Look at me, I'm on the other side of the world, ma! (1). Here's the view from my quarantine window. Yep, sunny (2) Adelaide. Two days ago I was in actually sunny Manchester. Thanks to the wonders of the internal combustion engine and a global infrastructure that supports/encourages hyper-mobility, even in a pandemic, here I... Continue Reading →
Excuses, excuses (or “archive hunting for fun and zero profit”)
I am trying to be less chaotic. Or rather, I am bringing all the random memory sticks (there are lots) together in one place and will then do some light/heavy raiding. Yesterday I put up something from 2009. Today it's something from 2012. On 4th November 2012 I was clearly at some dreadful climate event... Continue Reading →
MASSIVE NERD confession – or “the physicality of archives”
It's time for me, at age [redacted] to come out. I've been living a lie for too long, denying who I AM, to others, to myself. There's been a period of shame, embarrassment stretching back (checks notes)... hours. At about 1030 today, in the central library special collections reading room, I realised that I am... Continue Reading →
Sweet 17 (stone) and as close as can be to other milestones #delardification
My first 12 lap yomp in three weeks. Two weeks ago my faithful backpack disintegrated on lap one, and I didn't get a replacement for a few days. Then, out of - idleness? the seduction of failure? - something, I didn't do 12 laps last Sunday. Today, I knew I had to get back on... Continue Reading →
“The Dominion of Man: The Search for Ecological Responsibility” 1970…
I find the whole Malthusian Moment (roughly 1969-1973) fascinating. I guess because I grew up in its aftermath, where it was still resonating, there were aftershocks. (This is partly because I mostly grew up in Australia, which was then even more of a backwater than it is now. I'd see movies from the era (The... Continue Reading →
The Age of Consequences – of lies, comforting myths and what is (still) to be done
"We" are in the early years of the age of consequences now. Other species have been living with the consequences of our depravity for hella long time. Our own species has been pretty grotesque to its own members for millennia, with that getting dialled up to eleven after European "explorers" and adventurers took their guns,... Continue Reading →
Worse-than-useless documentaries about “activism” – the why, the how, the what instead
We are allowing ourselves to brightside ourselves. FFS This is no better than the fucking gaslighting by those who would have us sleep through the apocalpyse. [Sweariness warning. I am trying to be more Omar - not the killing people bit, but the not cussing. Today, I'm failing. If that means you can't fucking share... Continue Reading →
14 years ago today… #Climate Camp and what is (not) remembered #history #academics #power
"The struggle of man (sic) against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting." Milan Kundera On 26th August 2006 the first "Camp for Climate Action" began, in the shadow of Drax power station in Yorkshire, then the biggest single point source of carbon dioxide in Europe. The camp (and the shorter name, "Climate Camp",... Continue Reading →
White Saviour Complex, COP26 and #climate activism – my two cents
I was sat recently in a room as white as Cumbria. It was full (80ish) of white people who sincerely believe that the revolution will only come when the last capitalist is strangled with the intestines of the last racist. There were three women of colour present. I was sat next to one, a friend,... Continue Reading →
Overdue update – on flubbing interviews, books that need writing etc.
Didn’t get another job. Knew within five minutes of the interview starting that I’d blown it (these always remind me of the opening sequence of that Black Mirror episode). I can and will learn from this, and try to get hold of some more quantitative skills, or even just better analytics on my existing qualitative... Continue Reading →