Episode 3 – More of Manchester

Part of the University of Manchester

After the church, I stopped off at Caffe Nero for a sandwich (a low-far option – some kind of wrap with duck in it – but quite tasty actually) and a decent LARGE mug of tea. I’m not really the kind of person who enjoys tea in tiny cups. After I got back to my room, I decided to lie down for an hour – which turned into 2 ½ hours. After checking with reception to see if my suitcase had turned up (which it hadn’t) and waiting on hold with the British Airways Baggage Tracing Service (service? What service?!) for about 20 minutes with no result, I went out in search of food. I wandered up and down the main street (which I found out later is Manchester’s “Curry Mile”), but didn’t see anything that took my fancy. It’s a very Indian/Lebanese/Middle Eastern area – lots of kebab shops (and fried chicken shops, actually). I ended up buying a sandwich from Tesco’s, which was quite ok. I watched an episode of Heroes on my laptop (“5 Years Gone”) and went to bed early. In my clothes, unfortunately.

This morning, I had breakfast in the college dining room, pinched an extra croissant and some fruit from the buffet, and checked with reception. Still no suitcase. Called British Airways again. “We are experiencing a higher than usual volume of calls. Please call again later.” I convinced someone in reception to let me use a computer to try the online tracking service, but the lady at Manchester Airport didn’t give me a file reference number. Oops. Hung out in my room, doing some work, until a text message from my mum convinced me to go shopping. Caught a bus into the city centre (would have walked, but it was raining and I wasn’t sure my light-weight umbrella would survive the wind) and endured about four hours of humiliation, trying on every pair of jeans and casual pants (and some skirts) in Manchester to no avail. What’s the deal with UK sizes?! I seemed to be between a 16 and an 18, but even some 18s were too tight. Insanity! I bought two lovely tops from Oasis (my favourite UK store – bought a gorgeous dress from there two years ago) and the girls were extremely helpful suggesting places I could try for jeans. I finally found a pair in Debenham’s (no, I didn’t get my colours done!) that weren’t too hideous.

I walked back to my room (there’s something about trying on clothes that makes me want to exercise, and I thought I should walk off the apple and low-far sandwich I had for lunch!), had a shower and called BA again. After about 25 minutes of holding (on my mobile, mind you) I finally got through. When I was told that they weren’t sure where my bag was, but that it was probably still at London Heathrow, I flipped out. “How is that possible?! I’ve been here for over 24 hours! I was told my bag would be delivered yesterday afternoon! How can it still be at Heathrow??” Poor guy. He probably has to deal with so many angry customers, and it’s not his fault. Apparently Heathrow is having lots of problems with baggage at the moment, although the ladies at Hulme Hall told me it happens all the time. Not good. He did give me a file reference number so I could check on my bag’s journey online.

Anyway, I was pretty upset. While I was desperately trying to find clothes, I kept calling the reception desk at Hulme Hall to check if my bag had turned up, which would mean I could stop shopping. And I had only bought a few things that day, because I fully expected to get back to the college and find my bag waiting for me, which would have meant that the shopping trip was a waste of time. And if the bag might not arrive for several days yet, I would have to go out shopping for an outfit to wear for my presentation. Jeans just don’t seem appropriate for presenting a paper to the British Society for the History of Science!

I snuggled under the doona and did some Su Doku, and when I felt calmer I got dressed in my new clothes. The jeans were actually not quite as bad as I’d though, and with one of my new tops and my corduroy jacket, it looked kind of trendy.

This is the Great Northern Railway Company's Goods Warehouse, with the Hilton in the background. It's now a swanky (but not very busy) shopping/entertainment/restaurant centre. I saw Mika just around the corner from here!

I got the bus into the city centre again, and started looking for one of the restaurants I’d thought about trying. As I was walking along, I could hear loud music and realised it was Mika’s “Love Today”. It didn’t sound like recorded music, but I couldn’t hear a crowd. I kept walking, and soon came upon a whole bunch of people in a square, and Mika performing LIVE!! I was so excited! Of course, I stopped to listen (and watch!) I don’t know how long he’d been performing before I got there, but I head “Love Today,” “Grace Kelly,” and “Lollipop.” I couldn’t get much of a view, but I was only a couple of metres away when he left the stage and walked into a nearby hotel. Ah, that made my day! But why had I left my camera back in my room?!?!

Since I forgot my camera, here's a picture I pinched from Mika's website!

At the moment, I’m sitting in a pub called Mr Thomas’s Chop House. I had fish and chips with tartare sauce and mushy peas (fantastic!) and a Bulmer’s cider. I think I’ll walk back to my room to work it off. It’s been quite nice and relaxing sitting here; at least, it was until some loud Americans turned up. This pub was established in 1867 by Mr Thomas Studd, and continued until 1900 by his wife and daughter. There’s a board listing all the owners – only 8 from 1867-1953, but 23 from 1956 to the present.

Episode 2 – Around the University of Manchester

Sculpture at Whitworth Gallery made from saucepans, metal jugs, spoons etc.

The Whitworth Art Gallery

Castaways, by Virginia Ryan

Since 2003 I have produced more than one thousand Castaways at my studio in Accra, Ghana. Each work is a collage composition created from washed-up materials I collected along four local shorelines: Pram Pram, Jamestown, Labadi and Anomabo. All the works are resonant with the colours of foam and sand, as the waves break on the very shore from where the inhabitants were once taken and enslaved to build the New World.

Castaways are hung close together in rows, as if in a continuous wave, remembering and recording the simple stuff of people’s contemporary needs and desires along the one-time Gold Coast of West Africa. The pieces are constructed from organic and inorganic materials, objects that were once desired and purchased, used and worn, carried and discarded, left to wash out and carried back in.

Anomabo Shoreline, by Steven Feld

When I first saw Virginia Ryan’s Castaways in 2004, I found them quite echoic. In their material tactility, color, volume, and assemblage they were audible to me as a complete sound environment. Viewing some one hundred Castaways on Ryan’s Accra studio floor, I felt as though I was putting my ear to a huge seashell and listening to the detritus of history. In the rows of objects I could hear the washing-up-and-out sounds that deposited Virginia Ryan’s raw data, her signs of multiple human and material pasts, on the shorelines of Ghana in the present. Anomabo Shoreline is a composition that responds to this way of hearing the visual material of Ryan’s Castaways, creating for and with them an acoustic memory of where the Gold Coast becomes the Black Atlantic. Composed from recordings made at several locations along the Anomabo beach, this composition is both a stand-alone listening document and part of a sound installation to accompany exhibition of Castaways.

Information from the Whitworth Gallery site.

More info on the Castaways Project here.

My reflections:

A long white room with a grey concrete floor. Ceiling sloped like a wave. One wall a brick façade. The opposite, a collection of Virginia Ryan’s Castaways. 11 x 51. Shoes, including a child’s Reebok thong. An abandoned teddy. Dolls’ heads and other parts. Combs, toothbrushes, trowels, bottles and other unidentifiable miscellanea. Dirt, sandy objects held in a neat white frame, some restricted by the boundary, some moving beyond. And all the while, the sound of waves crashing on the shore, carrying out and washing back up.

It made me think of "Rhapsody on a Windy Night" by T.S. Eliot:

The memory throws up high and dry
A crowd of twisted things;
A twisted branch upon the beach
Eaten smooth, and polished
As if the world gave up
The secret of its skeleton,
Stiff and white.
A broken spring in a factory yard,
Rust that clings to the form that the strength has left
Hard and curled and ready to snap.

Jennifer Vickers (b. 1977), Yesterday’s News, 2004

Newspaper coverage of the West’s “War on Terror” stitched into a patchwork “Log Cabin” design quilt. Exploring the subject of war from a female perspective.

The use of the quilt medium throws into contrast the highly ephemeral sentiments of tabloid headlines with the labour-intensive process of producing a family heirloom.

Manchester Museum

Not fussed. Just a typical natural history museum with lots of school kids! Looks like they have lots of interesting science activities for kids, though.


Highlights:

• Wild Britain photography exhibition (a bit like the “Wildlife Photographer of the Year” exhibitions at the Australian Museum, but all from the one photographer)
• Live frogs in “natural” habitat
• Bronze sculpture of Jenner’s first inoculation
• Matroushka (not babushka!) dolls in the shop

The Catholic Church of the Holy Name of Jesus



Do I feel closer to God in beautiful ornate churches? I don’t think so. But what does it mean to feel close to God? What does it feel like to experience God’s presence? Ornate cathedrals don’t seem like places God would hang out – he doesn’t dwell in places made by human hands – but he did give specific instructions for the temple to be built by Solomon. Perhaps I need to revisit this part of the Bible.

When do I feel closest to God?

• Experiencing the beauties of nature gives me an appreciation of the might of God, the creator
• Hearing about, or seeing, someone do something loving or totally self-sacrificing gives me a glimpse of the Christ-imitation to which we are all called.
• The depravities of human nature remind me of how fallen we are, of how much we need God, and of how deep and wise his mercy, grace and love are.
• I feel excited when I grasp a theological point or have something explained to me in a way I’ve never thought of, which opens up a whole new way of thinking about God.
• I am amazed when I read in the Bible how God always loved and forgave his people, and how he never gave up on them, no matter how many times they turned away (particularly in the writings of the prophets – the coming judgment but the promise that God would always preserve a remnant of his people) and I rejoice in the truth that God has shown this mercy, grace and love to me as well.

But I’m still not sure about this concept of feeling God’s presence. One thing I do know, is that ornate churches don’t really do it for me, although I do like church bells! I also like the way that these churches are so often open to the public, so people can come in, wander around, admire the architecture, pray, sit and think, light a candle, or whatever they want to do.

Strangely enough, after writing the above, I decided to spend some time in prayer, and I had one of the best prayer times I’ve ever had. Usually I’m not very good at praying – I tend to get distracted – but this time was really good. For some reason, I felt compelled to light a candle (in front of a statue of St Peter, as it happened) and I left the church feeling quite uplifted.

Episode 1 – Back in a Green and Pleasant Land

I have arrived safely at Hulme Hall, one of the residence halls at the University of Manchester. I’m here for the annual conference of the British Society for the History of Science, although it doesn’t start until Thursday afternoon. I decided to take a couple of days to get over jet lag. I’m glad I did. There’s no way I’d be able to sit through even one afternoon of the conference in my current state. I’ve been awake now for over 36 hours, only excepting a few short naps on the plane. I left Sydney at 5pm on Monday, and it is now 8pm on Tuesday evening. Of course, it’s only 11am here, so I need to stay awake for quite a few hours yet.


I went through my usual departure rush – finished packing just before we left for the airport at 1:45pm (check-in opened at 2pm!) but everything was fine. The lady at check-in was very grateful for my conformity to the baggage weight restrictions. Quite unusual for me, actually, so I was pretty happy too! My parents and my boyfriend, Matt, came to see me off at the airport. We had a cup of coffee, did a little shopping for small gifts to give to people in the UK, and then I said goodbye and disappeared through the sliding doors, looking back and waving until I could see them no more. I passed through security with no incident. I completely forgot to take out my little 1L bag with my bottles (less than 100mL) of liquid for inspection, and no one asked. I sat looking out the window at the planes, doing sudoku puzzles until it was time to board the plane.

Window seat – hurrah! Of course, there’s no perfect place to sit on a plane. I like the window seat because I find it more comfortable to sleep if I can lean against the window.

(Interlude: While writing the above, I was sitting in the bar at Hulme Hall waiting for my room to be ready. I’m the only early arrival for the BSHS conference, and they weren’t quite ready for me. Georgina, the lovely girl from reception, came up to tell me that my room was ready. I got my keys, trundled down to the building, found room G15 – door open, trash not emptied, bed not made, towels on the floor – not ready at all! So I went back up to reception, someone came down with me to check on the situation, and now I’m sitting in a little common room, again waiting for my room to be ready.)

OK, no perfect place to sit on a plane. The window seat is good for sleeping and admiring the view, but not good for getting up to use the toilet. The aisle seat is good for getting up whenever you want to, but you have to deal with trolleys banging your elbows and people climbing over you, and it’s not so comfortable for sleeping. The middle seat is just not good for anything. Fortunately, I don’t need to get up all that often. My legs do get cramped, but I can wiggle them around enough to (I hope) ward off the threat of deep vein thrombosis. I try to get up to go to the toilet when one of the other people in my row gets up. If it’s the person on the aisle, I can climb over the person in the middle. If it’s the person in the middle, they have to get the person on the aisle to move anyway.

(Finally in my room now!)


On the flight to London, the person in the aisle seat of my row was particularly cranky. He didn’t seem too happy when he had to stand up to let me get to my seat in the first place, and he was distinctly unimpressed when the lady sitting in between us and I decided to go to the bathroom. True, he was about to go to sleep, but I thought it would be better to disturb him while he was getting ready to go to sleep rather than wake him once he had already dozed off. But there’s no pleasing some people.

On the leg from Sydney to Bangkok, my entertainment-on-demand system wasn’t working, so I was just getting scheduled movies. I watched The Holiday – I missed the beginning, but it didn’t matter because I’d already seen it. I also watched Zodiac, which is not the best in-flight movie. The sound through the headphones is not great, so it was difficult to work out what they were saying at times and it was a bit hard to follow. Also, I was getting exhausted, and it’s a really long movie – 2 ½ hours, I think.

From Bangkok to London I had my entertainment-on-demand. Hurrah! I watched an episode of House, and a movie which I have already forgotten… At least I think I watched a movie. Maybe I didn’t. I was rather sleepy by that point. But it was an eleven hour flight – surely I watched more than just House! Hmm. Thinking… Ah, that’s right. Music and Lyrics. Obviously not very memorable. It was kind of cute, but not great. I also watched an episode of The Chaser’s War on Everything – the one with the Trojan horse. Highly amusing.

We arrived in London slightly early, but I still only just made it to my flight to Manchester on time. I had to get from Terminal 4 to Terminal 1 – fortunately they provided a free shuttle bus. But when I got to Terminal 1 and was about to go through security again, I had a problem. Apparently what I consider a handbag is too big for UK domestic flights. So, I had to go out through passport control and check in my carry-on bag. Unfortunately, I only had 30 minutes until I was due to board my flight, and the queue for non-British and European Union passport holders was immense. There was no way I would get through in time. There were a few other people around in the same position. One girl, whose flight was leaving 15 minutes after mine, was even more stressed than I was. She asked at the desk for British passport holders if they would let her through, and was told “it’s not my problem you’ve got two bags.” I must be much sweeter – when I went up there and explained my situation, the lady said “well, since you asked so nicely” and let me through. So then I had to find the check-in counter, check in my bag, go back through security and finally made it to my plane with several minutes to spare before boarding began. Unfortunately, my other suitcase didn’t make the connecting flight with me. Apparently it will be delivered this afternoon.

It’s interesting how security standards vary at different airports. My mum was helping me pack (don’t know what I’d do without her!) and we carefully prepared my little bag of little bottles of liquid, and I had those in my handbag, ready to whip out for inspection if required. When the plane landed in Bangkok, we all got chased off the plane, but fortunately were allowed to leave our carry-on luggage behind. After I turned my phone on in the airport, I received a message from my mum. She’d woken up at 1:30am and suddenly realised that despite our careful attention to regulations on liquids, we’d still packed all my toiletries in my carry-on bag. What were we thinking?! Fortunately, I had left it on the plane, so I didn’t have to get it through security at Bangkok. And since I had to check it in at Heathrow, I didn’t have any problems there either. But the security people at Sydney Airport let me through with not only several bottles of liquids, gels and pastes (more than 1L in total), but also a mini Swiss Army Knife and a manicure set containing scissors, nail file and nail clippers. Hmm.

Aside from that, the flight to Manchester was quite uneventful. A nice sausage, scrambled egg and tomato chutney roll and (finally!) a decent cup of tea. But once we touched down in Manchester, I was so glad that I didn’t have to be back on a plane for almost 6 weeks! The only problem is that my suitcase has not yet arrived in Manchester, but hopefully it will be delivered sometime this afternoon. It’s now 12:08pm, and I guess I should be out seeing the sights of Manchester. It’s so tempting to have a nap, but that probably won’t help me get over jetlag. Perhaps I’ll do a little work on my conference paper (still have to prepare the PowerPoint presentation!), go for a little wander and with a little luck, my suitcase will be here in time for me to have a shower before finding somewhere to have dinner. Stay tuned for the next episode!

(By now you will have realised the drawback of having a laptop while travelling – super long blog posts!!)

"The look"

Oops

I drove home from church last night with a flat tyre. Oops!

Field of Women

I'm keen to organise a group of girls to attend this event to support breast cancer research. Let me know if you're interested!

Saturday evening 11 August 2007, Telstra Stadium

13,000 women wanted to stand united in pink

We’re calling on 13,000 people – representing the number of Australians diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 – to stand together and create the first ever Sydney Field of Women LIVE before the Sydney Swans v St Kilda match on Saturday evening, 11 August 2007.

Breast Cancer Network Australia welcomes everyone – supporters, friends, survivors - and anyone else who wants to be a part of this spectacular and memorable event.

Registration is $50 and includes a pink poncho, admission to the AFL game and public transport. 100% of your registration will go to support Breast Cancer Network Australia's important work.

Why Mr Darcy?

Colin Firth/Mr Darcy has the ability to make girls swoon. Why? you might ask. Stan did. He said:

Actually, when I watched Pride and Prejudice, I thought Colin Firth? What?! What's so good about him? Is it the one look that he gives to express many emotions?

I found that he was a bit of a player as well. I don't know - I just don't see it. When I was a single man, I thought, what's so good about Mr Darcy? I still think that now.

(BRACING FOR THE BACKLASH...)

I do have some thoughts on the topic that I'd like to share, but unfortunately I don't have time at the moment. I still need to work on the second draft of my second conference paper, finish the first draft of my third conference paper, sort out travel insurance, get an "academical letter of introduction" from my supervisor so I can look at manuscripts in the Cambridge Univesrity Library, photocopy my travel documents, and sort out countless other last minute details. Oh yeah, and at some stage I'll need to pack.

Stay tuned for Lara's theory on the attraction of Mr Darcy!

Obsessed?

I had a dream the other night that I kissed Colin Firth. It's possible that the picture of Mr Darcy has been at the top of my blog for too long. Oh well. I don't think I'm the only one enjoying it!

Weird coincidence

The library at UNSW is currently in a bit of a mess. Previously, we've had three separate libraries - biomedical, social sciences and physical sciences - plus the law library, which is still separate. All the collections (books and journals) from the three libraries are being merged into one single sequence. As a result, things are a little crazy at the moment, and books can be hard to find.

While I was working on one of my conference papers last week, I began a list of books that I wanted to check something in - just a list of call numbers on a scrap of paper. Today I finally got a chance to go to the library. I was looking for a book with the call number S283.0942/1. The book I picked up had a title that didn't sound familiar, but it was relevant, so I figured I must have forgotten. And I was expecting to have a biography of John Wilkins in my list, but since I already had enough books to carry, I decided to leave that until later.

I just realised that I picked up the wrong book - S283.092242/1 instead of S283.0942/1. The latter was the biography of John Wilkins, so I was right about that. But how strange that the one I picked up by accident was so relevant - Science, Religion and Belief: The Clerical Virtuosi of the Royal Society of London, 1663-1687 - and my paper is on natural theology among the early members of the Royal Society of London, c. 1660-1690. Ok, ok, so the dewey decimal system means that related books are close to each other, but still, that's pretty cool!

Therapeutic cloning

Gordon Cheng suggests that Christians act now.

Craig agrees.

Here's what I wrote:

19/6/2007

To the Honourable (insert member's name here),

I am writing to express my opposition to therapeutic cloning for the purposes of embryonic stem cell research. This type of research involves the creation of a human embryo solely to be destroyed and used for the extraction of stem cells. Even if there are medical benefits to be had, these will not outweigh the cost of human life involved.

Adult stem cell research, which does not involve the destruction of human life, is already achieving much more tangible results than embryonic stem cell research. I implore those with the power to make such decisions to ensure that funding is directed towards ethically acceptable avenues of research which are already proving fruitful, rather than morally questionable endeavours.

Yours respectfully,

Larissa Johnson

Update 12:04pm: I received an email from Fred Nile's personal assistant thanking me for my "excellent" email and informing me that both Fred Nile and Gordon Moyes would be opposing the legislation. I'm not a huge fan of Fred Nile in general, but this is such an important issue that I guess it doesn't matter to agree with him, just this once...

Update 4:37pm: An email from Hon Duncan Gay MLC, Deputy Opposition Leader & Leader of the Nationals in the Legislative Council of New South Wales, Shadow Minister for Roads, Shadow Minister for Ports and Waterways

Thank you for your e-mail regarding the human cloning bill.
I will take your views and comments into consideration when making my final decision.

We'll always have Paris

Nick is trying to make people jealous because he is in Paris and they are not. Nice beret!!

Christianity - the foundation of liberty

Christianity, and nothing else, is the ultimate foundation of liberty, conscience, human rights, and democracy, the benchmarks of Western civilization. To this day, we have no other options [than Christianity]. We continue to nourish ourselves from this source. Everything else is postmodern chatter.
- Jürgen Habermas

Click here.

Christianity - the foundation of liberty

Christianity, and nothing else, is the ultimate foundation of liberty, conscience, human rights, and democracy, the benchmarks of Western civilization. To this day, we have no other options [than Christianity]. We continue to nourish ourselves from this source. Everything else is postmodern chatter.

And the sky full of stars...

I drive past the airport every day on my way to and from uni. When I am driving home at night, I like to watch the lights of the planes coming in to land. For some strange reason, the shape of the lights - like an elongated star with the side "arms" cut off - reminds me of a Minbari war cruiser from Babylon 5.


As I've said before on here, I think there is something seriously wrong with me...

Happy Birthday Donna!

I hope you have a fantastic day!!

Enjoying it

Very fun indeed.

I like Mika

Is that bad?

Open up your heart and let the sun shine in!

Hear Frente's version here.

My mummy told me something
a little kid should know.
It's all about the devil
and I've learned to hate him so.
She said he causes trouble
when you let him in the room.
He will never ever leave you
if your heart is filled with gloom.

So let the sun shine in
face it with a grin.
Smilers never lose
and frowners never win.
So let the sun shine in
face it with a grin
Open up your heart and let the sun shine in.

When you are unhappy,
the devil wears a grin
But oh, he starts to running
when the light comes pouring in
I know he'll be unhappy
'Cause I'll never wear a frown
Maybe if we keep on smiling
He'll get tired of hanging 'round.

If I forget to say my prayers
the devil wears a grin.
But he feels so awful awful
when he sees me on my knees
So if you're full of trouble
and you never seem to win,
Just open up your heart and let the sun shine in.

So let the sun shine in
face it with a grin.
Smilers never lose
and frowners never win.
So let the sun shine in
face it with a grin
Open up your heart and let the sun shine in.

Bringing back memories...

St George Girls' High School.

On Wikipedia.

New links

If you peruse my list of links extremely carefully on a regular basis, you might have noticed a couple of changes. I've removed a couple of blogs which I no longer read or which have closed down, and I've added two new links.

• To Live Is Christ by the lovely Georgina (who I met in person before reading her blog!)
• True Lies by the talented preacher Stan Lie (who married a friend from my church - the lovely Clare)

In other news, I've decided to change the date of my post on "the look" so it remains at the top of the page for a bit longer. I rather like opening my blog to find Mr Darcy gazing at me. Matt seems to have an issue with that, for some strange reason...