be there...

Finally, resource sharing, reflections and evaluations. All in all a very useful couple of days which in prospect had seemed like a chore but when I actually got there really fired me up with more than enough energy to finish the course and (funding application permitting) continue my studies in this area.

#Hud13 #PGCE #Huddersfield #UniversityOfHuddersfield #OU #OpenUniversity #student #lecture  #HistoryOfScience  #HSTM  #Science