Neglectful me.

I realised I've been somewhat neglectful of this blog - working full time, looking for jobs and doing Mitch's Honey do list means I don't get much time to write more, honest. So, in order to rectify this a little, I've got a pictorial catalogue of some of the things I've been up to over the last few months.

So, in no particular order:

I was joint best man for one of my oldest and best friends' wedding:


Mitch and I went to South London to visit my friend Stig where his daughters painted Mitch's nails, much to her, their and our general delight:


I went to the Falkirk Wheel! It was aces:


I'd wanted to go for ages and finally made it. It's powered by something like the equivalent of 8 irons plugged in. Or the same amount of electricity needed to keep Mitch warm.

I also went to Bergen and stayed with my friend Per down by the fjords. It was lovely. I also presented at a conference, but really that's an aside compared to staying at Per's house:



It was so fantastically dark at night that the window became a veritable mirror:


Per's neighbours had a nice hoose, but a wee bit remote for me:


Okay okay, I'll show you a picture of Bergen proper as well, since it is so pretty:


You can see the UNESCO World Heritage site just to the left of the picture there, it was pretty cook if a little rickety. Not really surprising given its age of course.

Mitch and I went to Brighton where we met up with her brother and his fiancee. Mitch looks pretty in black and white:


I adopted 3 cats. Well, I say adopted when I really mean looked after for a week through visitation rights. The one on the far right under the bed is called Sarah, the one with the arched back is called Stone and the other one is called Kans. We were best friends for a week. Probably because I could guarantee access to the dried tuna. No probably actually, definitely.


Duncan grew a ponytail and had me laughing like a drain:


My sister and her family came to see us and we went to the Natural History Museum and had a great time looking at all the animals:



We also went to St Andrews for a wee trip:




See, I have been busy!

In spite of the goatee beard.

Ian Bell has written an interesting article in today's Herald on Marx and the current disastrous US financial situation here. It reminded me of the several visits I've made with friends to Highgate Cemetery to see Marx's tomb below:


Surrounding the tomb are the graves of numerous erstwhile left leaning people who in all likelihood, alongside Marx, would view the current situation in the US and beyond as nothing more than expected, and with some justification. There is no little irony in seeing the free market trumpeting Republicans intervening left right and centre and bailing out companies that are now seeing the spoils of their lackadaisical (at best) approach to financial management coming home to roost. But of course, we've to feel sorry for the managing directors. Not the millions of people who are facing homelessness and unemployment as a result of being conned into thinking that they could afford mortgages way above their income. The 'credit crunch' will make its way into history textbooks in time and whoever decides to take up the analysis of it will likely have to set aside some time to analyse the myriad terms, industries, sub-industries and tangles that the sub-prime market impacts on.

Oh, and another thing. The facility set up by Goldman Sachs et al to help stabilise the market (HA!) reminds me of a similar action taken 40 years ago in Basle when the international monetary system was having some difficulties. Who says what I do isn't relevant?

Fun.

Since I was accused of not wanting people to have fun in the comments section earlier this week feast your eyes on this badboy. What could be more fun for the kids?

PhD.

I passed! I passed! I passed!

I never quite got The Smiths...

Primarily because I found/find Morrissey so objectionable. They have some very good songs certainly and I do like some of them, but any time Morrissey opens his mouth I find myself trying to control the urge not to break something. I did think for a while that maybe he had mellowed in his old age and that maybe he was more pleasant. Of course I was wrong. He's still a tube. Evidence? Well, have a look here here. It's an article in The Independent concerning an interview that he's given to the NME out today. Some choice cuts from the article if you can't be bothered reading the whole thing:

"England is a memory now," he says, in an interview with the NME published yesterday. "The gates are flooded and anybody can have access to England and join in."

and

"Although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears. So the price is enormous. Travel to England and you have no idea where you are. It matters because the British identity is very attractive. I grew up into it and I find it very quaint and amusing. Other countries have held on to their basic identity, yet it seems to me that England was thrown away."

Ah, of course! That old chestnut of conflating Britishness and Englishness. Indeed. I nearly forgot that Britain (purports) to represent Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales. And that's before I even get on to the irony of somebody who was shacked up in the Hollywood Hills for years, but now lives in Rome, who is the son of Irish immigrants talking about the gates being flooded and anyone getting access to join in. Yes, must have been a real killer for you to be able to be raised in England after your parents moved there, make all your money and then move to wherever you wanted to in the world, Steve. Xenophobic undertones? No not at all. Honest. Having made your money then buggered off after some less than well-received press in, oh wait! The NME! Surprise! Obviously Stevie-boy doesn't consider himself as diluting the culture of Rome or Hollywood whenever he decides to live somewhere other than where he was born. So is it on the basis of class or race that he has a problem with immigrants in Britain? Old Stevie makes his comments sufficiently vague as per usual so as to build up some mystery about what he really means. Only there's no real mystery is there?

What is the British identity anyway? Britain is a mongrel nation, just like more or less all nations. The notion of a particular British identity puzzles me. What is it? Allegiance to the Queen? Stiff upper lip? Adherence to the notion of Empire? Desire to be at the top table in world affairs? Pride in being a part of a group of countries? Drinking tea? Obviously most readers of this blog have a fairly good idea of what my opinions on the matter are, but I am genuinely puzzled by the ideal of a British identity. Morrissey's ill-advised comments regarding being flooded with immigrants are as repulsive as Enoch Powell's 'Rivers of Blood' speech nearly 40 years ago. Aye, maybe Morrissey is the new Enoch Powell?! Britain has a proud history of helping those less fortunate (well, except during times of Empire when it was busy shafting those less fortunate wherever possible) by providing a safe haven from persecution and it has contributed markedly towards Britain being a forward looking multicultural society. Even though I don't necessarily agree with the idea of there being a Britain per se, I still find Morrissey's musings offensive. He's controversial for the sake of being controversial- a desperate man desperate for reccognition in the twilight of his career. And here I am giving him it! Morrissey has the last laugh as always! A sad, desperate, misanthrope laughing at me? Boo hoo.

Chucking Buns Across The Fence? Governmental Planning and Regeneration Projects in the Scottish Highland Economy, 1945-82.

324 pages.
107,358 words.
2665 paragraphs.
11,031 lines.
4 years.
6 homes.
2 broken relationships.
1 wonderful engagement.
3 cities.
4 conferences.
£83.60 in binding charges.
3 soft bound copies.
2 electronic copies.

As Gordon Ramsay might say, DONE!

Ah'm awa the noo.

I'm aff tae Athens, it's going to be hotter than hot by the looks of things. I'm off for a conference on Economic Leadership in Small Countries where, if the programme hasn't lied to me, I'll be speaking immediately after a Nobel Laureate. I really couldn't have asked for a better warm up act though so I should just be thankful I suppose. Perhaps you'll get an international update from Greece. Perhaps not. I think it depends on whether or not the hotel I'm staying in (Hotel Esperia) is either a) as good as the reviews say or b) as bad as the reviews say. Apparently it's somewhat hit or miss. Fingers crossed...