My So-Called Life
the random and not-so-random musings of a twenty-something history geek
My So-Called Lifethe random and not-so-random musings of a twenty-something history geek |
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| About Lizzie: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Lizzie is a fully qualified history teacher having finished her course at Canterbury Christ Church University. She's also a geek who was secretary of the University of Kent Computing Society during her three year BA at the University of Kent. She is very much in love with her shiny Husband, though she is sad that he doesn't glow bloo :( More about her on her website: http://carina.org.uk |
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| Feb. 5th, 2009 @ 04:05 pm Foreword suitability fail? When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit | |||
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I've recently been reading my brand new copy of When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (my old one, that I had had since I was 8 or so, fell apart from being read rather a lot). I got my new copy through the ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} lj_uk Christmas Wishlist exchange - it's this edition (2008). According to Barnes and Noble (and various other sites) this book is recommended for 8-12 year olds. I'd agree with that, seems like a good age to read it for the first time.My edition has a foreword called "Why You'll Love This Book" by Michael Morpurgo, Children's Laureate from 2003-2005. Bear in mind, when reading what comes next that this book is recommended for ages 8-12. His style in writing the foreword suggests that he is talking to these young readers. The fifth paragraph starts: "When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, published forty years ago, speaks to us of a time most of us know only through books of history and fiction, through archive film, as well as through movies. It is from The Diary of Anne Frank to I am David and Schindler's List and The Pianist that most of us have our haunting but distant insights into the lives of those who had experienced the terrors and horrors of Nazi persecution and extermination..." I understand that 8-12 year olds may well have read the former two (The Diary of Anne Frank and I am David) - I know I had read at least one of those at that age (Anne Frank), having both a taste for the historical and something of a fascination with all things WWII (and Holocaust - I think I was a rather odd child). However, I highly doubt they have seen the latter (Schindler's List and The Pianist), not least because they're both rated 15. Don't get me wrong, they're both right up there as favourite films, I think they're amazing. But they're definitely not for children of the age the book is primarily aimed at. I dunno. That part of the foreword just felt rather odd. Surely, given the writer's status as a former Children's Laureate, he would be aware of what a child of that age has been exposed to, and what they haven't? |
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| Feb. 1st, 2009 @ 03:42 pm Snow in Canterbury, Yorvik Viking Centre in BBC History | |||
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It's all snowy here, hence the icon - apparently the only one I have, in over 100, that features snow. Apparently a severe weather warning has been issued for Kent valid from now till Tuesday. Will be interesting to see how all this turns out :) We're well provisioned, so lots and lots of snow would be lovely :D I was amused by a piece in the February 2009 issue of BBC History magazine ("Footsteps" section) about the Jorvik Viking Centre, which I think will strike a chord with all who have visited. I've transcribed it below - sorry for any typing errors :) ( Cut for legnth ) |
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| Jan. 22nd, 2009 @ 11:24 am MPs and FOI | |||
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Typical, that on the day the Government withdraws the plan to keep MPs expenses secret my MP should write back to me about voting against the proposed measure. For good measure, I'm putting a copy of his reply here. Bits in italics were handwritten and not always very clear ;) ( Letter from Julian Brazier ) In other news, should you have any spare cash lying around (I know that this is unlikely given the current economic climate) and fancy putting it towards a cool cause, the National Railway Museum in York are trying to gather funds so they can finish their restoration of The Flying Scotsman. "Steam our Scotsman" - the campaign to raise money to finish the restoration. |
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| Dec. 10th, 2008 @ 12:13 pm Picture post (using crappy camera-phone pictures) | |||
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A bit of an update entry here, using crappy phone camera pictures to show a little of what I've been up to :) Firstly, due to a deal between mum and Pete I was the agent delivering 43 beers to Pete (and buying said beer), leading to a rather odd looking collection of goods when I made the purchase - 43 beers and a packet of naan bread for our dinner that evening. I'm fairly sure that the collection would have looked a whole lot less odd if it hadn't been for the naan bread.  The clunking of that lot in the car sounded quite dreadful as I accelerated, braked, turned corners... Luckily nothing broke :)  In other news, the Christmas Market is now in town! There's a stall that sells cool keyrings and 3D wooden puzzels. I've got some pictures of the keyrings, but not the puzzels :( Also, not the full spectrum of keyrings - there are lizards and frogs, and elephants, and giraffes and all sorts, all made from natural rubber :)   There's a stall with mulled wine and hot chocolate (regular hot chocolate and hot chocolate with rum or amaretto).  There's also a stall selling all kinds of Wurst, cooked over a barbeque. This stall is ben's favourite! :D  Finally, I took this picture of a very funny card: ( NSFW! ) Carols at the Cathedral tonight. I'm really looking forward to it :D It always feels like Christmas is really on its way when we have them. It also really enthralls the history part of me, as we stand in the Nave of the Cathedral with all the lights off, holding lit candles and singing carols, because I feel a real connection to the past - 100 years ago, 400 years ago, 1000 (or so) years ago there would have been people there doing much the same thing. It's hard to articulate, but it feels amazing. |
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| Nov. 9th, 2008 @ 04:18 pm Remembrance Sunday | |||
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I originally posted something like this when I first went on a trip to Ypres with my Special Subject class in April 2005. The original is here on my LiveJournal, and the version I'm posting now is here on my website. I'm posting it again today because I feel it's appropriate for Remembrance Sunday. ( Cut for legnth - it's very long ;) ) |
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| Oct. 17th, 2008 @ 10:19 am Ludwig Erhard = Gordon Brown? | |||
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Recently I've been reading The Berlin Wall: 13 August 1961 - 9 November 1989 by Frederick Taylor (which, by the way, is an excellent book that I am highly recommending), and a couple of paragraphs jumped out at me as being completely and utterly appropriate to describe Gordon Brown and everything that is happening at the moment. As George Santayana apparently once said "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it". Perhaps Gordon Brown should pay closer attention to the lessons History has for us :) "In the September 1965 elections, the SPD made further gains. Brandt again failed to achieve victory, but the Social Democrats' share of the vote continued to edge upwards. The conservatives' share continued its decline, while the liberal Free Democrats lost quite heavily. But the conservative/liberal coalition, led by Adenauer's successor, Ludwig Erhard, hung on to power. As Economics Minister, Professor Erhard had been the architecht of the West German 'economic miracle' after 1949, but, like so many long-serving successful second-in-commands, once he finally heaved himself into the top position he swiftly confirmed why he had always been the deputy and not the chief. Erhard proved inept at both party-politicking and foreign policy. Moreover, for the first time since the end of the war, German industry went into recession and a 'black hole' appeared in the state finances. With half a million West Germans unemployed - paradisiacal, at just over 2 per cent of the work-force, as this may seem by twenty-first-century standards - in 1966 there was anxious talk of a return to the 1930s." (Pages 512-513) See what I mean? ;) If you changed some words (Erhard for Brown, West German for Britain etc) it could have been written about our ETA: I just realised I don't have a history icon! :O This will have to be rectified! |
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| Jul. 29th, 2008 @ 11:15 pm Old UKC pictures | |||
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I finally got round to photographing and uploading more pictures from "From Vision to Reality", as well as rephotographing those that were already there so they are better quality. They are here for those who want to look :) I've also made a new LJ icon. ION: I went to see The Dark Knight this evening at Ashford. Twas good. Won't say any more though in case of spoilers. |
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| Jul. 5th, 2008 @ 01:42 pm Happy Birthday NHS | |||
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Today the NHS turns 60, and I want to wish it a very happy birthday and wish it well for the next 60. I know there are plenty of problems with it, I am not blinkered enough to say that there could not be improvements, but I believe that it is one of the greatest achievements of this country, especially in the post-World War II period. Here's why. In 1900 (that's only 108 years ago) in this country: * Life expectancy was below 50 years * 163 out of every 1000 babies born died before they reached the age of 1 (that's 16.3%) * The majority of families could not afford to see a doctor The government refused to interfere as the emphasis at this point in time was on a "laissez-faire" country, meaning that things should be left to take their own course. It was believed that interference by the Government would strangle the economy, so generally people were left to sink or swim as they could. During the latter years of the 19th Century, and the early years of the 20th Century many reports began to come out which drew attention to the plight of the poor, which was reinforced by something of a recruitment crisis for the army during the Boer War. Of those who volunteered 35% (over a third) were rejected as medically unfit, generally because of problems related to poverty. This changed in 1906 when the Liberal Party was elected, with David Lloyd George as their Chancellor of the Exchequor, and what followed was a package of reforms that ultimately led to a constitutional crisis. The reforms included the setting up of Old Age Pensions, free school meals (which went quite some way to tackling malnutrition among the poor), slum clearance programmes and Labour Exchanges (see here for more information). The most pertinent reform to what I'm discussing today was the 1911 National Health Insurance act, which brought in various safeguards for those in employment who could afford to contribute to a scheme, which would then pay for them to go see a doctor if ill, and pay a small sum every week if the contributor were unemployed or unable to work. The government paid a sum to the scheme, as did the employer. The limitations of this scheme were numerous. It only covered those able to work, which at this period were mostly men, and even then the only hospitalisation it payed for was sanitorium treatment for TB. It did not cover those earning too little to be able to afford to contribute, children, the elderly, women, and those who were chronically and mentally ill. As a result, many still relied on the quack remedies that they had done before the scheme came in to force. The sad truth was that despite the advances in Medicine that had taken place, most people could not access it. The major problems with NHI showed themselves in the 1930s during the Great Depression when so many were out of work, and so many accounts in arrears (upwards of 4 million) that the companies running the schemes made no profit, which was compounded when the government reduced its contribution. The turning point came with the Second World War. The Government were in possession of some rather terrifying figures about expected casualty rates as a result of any enemy bombing action, which thankfully never came to pass, though the Government did not know this at the start of the war. ( Expected Casualties (because I found this during my dissertation research and I think it's really interesting) ) As a result the Government planned various strategies to deal with the expected casualties (including a stockpile of cardboard coffins). The one relevant to this "History of the NHS", is the Emergency Hospital Scheme, which was funded and run by the Government and was "designed to serve the purpose of a moment" - to look after those injured in the war, especially bombing victims. Under this scheme any treatment needed, including hospitalisation, was free. It was during this period, in 1942, the the Beveridge Report was published which proposed a "free national health service" as a way of combating the five 'Giant Evils' of Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. The Conservatives, who nominally had the majority in the Commons at this time (though there was actually a "Government of National Unity" in power) refused to commit to putting in place the reforms, which was one of the reasons why they were beaten so comprehensively by the Labour party in the 1945 General Election. One of their first acts when they got in to power was the 1946 National Health Service Act, which provided in law for a free and comprehensive health care system. The first day of this National Health Service was to be 5th July 1948 but there was an enormous amount of work that had to take place before it could start, including the nationalisation of Hospitals, the creation of health centres, the better/fairer distribution of doctors around the country and the creation of a new salary structure. On top of all this work, there was a huge amount of opposition (as with any large and sudden change). Most Local Authorities and Charitable Organisations who had previously run hospitals were opposed, as were doctors, who did not want to be employed by the government, or told where to work. In fact, at the beginning of 1948 90% of doctors said that they would not co-operate with the NHS. There was also opposition from many who were scared by the huge costs involved, but Aneurin Bevan who was Minister for Health at this time argued that Britain could afford it, and had to afford it. Bevan worked extremely hard to ensure the creation of the NHS, and by hook or by crook (he allowed doctors to work for the NHS and keep private patients while getting the public to sign up with doctors for the NHS - if a doctor didn't sign the form, he risked losing the patient [and the funding that came with them] to a doctor who would), made sure that over 90% of doctors had signed up by the opening day. The benefits of the NHS were visible very quickly, especially in those groups which had not been covered until its creation. Maternal and infant mortality levels fell very quickly and life expectancy rose, especially as the new techniques and drugs (such as Penicillin) became available at no cost to people who would have died for want of them. In 2008 we're looking at: * An average life expectancy of 77 years, with more and more living until 100. * An average of 5.2 out of every 1000 babies dying before the age of 1 (0.52%) [figures from 2006] * Everyone can see a doctor, irrespective of whether they can pay What I'm trying to say in an incredibly long winded way is that the NHS may not be perfect, but in comparison to what we have had before it is amazing, and I sometimes think we lose sight of just how brilliant it is amongst all the complaining about the things that are wrong and the compromises that sometimes have to be made. My dad was chronically ill with Type 1 Diabetes most of his life, and we did not have to pay towards his care. His final illness and the two weeks spent in intensive care did not bankrupt us. When my mum hurt her back and she was in bed for 6 weeks her care (a physio, home help twice a day, doctors visits, nurse visits) did not cost us. When my mum was pregnant with me and was kept in hospital for most of those 9 months my parents did not have to check her out because they were worried about the cost, nor did they have to worry about the bill they were getting at the end. When I was ill with depression I did not have to worry about the cost of my prescriptions or my counselling. The times Phil has injured himself we have not had to worry about the bill from the Hospital for getting him checked out. Ben and I have not had to worry that while I've been off work I've been without coverage for my health (or traded electricity/food/rent for insurance coverage). I think there's a lot to be said for that. So Happy Birthday NHS, here's to many many more. ETA: Pretty much 1500 words. I wrote as much as that in some of my degree essays. Sorry guys! |
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| Jun. 20th, 2008 @ 05:59 am London (edexcel moderation day) | |||
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Why is it that the night before you have to get up super early it always seems particularly difficult to get to sleep? And last night I had trouble staying asleep too. Not funny, whoever's fault it is! I'm specifically looking at you, $deity! Anyway, I'm off to London today (have to be on a train in less than 50 minutes to be there on time) to my edexcel moderation day (yes, I'm marking for them again this year!), after which, assuming I'm not dead, I'm hopping over East London way to see ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} kimble and barakta. I know I'm an old hand at this, as I remembered to ask for a receipt when buying my train tickets so I can fill in and submit the expenses claim there and then. *Awards gold star to self for being organised like that*It should all be quite nice, assuming I can stay awake :) Have a nice day everyone :) |
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| Jan. 27th, 2008 @ 06:29 pm HMD or In which I try not to sound like an Anti-semite | |||
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Today is Holocaust Memorial Day and I was reflecting on my drive back from Sainsbury's that I have real issues with this day being a "thing". The reason it is today is to coincide with the day that Auschwitz was liberated. That this is commemorated is not really the problem I have - it should be remembered. The issue I have is with there being a "Holocaust Memorial Day" in which everyone is told to remember the holocaust. The focus is on the Holocaust, and specifically (at least in the media) the Jewish element of it. Which in some ways it is fine - after all, the Jews were overwhelmingly the victims of the nazi mass murder policy, but millions of other people were also murdered during the Holocaust, including 3 million gentile Poles, not to mention the millions of Soviet "prisoners of war" and other soviet citizens (edit: an estimate found on an article on genocide on wikipedia suggest that between 16 and 17mn deaths attributable to the Nazis genocides in WWII of which 6-7mn are Jewish link). I feel a greater mention should be made of those. My main problem though is that I feel it should be called Genocide memorial day. A number of quotes about HMD is that it's about action - remembering other genocides, thinking about racism and prejudice that still happens. If that is the case I feel it would be better served by being called Genocide Memorial Day, so that the Armenian Genocide, the Rwandan Genocide and Darfur (among many others that have happened or are happening but that I cannot think of by name edit: Ben found a list on wikipedia), yet the focus is not on these others that have happened or are happening. I dunno, that's what I think in a rather disorganised way. Hope I don't come across as Anti-Semitic, because that is not how I mean my comments. Argh. It's a subject that's irritating me a lot at the moment but is hard to talk about without sounding like a complete arse hole. |
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| Jan. 22nd, 2008 @ 03:02 pm Various ramblings (including my take on the news at the moment and a quiz) | |||
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Watching the news today I'm shocked that the economy hasn't completely collapsed. As The Daily Mash said this morning: "STOCKBROKERS are preparing for a third day of running around and waving their hands in the air, shouting 'nooooooooooooooooooo!!!'." The amount of doom and gloom has been amusing, but possibly because right now I have nothing to lose. In a fantastic scheduling coincidence, True Movies has the whole of this afternoon taken up with The Day The Bubble Burst, a film about the 1929 Stock Market crash. Seems rather apt ;) On the local news there was no Kaddy doing the weather to keep the boys amused and hanging onto every second of the bulletin, instead, there was Michael Fish with a rather strange (but cool) tank top with weather symbols covering his nipples. I don't think benc will think it a good enough substitute.( Michael Fish's Jumper ) My new meds are kicking in now, and instead of feeling very fuzzy, dizzy and somewhat stoned while also sleeping for about 18 hours each day I woke up before midday (a first since Saturday) and have felt relatively with it. A pity I have to up the dose tonight when I expect the aforementioned side effects to come back. At least I know they won't continue forever. On the upside, I am now sleeping through the night :) Spent friday night playing GH1, 2 and 3 at Adam's house. There was also curry eaten. I'm much better at GH than I was the last time we had such an evening, which resulted in me being practically banned from playing on medium. Damn! I'll just have to get really good at Hard then ;) Pity hard is *so* hard. I'm stuck on the Kaiju Megadome set, so I've started on Expert to see if it will help me along with the last of the hard lot. I've recently uploaded some new icons, which include some Third Watch ones (a series I'm very into at the moment) and the one I'm using today, the Epstein-Barr virus (also mononucleosis or Glandular Fever) which I had a few years back and ben got me for Christmas :) ( Which old language am I? ) |
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| Jan. 4th, 2008 @ 01:55 pm Book a Week Challenge 2008 - 1/52, Stasiland by Anna Funder | |||
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My first book of 2008 in the CBB Book a Week challenge 2008 has been Stasiland by Anna Funder. I brought it after Christmas with some Waterstones vouchers I had been given. It's a series of stories written by an Australian who lived and worked in Berlin after Germany was reunited and began looking into stories of those who found themselves on the wrong side of it. There were accounts by people who had worked for the Stasi and those whose lives had been ruined by it. There were brief rundowns of the way in which the GDR (German Democratic Republic also known as East Germany) and the Stasi were run. It is very interesting and I couldn't put it down - I would recommend it to anyone who wants an idea how these organisations worked and their impact on people's lives but only had a very hazy idea before picking up the book. I could have told you what the GDR and Stasi were before, but now I have a much better understanding and want to read more. It is also truly scary in parts: ( Radiation to track suspects ) ( On the levels of surveillance and infiltration of informers in all aspects of GDR life ) It also brought my attention to the "puzzle-women" of the File Authority. As the GDR collapsed the Stasi attempted to destroy by electronic shredder, and when those failed, by hand, the files it held on their own citizens. (which back to back would have stretched for more than 100 miles). The fragments from these were held in sacks and with the manpower available to piece them back together it would have taken more than 400 years to repair all the files that had been shredded (still more were not destroyed and are available for former East Germans to view - many now want to see their own files). The BBC News has a recent story about the switch to computers in the hope that the job will be completed sooner. It is fascinating. In all a very very interesting book that leads me to want to read more about the GDR and the Stasi. |
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| Jan. 1st, 2007 @ 06:07 pm A day in town and "The Pianist" | |||
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A successful day today I think, despite a lack of sleep caused by late night and early morning. Or rather, early morning and early morning ;) Ben and I went to town as I had a need for some new slippers and it seemed like a most excellent time to spend our Christmas vouchers. I would say "and our Christmas money", but we spent that on a new TV (19" w/s Samsung LCD of joy and happiness) - no more flicker for us! :D Ben came back with several CDs he's been joyfully ripping all afternoon and I got a book (The Children's War: The Second World War Through the Eyes of the Children of Britain) and a DVD (The Pianist), which I sat and watched this afternoon while ben ripped his CDs. It was seriously intense. More intense, uncomfortable and in some ways visceral and graphic than Schindler's List which is a film in a similar vein (and one of my all time favourite films). It was an amazing film of an amazing story - that of Władysław Szpilman, a Jewish concert Pianist who lived in Warsaw, eventually escaped the Ghetto after a very narrow shave and lost his whole family to Treblinka. I highly recommend seeing this film, it's a definate must see. Just don't expect it to be pleasant viewing. |
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| Nov. 27th, 2006 @ 03:21 pm Richard Holmes | |||
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Richard Holmes is coming to UKC on Friday 1st December (this Friday) on In the footsteps of Churchill from 6pm in Keynes. I'm very excited. I'm going - anyone else up for it? :) |
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| Oct. 17th, 2006 @ 06:56 pm One day in history - 17th October 2006 | |||
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Hiding out here: CT2
Today is the designated "One Day in History" which I mentioned in my last post, so for the first time in years (since I was an annoying first or second year undergrad) I'm going to lay out in no uncertain terms an exact (or not ;)) run down of what I've done with my day.Mostly feeling:  mischievousNow Playing: Barenaked Ladies: The sound of your voice First, let me say that despite the 17th October being chosen for being "normal" or "usual" having no special significance, today was actually fairly out of the ordinary for me. Funny how when you go looking for a normal day, you turn out having something one that is quite of the ordinary. I'm doing two jobs at the moment. The first is dropping kids at school and picking them up again (job1). After that I usually walk from Blean School onto the University of Kent's campus for my second (temp) job working for one of the departments there (job2). This morning I woke up when the radio alarm went off at 6:15 and lay cuddling ben until the beepy alarm went off 15 mins or so later. I got up and wasted some time on irc before getting ben up to help bandage my ankle (which I sprained yesterday), getting dressed and heading to the job with the kids. Got them ready for school and then Ben turned up and walked them to school. Usually I'd do this, but I wasn't supposed to walk too much cos of the aforementioned sprain. Instead I drove to Park Wood and met Ben there, then drove him to work. I had a cup of hot chocolate in the gulb before wriggling out of my jeans (for job1) and into my smart skirt (for job2) and heading over to I had lunch in Rutherford with Rah and Claire (lovely Jacket Potatoes, though Rah's chicken looked rather radioactive). The afternoon passed fairly uneventfully as I did data entry for an hour before heading off to job1 again. I usually walk them home, but again, to stay off my ankle I drove them home where I left them with their mum (my friend Sue) who was home early. I came home and did stuff on the internet, waiting for Ben to finish work and tonight he headed back from work on his own so I didn't have to go out again. We curled up and watched some TV together before having a dinner of bacon, fried eggs, oven chips and baked beans. I'm now watching old Casualty before heading over to Sue's for some ice cream and a gossip. It's been a pretty lovely day really, and the sunset was just amazing :) I suspect in 100 years people will look at this and marvel at how mundane it is, but I'm trying to give them an idea of what it was like living my life in 2006. Clearly I need to spice up my everyday life a bit :) [edit] I'm pretty pathetic. I'm very excited because my post/thread about One Day in History is on the front page of the TES Staffroom :D ( Looky! ) |
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| Oct. 14th, 2006 @ 06:28 pm One day in history - 17th October 2006 | |||
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Via ladymondegreen_ and no1typo Make 17th October 2006 One Day in History day. "We want as many people as possible - tens of thousands of UK residents - to record a 'blog' diary of this one day to be by the British Library and others as a record of our national life. And we want to urge people to reflect in their diaries how history itself impacted on them - whether it be simply commuting through an historic environment, or how business history influenced their decision-making, or merely that they looked up some old sports statistics or listened to some pop music from the 1960s. It could be anything." All this will be in a similar vein to Mass Observation (the diaries of some members can be found reproduced in Our Hidden Lives, a thoroughly excellent book which I own). I'll be participating and I hope a large number of you guys on my friends list will also :) The page to fill it out on is here. I'll also be writing mine out on my LJ :) |
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| Jun. 10th, 2006 @ 06:52 pm My own personal piece of World War One | |||
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no1typo, my mamma, just got back from her holiday in Yorkshire with the news that I had two great uncles who died in World War One. Wow. I never knew that! I found their records on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission online database and here they are: Fred Widdowson who died in 1915 near Arras, and Arthur Widdowson who died in Northern France just 10 days before the end of the war. It's kinda cool, kinda sad. I keep thinking about their family. Having one die so close to the armistace just makes it so much more bitter. |
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| Apr. 4th, 2006 @ 12:17 pm Cane Hill Hospital | |||
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Yesterday benc, bethanthepurple, red_pill and I went up to Cane Hill Hospital (as written about before here). We decided we wanted to walk on the public footpath (in green) around the old place and take some pictures. It was a nice day, we were in the mood for a walk and we thought this would be cool. We got up there and stood taking a few pictures of the main entrance from the footpath when a security guy in a white van came up, got out and came round the fence. He ignored red_pill and benc (and also bethanthepurple who was ignoring him and being non confrontational and cool) and went for me (young, female, short...) and started to be very confrontational with me, telling us that we would have to leave immediately, that he would escort us from the premises. I told him (seeing as he was only talking to me) that it was a nice day, we were going for a walk along the footpath and that we would walk to the end and back again. He told us that he was the boss and we were going to be escorted off or he would call the police. Eventually he said we could walk to Portnalls Road (the other end of the public footpath) and he'd meet us there.We got there, he yelled at us a bit more and we walked back the way we'd come like we'd always intended to. When we got back to the point he'd originally met us at he was there again, with a mate in a car painted like a police car, which followed us all the way down the road. I was (and still am) to some extent absolutely furious at being accused of something I had no intention of doing and being made to feel like a criminal for doing nothing wrong. What a dick. He was employed by Defense Security Services (UK) Ltd, and their contact number is 020 8640 3000. Pictures are here (note red_pill doing his insane thing -  ).An account by benc is here and here.An account by bethanthepurple is here (friends only) and one by red_pill is here.A video I made about yesterday's goings on at Cane Hill, with sound (yay Queen!) OOH! And an avi version. JOY! Edit, 22nd Jan 2008: A YouTube version! If you visit, make sure you stick to the footpath and stand your ground if security start questioning you. I would also suggest phoning the police and reporting the harassment should it continue. I wish we had. I also reccommend getting their SIA identification so you can report them later. |
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| Jan. 29th, 2006 @ 01:39 pm Cane Hill | |||
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Cane Hill MSU is situated very close to where I used to live in Coulsdon with no1typo and red_pill. I was, and still am aware that it's there and open and I know that there used to be a far larger complex open there because you can see the Water Tower of this complex for miles away, including the hill that we three lived on. I knew that this complex had been closed in the late 80s/early 90s and that it has become a frequent target for arson and vandalism, in one case requiring more than 40 Fire Engines and 6 hours (notable for cutting power to a transmitter on top of the water tower and stopping some poor souls from recieving BBC2 for a time) to extinguish the inferno released by some mindless idiots that I'm almost certain I knew through my estate or school. Anyway, yesterday, after some weird link following I found a history of Cane Hill Hospital as it was until 1992 (when the main site was closed). It turns out it was built in 1882 and is the reason that there is so much green space around Coulsdon - large amounts were granted in perpetuity because of the Hospital. It was, at its peak, a 2,500 bed Mental Hospital and is on a massive site. It has housed the relatives of many celebrities, including the mother of Charlie Chaplin, the half-brother of Michael Caine, and the brother of David Bowie (who committed suicide on the tracks at Coulsdon South station). I didn't realise how much of it the little fuckers had destroyed with fire or how beautiful the chapel there is. I've lived so close to this place and I had no idea about its history, size or how it really looked. Well now I've done some exploring and come up with a number of links: * Report from the guys at the 28 days later forum about their expedition inside Cane Hill * Simon Cornwell's absolutely amazing webpage on Cane Hill, lots of pictures and more, including details of the history of the place and essays. Best of the lot. * From Abandoned Britain, lots and lots of pictures! (Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9,Page 10, Page 11, Page 12, Page 13, Page 14). * From two lads at subculture.org.uk, pictures and narrative. Based on a picture from a bedroom window I suspect I know where they live ;) * Some excellent pictures with helpful narrative from nobodythere.co.uk (click on the envelopes!) * A video at sub-urban.com * A couple of pictures here * Some really cool pics with a second page * An offering from urbandesertion. One of the best of the lot (pictures here) * Mechanised's page - features pictures interspersed with comments about the building itself and how well preserved (or otherwise) they are! I particularly loved the picture of the slippers. * Ben Charlton's pictures of the outside of several buildings, though only those which boarder the public footpath 744 which runs round the southern perimiter of the site. Have a look at the pictures - in some there are still syringes and drugs, beds, chairs, books, magazines, pictures, clothes, equipment (including an ECT machine) and a piano that were never removed. It's not even a case of "will the last one out please turn off the lights" - it's almost like the last person out didn't realise they were last. Absolutely amazing. [EDIT 26th August 2008] I've just done some tidying up, removing links that are now dead and updating others where things have moved. I have also replicated the list over at http://canehill.co.uk. Please comment here or email me if you have a link with pictures/a history that you want me to add, or anything about Cane Hill that you might want to host there. I'm happy to consider hosting most content about Cane Hill for free, so contact me if there is anything you want to go up. |
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| Apr. 22nd, 2005 @ 11:09 pm My Invasion of Belgium | |||
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Today I invaded Belgium, or, more specifically, Ypres. indescribableNow Playing: Cats playing I went with my special subject history class and it was really quite good fun, thought very thought provoking. The atmosphere on the coach changed after the first cemetary and it took until Calais for things to be "normal" again. My pictures of Ypres are here. Now for the write up. We went to France through the Eurotunnel, which I was worried about to begin with because I can get i. Claustrophobic and ii. scared going through tunnels, expecially ones that run under water. Lots of people said I wouldn't notice. I did ;) Our coach went on there and stopped and then the doors were closed and it felt claustraphobic. Then we went into the tunnel and I concentrated very hard on my book to try and dissipate the feeling of terror. It kind of worked, and I got to the other end without a noticeble panic attack \o/ I smiled when we came out of the tunnel and really relaxed when the coach came off the Eurostar. Long drive later (filled with commentary from our tutor, Dr Mark Connelly, we arrived in Ypres and started visiting cemitaries. Mark told us that a third of all the British War Dead from WWI are in or around Ypres. That was rather startling. The first cemitary we visited (pictures 1477 to 1486) was Brandhoek New Cemetery. New cemeteries were built post war. Old cemeteries were established during the war. Brandhoek is largely filled with men who died at a medical facility and a large proportion of the dead here are made up of the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC), including Captain N. G. Chavasse who was one of only 3 people to ever win a Victoria Cross twice (VC and Bar). The cemetary at Brandhoek was very small, especially compared to Tyne Cot which we would see later and was a very peaceful place. One of the most interesting and apt sights for me was seeing forget-me-nots growing on the graves. ( Brandhoek ) Next we visited Menin Road South (pictures 1487 to 1499), in which is buried a Colyer-Fergusson, also a VC winner and also connected to Kent Uni, as his family sponsor grants and concerts at the University. ( Menin Road South ) Tyne Cot (pictures 1500 to 1535) was next and this cemetery was truly awe inspiring. Tyne Cot is the largest British war cemetery anywhere in the world. There are 12,000 men buried in the cemetery of which only 2,000 have been identified. There are 35,000 men's names on the memorial to the missing. Tyne Cot is so called because the German Pill Boxes that littered the area reminded the soldiers facing them of the miners cottages on the tyne. The nickname "tyne cot" was born. The names are inscribed on the wall of the missing in order of regimental preference, meaning that the Guards were first, then the regiments of foot listed in order of age. ( Tyne Cot ) We drove past Poelcappelle on the way to Langemark. Poelcappell was noteworthy because it holds the grave of the youngest soldier to die in the war. He was 14. This seemed like a fitting mood-setter for Langemark. Langemark (1536 to 1549) is the only German war cemetery in the area and has a mood and feeling completely different from any other cemetery I have been in. It just feels so full of sadness and sorrow and anger and dissappointment. In the small space of Langemark are buried at least 35,000 Germans. Listed on wooden plaques in the walls of the little chapel there are the names of the dead students from Germany's Universities. These are the same conscripts who went into war against regular soldiers singing. They were slaughtered. Tyne Cot makes you think but Langemark gets under your skin in a way no other cemetery in Ypres does. ( Langemark ) Next we stopped quickly at St Julien (1551-1554), the site of the very first Gas Attack. The monument at St Julien was my favourite. It is truly beautiful. It is so very...respectful. I'm not sure that's the right word, but it's sort of what I mean. ( St Julien ) Finally, we went to Ypres itself (1554 to 1569), saw the Menin Gate and had lunch. The coolest thing at the Menin Gate was a scale model of the Gate made out of metal with a braille inscription around the outside for blind visitors. They can feel the model and get a feel for the gate. It's really very cool :D Ypres was fun (Also had the tackiest chocolate "souveniers" possible. Chocolate tommie's helmets. ehehehhee :) Quote of the day: In Ypres town square, Roy's bankcard gets rejected by the cash machine: Stefan: See? This is why Natwest are crap Roy: which bank are you with then? Stefan: HSBC - The world's local bank - accepted everywhere. That's why I use it. *inserts card, card is instantly rejected by machine* ( Menin Gate ) My impression of the day? It's kind of too soon to explain properly, though I'll try and put into words how I feel. Paul Fussell said that one of the reasons that the people of the twenties felt they had completely lost the pre war world was that no language they knew then was up to the task of describing the war. Fussell explains that they had to invent new language to communicate what it was they felt. Having seen what I saw today I would say that actually Fussell is wrong and right at the same time. There was no language to describe it, but crucially there still is none today. No words can describe what I saw and felt. Words are completely and utterly useless for trying to quantify what I experienced today. I don't think that I will ever be properly able to do so. I don't think I'm the only one who left feeling like that. |
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| Apr. 19th, 2005 @ 10:58 am A reason why the correct portrayal of history is vitally important | |||
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-p nervousSuddenly history teaching seems to be much more important... |
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| Apr. 19th, 2005 @ 10:51 am Apollo13 | |||
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Ben poked me at this really excellent account of Apollo13 and how mission control got the crew back this morning. A really excellent story, well worth the read :D curiousNow Playing: AdiemusII |
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| Mar. 22nd, 2005 @ 10:54 pm Today and tomorrow | |||
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Among the things I have been doing at my school placement is helping with lots of classes. I help in at least one class of every year group except year nine (no lessons on Tuesdays/Fridays). Today was my day with the tinies (years seven and eight)* and turned out to be great. Second period I was with a very low achieving year eight group (we're talking the lowest set) and I've been in a few lessons with them before. Typically getting them to learn or engage is like pulling teeth, but today they switched on and wanted to learn about Isambard Kingdom Brunel. They asked me for help and thanked me for helping them. They went away having learnt something and I felt great for helping them to achieve that. scaredNow Playing: Evita Third period I helped in the year seven class. I've been helping with them for a while too and this class is completely different. They're still enthusiastic in a way that no other year group is. They don't quite have the secondary school jaded scepticism yet. Anyway, they've been doing a topic on Castles this term and the past few lessons they've been making a castle out of cardboard to help them remember the structure of a castle and what castles have in them. They did everything only being reminded of the scale of it sometimes. Today they painted it. Here are the results. Aren't they great? :D ( Castle! ) It was a very tiring but a very rewarding day, capped by a little boy (4 years old) coming in from nursery covered in chocolate (from easter chocolate related activities at aforementioned nursery) and giving me a hug and a kiss. I love that little boy. I shall treasure that chocolatey hand print on my white tshirt ;) He's so sweet! Why oh why do they have to grow up :( Tomorrow is the scary scary thing. I have my interview at Christchurch. Am really quite scared now. I'm sort of prepared. I hope it's enough. Feedback would be good on my idea for a source though. I'm supposed to take a source in and say how I'd use it to introduce a topic. My idea was for a picture like ( this ) to introduce the holocaust to key stage 4 pupils (14-16 year olds). (Picture here in original context) I'm thinking this picture could be used to start that topic with questions posed to the teenagers such as "Why do you think there is a pile of shoes here?" "How did they come to be stacked like that" "Why do you think their owners don't need them any more" etc. What do you lot think? Is there a better way of doing this? A better topic/source I could use? Any and all help appreciated :S *for anyone not familiar with this style of naming year groups, year 7 is the lowest at a British high school, with the children in it being 11 or 12 typically [edit] My watch strap broke this evening so I'm without watch. I feel all naked and horrid :( If anyone has a spare watch they want to lend me before my interview... ;) |
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| Feb. 5th, 2005 @ 12:24 pm Oh dear | |||
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Here we go again?. happyNow Playing: Queen: I'm Going Slightly Mad In other news, it's been a very up and down week from the POV of my recovery from depression but am on the Up again now I think. In terms of things happening it's actually been a very good week. I have a place to gain experience to support my PGCE application at Community College Whitstable where my lovely employer Sue works in the Science Department. It seems like a really good school and they were really super helpful. I'm getting experience in the classroom (as a teacher's help or assistant or something), doing paperwork (making and photocopying worksheets etc) and observing other teachers (the deputy head is going to teach me how to observe teachers, something that I will apparetly learn for my PGCE anyway). It all sounds really cool :D So, pending a clear police check (which was sent off on Thursday when I was at the school for an interview) I should be cleared to start this straight after half term. It was worth getting dolled up in a trouser suit and feeling like a bit(read "lot") of an idiot (even though Ben and Miles said I looked lovely/nice/whatever) after all it would appear. Other excitement is that on March 7th I should be going on a Fun History Trip(TM) to ypres. I'm actually really excited :D Sounds like it will be excellent (if rather tiring and probably wet). I've been before in year 9 of High School but I know so much more now. I will take my camera and take pictures this time too. OOh, compsoc stuff finally starting to come together :) Not too much longer now, we promise :) I think that's about it for stuff I was going to say... |
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| Jan. 31st, 2005 @ 06:49 am It occurred to me last night | |||
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that I am possibly the only history student who goes to bed in a solaris 10 tshirt. geekyI wonder if the majority of my history peers have even heard of sun ;) |
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| Jan. 27th, 2005 @ 09:58 am There's always one... | |||
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Did we learn the lessons of Auschwitz? blankNow Playing: Can't Help Lovin' That Man O' Mine Most people are having a fairly reasoned debate or contribution. Then from Nathaniel, Houston, Texas, USA we get: "Have we learnt the lessons of Auschwitz? Depends on who "we" are. America had to twice go across the Atlantic to stop smaller genocides taking place in Europe after WW 2 (Bosnia and Kosovo). America also stepped in to stop Saddam Hussein, a dictator who gassed people and sent them to mass graves. So I would say America has most definitely learned from Auschwitz. Now as for whether or not "we" the Europeans have learned the lessons of Auschwitz, that's another story. Europeans sat idly by as Milosevic's thugs massacred Bosnians and Kosovars. Europeans drew absurd colonial boundaries in the third world, and then lifted nary a finger when the tribes they stuck together within these boundaries began to massacre one another. So if the question is have "we" learnt the lessons of Auschwitz, one needs to consider who is meant by "we" before answering." Do "we" think he voted for Bush then? |
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| Jan. 23rd, 2005 @ 12:05 pm And once again the BBC News Site drives me to an LJ entry | |||
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The article in question this time is about how the allies should have done more to bomb Auschwitz. contemplativeNow Playing: JCSS: I Don't Know How To Love Him Basically the BBC are going over (again) whether the Allies could and should have bombed the death camp at Auschwitz during World War Two. THere is no doubt that the allies knew the purpose of the camp, there are numerous historical documents that testify to that fact. THe bit that annoys me is that it is History. It is in the past and the actions that were taken then could not be changed. Everyone has 20:20 vision in hindsight and it's very easy for a journalist writing now to say "this is what we should have done". Perhaps we should have, but the fact remains that we didn't. I'm also a little concerned that noone raises the possibility could have killed a majority of the prisoners interned there, as (though I am not by any means an expert) I am not aware of there being any sort of Air Raid Shelters for the population of the camp. This isn't really very focussed. The main gist is (I think ;)) that I am annoyed of actions being taken 50, 100, 200 years in the past being re-examined in light of what we know now and the values we hold dear now. The world of the past was as confused as the present is to us now. Noone can know all of the facts at the time, they can just do the best job possible on the facts they have and it's not fair for them to be condemned in the future when we have all the facts, not only about the circumstances surrounding an event, but also the effects that a particular action had. Hrm. Sorry ;) Brain dump :P |
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| Jan. 21st, 2005 @ 02:01 pm Hrm. I hope none of you who read this take it the wrong way... | |||
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The BBC are running a story on "gay history month" and are asking schools to take part in teaching the children about LGBT history. I've thought about it and I'm not sure I agree. I believe that children should be educated about LGBT stuff so that they don't grow up to be homophobes and I agree that violence and homophobic taunts are rife in schools, but I'm not convinced that focusing on history of a specific group like that is healthy. I believe if it's going to be included that it should be included in the course of normal history lessons as it comes up and shouldn't be something that is gone out of the way for. thoughtfulHrm. I'm not explaining myself very well. I hope I don't offend anyone. It's just that I don't feel that it is constructive to make such a huge thing about it all. Surely the best way of helping children realise it's all perfectly normal is acting* like it is rather than holding month long events to focus on it specifically. To anyone I may have offended, I'm sorry :| *In this sense of the word "acting" I mean "the act of doing something" not "the act of pretending something" Hope this clarifies my point there :) |
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| Jan. 10th, 2005 @ 11:34 am Today I am mostly | |||
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 angry and PO'd and frustratedNow Playing: Beethoven: Mass In C Pissed Off"why?" I hear you ask. I'll tell you. I have a 5k word essay due in on Friday at 12pm. I looked for the books in the library (of which there is generally one copy of each text for a class of 15 all of whom will be writing the essay) at the end of last term and found they were all out on four week loan and not due back until this Wednesday. I found the books I could and put reservations on the others and sent an email to my tutor for this subject explaining the situation and asking if he had any of these texts that I could borrow for the holidays, mentioning that I could collect them from anywhere in the Canterbury area. The email bounced because his email box was full. Today I found him to ask
He agreed at once to item 3 in light of the circumstances. In response to question 2 he said it was the History Librarian's fault and he had requested the book in 2003 and it still hadn't been purchased. This goes against everything I know of the History Librarian who when asked by my other history tutor always makes appropriate provision for the books of that module. To item 1 he said to me that I should have
Number 3 I did, but when the items aren't due back until two days before the essay is due in there is not a lot putting a reserve on an item can do. Number 1 is a fair point and I know I should have started sooner. However, I didn't and given the number of people who needed the books and the amount of time the chances are that without them being put into short loans not everyone would have had access to them anyway.*1 I believe point number 2 is him trying to excuse himself. It is not the task of the student to make sure that the texts they need are properly available from the library. Before he issued the book list he should have made sure that all items on it were easily available for the number of students who would need access to them. He is the lecturer and he should liase with library staff to ensure each book on that list has the relevant amount of loan time attached. When I told him that I had emailed him during the holidays about it and the email had bounced he said "sweetheart, you need to be realistic about these things. Firstly I was in Suffolk*2 and secondly it's unreasonable for you to expect me to check my email on boxing day. Noone checks their email then".*3 After this I was far too pissed to speak any more so I thanked him for the extention after telling him once more that it was unacceptable and walked out. I'm still livid. I know I probably overreacted, but I'm still rather angry. Just GRRRRR.On top of this he was being all flappy all lesson about how the ten week term this term (usually 12 weeks - two weeks are carried over to the next term this year owing to an early easter). He told us he had cut some material because the shorter term meant he couldn't fit everything in. This is not true. The general understanding is that in this event the first two weeks are to be treated as the last two of the previous term. He explained that nothing like this had happened before. Bollocks had it - I know that at the University of Kent we used to run by a three terms of 10 weeks instead of the 12 12 6 system that we have at present, and this was not so long ago (though before my time ;)). Certainly during his. He's been here for years. I give up with History Professors. I really do >.< *sigh* *grrrr* *1 ordinary loan is 4 weeks. There are options available to tutors for soon to become high demand books to have them put to 1 week loan, short loan collection (a loan of overnight [from whenever the books is withdrawn until 10am the next day]) or even short loan four hour collection where the book is restricted to the library and only allowed to be used for a stretch of four hours at a time. *2 may not have been Suffolk. I was a rather pissed at the time from him calling me "sweetheart". Was also very pissed for being patronised. I'm 21. There is no need to treat me as if I'm 6. *3 I checked mine every day of the holidays including christmas day :o I wasn't asking him to check it then, or on boxing day, but at some point during the holidays was not too much to ask I feel. |
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| Dec. 21st, 2004 @ 08:29 am An update :o | |||
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Term has finished now. Been a rather hectic one too, there seemed to be no time to stop and breathe. Still, hopefully the holidays should give me some breathing space. Ben and I finished most of our Christmas shopping yesterday and cos it was a Monday and term still hasn't finished for most schools it wasn't too horrid. Unfortunately will have to do the last few bits in Croydon on the 23rd - that *will* be horrible :( Still, feel accomplished that most of it is out of the way :) cheerfulFor those of you interested in my academic work, my marks have jumped this year from an average of 58% to an average of 68%. I'm so proud of myself :D I hope I can keep it up, cos this would mean I could graduate with a definate 2:1, which is what I'm after. Still, I'll cross my fingers and hope quietly that I can keep it up. Have holiday work to do, which sucks :( Even worse is that all the books I need are out of the library until the 12th January, with the deadline being 5 days or so after that :| Will need to talk to my tutor I think. Speaking of my tutor, some may recall the battle over powerpoint I had with him: ( first email to tutor ) I got a reply: ( first email from tutor ) So I sent him an email back: ( second email to tutor ) I never recieved a reply. As a result my partner and I did a powerpoint pres and printed it to sheets of assitate instead, as they were the facilities available to us :| After out visit to the British Museum as part of the course (piccies here), I sent him a link to the pictures I took. And got a reply: ( surprising letter from my tutor ) Bwhahaha. I shall view that as a victory! :D Anyway, this has been long and boring enough, so I shall finish up now with a meme I stole from red_pill.( end of year meme ) |
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| Mar. 13th, 2004 @ 02:59 pm UKC past... | |||
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here are some pictures scanned from a book from the library called "From Vision To Reality; The Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury" by Graham Martin. Particulary of interest for UKC buffs are the pictures of Cornwallis collapsing and the study bedroom picture, where the furniture appears to be the same as that in the unrefurbished rooms now... amusedNow Playing: Beethoven - Mass in C: Credo |
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grumpy
relieved
peaceful
creative
tired
