The End of the World as We Know It

or

We're doomed, I say.  Doomed!

Society is regressing.  For a long time, I was blissfully unaware of this, believing the propaganda that we were becoming more enlightened and advanced.  The light bulb moment, for me, came with the EU decision to ban traditional light bulbs  and switch to more energy efficient energy saver bulbs.  This may seem like a good idea, but we are going from a society where you could have instant light, bright enough for reading, sewing, whatever you’re having yourself, at the flick on a switch.  I tried these new-fangled bulbs.  Once evening came I had to turn them all to ensure I had sufficient light when I needed it.  This is not progress, this is regression.

Once I realised this I started thinking about ancient civilisations which once ruled the world and why they collapsed.  At first, they advance and became capable of great technical feats.  Then there is a greater disparity between the haves and have not, people in power get greedy and complacent, things are taken for granted and the general state of affairs starts to decline.

Of course, warfare is a major factor and certainly the reason for the fall of the Aztecs in 1519 during the Spanish conquest but it was a different story for the other great civilisation of MesoAmerica – the Mayans.   Maya civilization declined gradually over a period of 150 years between 800 and 1000 AD.  There are a number of suggested causes, peasant revolts, soil exhaustion, epidemic diseases, earthquakes, ideological fatigue, drought, over-population, loss of confidence in rulers.  The reasons were complex, but the result was the disintegration of the Maya.  Likewise it has been suggested that classical Greece and Rome fell because they over-reached themselves, a greater disparity between the wealthy and the common people emerged and it started to fall apart from within.

Apart from the lightbulb situation, another sign that society is collapsing is the so-called “obesity epidemic” in Western society.  It has been proposed that for the first time, children’s life expectancy is less than their parents.  It’s true that there is still a lot of poverty and malnutrition in the world.  Think of Haiti, just one country where conditions are to me, a typical Westerner, both intolerable and unimaginable.  But, at the same time, according to Jess Greenwood , speaking at Wired 2012, “This is the first year in history that more people will die of obesity than malnutrition”.  Society is getting fat and lazy, and also, I would argue, dumber.

Grade inflation  has been a problem in Ireland for at least the last 10, if not 15, years.  Of course, I won’t go any further back than that because I earned my BSc in 1994 and naturally the decline in educational standards started after that.

I’ve been suspicious about this for a long time, starting with the change from the Intermediate Certificate to the Junior Certificate (for 15 year olds) in Irish education in 1992.  Hailed as the future, a more practical and student-centred examination, to me it seemed simpler.  There is a mistaken belief, extremely prevalent in education (and not just in Ireland, it is also present in British and US education.  I cannot comment on any other countries), that children need to be praised and encouraged to succeed.  Bullshit, I say and Baumeister et al, writing in Scientific American Magazine in 2005 support my instincts in their (pdf) article “Exploding theSelf-Esteem Myth”  a must-read for every parent and educator.

In a misguided attempt to ensure young people feel good about themselves, creative ways are sought to ensure no-one fails.  Modern policies, instead of raising the bar for everyone, lowers acceptable levels to the lowest common denominator.  Again my first brush with this was when the powers that be ‘improved’ honours Leaving Certificate Mathematics, by shortening the course and removing the unpredictable questions which challenged people. 

Now we’re about to dumb down second level education again.  The Junior Certificate is to be amended yet again with a proportion of it being examined in-house, thus significantly reducing it objectivity and rendering it worthless.  Then, there’s the people who go on about multiple intelligence and learning styles.  These theories, while still in vogue, have been comprehensively debunked (to read arguments against multiple intelligence, have a read of Lynn Waterhouse  or Daniel Willingham’s articles, for learning styles, read Psychological Science  or Joe Bondra ’s articles).  A quick search on the internet will uncover more examples.  Despite this, these theories are still bandied around as facts in learning environments with teachers adjusting and designing their lesson plans accordingly.

So, despite all the ‘improvements’ in teaching methods over the years, and the move to a more child centred approach with smaller class sizes and more teaching assistants (compared to the 1980s when I was in school), people are leaving school with lower educational attainment.  This is quite a strong statement and admittedly I only have anecdotal evidence to back it up, but I’ll stick with my story. 

Apart from grade inflation which is an acknowledged phenomenon in the US , in the UK , in Ireland  and other countries around the world , as a teacher is a college of further education, I can see the educational standards slipping.  School leavers do not know their maths tables and find it very hard to cope without a calculator.  Some would argue that it today’s world, with instant access to information and technology, that there is no need to learn things off and that more emphasis should be placed on other things; active learning and critical thinking being very fashionable these days. 

However, these students cannot tell when their answers are wrong.  They blindly trust technology.  Students will use a calculator to add 2 + 3 and will not blink an eyelid if they get the answer 6 due to unwittingly hitting the multiplication button instead of the plus sign.  I think that the world would be a better place if they had to learn things by heart and if they were not allowed to use calculators until they got to 5th year (like it was in my day, bah humbug!)

I’ve also noticed that students can’t transcribe anymore.  Today, you don’t mark students down for bad spelling or grammar.  To do so can be seen as being overly fussy and mean.  This results in students not understanding the importance of accuracy which manifests itself in my web authoring classes where leaving out a > sign can have an alarming effect on their work.  Yet still they’re sloppy.

So this has developed into a bit of a diatribe against the current state of education, but the point I’m making is that, in my opinion, standards of education are slipping.  Students do not have the basic building blocks, the traditional reading, writing and arithmetic skills, to maintain society at current levels and improve it into the future.

Yet another sign that we are heading for an imminent collapse of the world as we know it is the alarming level of fraud which has recently come to light in both science and psychology .  As reported by Etchells and Gage in the Guardian , anaesthesiologist Yoshitoka Fujii holds the record for most fraudulent papers at 172.  As someone who has been quite ill for a significant proportion of this year, this is alarming.  172 papers on asaesthesiology by one person have been found to be fraudulent.  Have medical decisions been made as a result of these fraudulent papers?  Have people’s health or lives been put at risk because of this?

It is not a common suspicion, due in part to popular fiction, film and television, that the major pharmaceutical  companies are only out to make money, sponsor studies that confirm their findings etc. etc.  But now, we have confirmation that this is happening in the heart of academia!  Who can we trust now?  No wonder the religious fanatics are on the increase!  It also means that all the links I’ve made in this article to website which I’ve carefully selected to back up my points, while studiously ignoring any that might contradict me, are highly dubious.  How do I know if they can be trusted or not?  How can we separate the wheat from the chaff?

Recently, a number of computer generated papers have beenaccepted by apparently ‘peer-reviewed’ journals .  Here’s an example of one I co-wrote with Alan Turing and Ada Lovelace on BOB: Evaluation of Context-Free Grammar.  Hey, you can create your own papers here.

This increase in fraud has come about due to the fact that success in academia is measured by publication rate and by extension by the way it is funded.  It call to mind the novel Changing Places by David Lodge where two academics, one English, one American, swap places and University life in the two countries is compared.  At the time, one of the differences was that more emphasis was placed on publishing in America.  One really must question the purpose of a University.  Is it solely to further research in academic fields or is it to educate the next generation, in life as well as their chosen field, and leave them in a position where they can advance society culturally, technically, scientifically and economically?

I tend to subscribe to John Henry Newman’s opinion

  “The view taken of a University in these Discourses is the following. -- That it is a place of teaching universal knowledge.  This implies that its object is, on the one hand, intellectual, not moral; and, on the other, that it is the diffusion and extension of knowledge rather than the advancement.  If its object were scientific and philosophical discovery, I do not see why a University should have students; if religious training, I do not see how it can be the seat of literature and science”

I am proud that Newman was, in 1854, the first rector of my alma mater, University College Dublin, and this connection was one of the factors influencing my choice to pursue my third level education there way back in 1990.

Unfortunately capitalism rules today’s society.  There is an assumption that free trade and money is the solution to our every want.  Have we forgotten the famine so easily?  Economics is the main driving force today.  The EU may have changed its name from the EEC (European Economic Community) but we must not forget that its origins and raison d’être was economic union. 

Also while the OECD are a key driving force in advancing policies in education, it should not be forgotten that OECD stands for the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development .  The danger with this approach is that it leaves little room for creativity and discovery.  As Bryan Jennings points out in his article The Role of Pure Research, the commercial value of a discovery is not always immediately apparent.

These kinds of policies (devised by economists and greedy, self-serving politicians) are the reason that there has been a world-wide recession for the past four years.  This capitalistic attitude to life is the reason for the rapid spread of infectious diseases  in recent years and possibly why I ended up in hospital for 18 days last February with atypical pneumonia.

This is why Ash Trees are currently under threat here  and in the UK .  This disease has killed most of Denmark’s Ash trees and could have been prevented, or at least slowed down, from spreading by banning imports , but no, this was not done, because it would impact free trade.  This is also why Ireland is now tackling crippling debt because you can’t burn the bondholders.  Thanks very much, the 1633 tulip market ofAmsterdam!  Usury has traditionally been viewed as a bad thing, you know!

Many people are struggling as a direct result of the recession.  Some blame the banks for lending money to anyone who asked for it.  Others say people need to take personal responsibility for living above their means.  This can be countered by people saying they had an expectation that their jobs were secure and their income levels would not drop.  And back and forth it goes.  Whatever the causes, people are finding it hard to get by.  There is a lot of anger and while in Ireland, it is still bubbling under the surface, it has been expressed in terms of riots in England, Greece, Spain, Italy and France.

So, let’s review the main points again. 

• reversion to a less advanced technology; as demonstrated by the light bulb situation. 
• the complacency and laziness of the ordinary person; as evidenced by increases in obesity
• grade inflation and dumbing down in schools
• overdependence on technology; people can’t recognise when a simple sum is wrong
• seemingly high levels of fraud in academia and sponsored research which publishes expected results only
• the economic driving force and the elevation of it importance over all else, including health
• violent protests

Additionally, we appear undeniably to be in a period of climate change.  The polar ice-caps are melting and we can expect more extreme weather conditions.  Think of the floods in New York last week, in Dublin last year and in Gloucestershire  five years ago, to cite a few examples.  Put all of these facts together and I believe we are about to witness the destruction of our current civilisation and enter a new dark age.  As Captain Boyle so eloquently puts it in O’Casey’s classic Juno and the Paycock   

“Th’ whole worl’s in a terrible state o’ chassis”

Blocking the Bullies - not the answer

or

Won't somebody please think of the children?

Well, today is Hallowe'en or Samhain so my natural instinct is to think about the origins of the festival, the traditions and customs, childhood memories and how the Americans have ruined it as they ruin all that is good in the world.  But that's such as cliché and there is so much information about this out there that I really reel that I've nothing constructive to add.  Obviously, my personal Hallowe'en stories aren't out there, but really they're typical of any Irish child of the 70s and 80s.  What really antagonizes me is the Americanization of our culture; who the hell ever said 'Trick or Treat' at Hallowe'en?  However I'm really making an effort to resist the urge to rant about this.

I am in a ranting mood though.  On the news today, there is a story about a second teenager committing suicide, supposedly due to on-line bullying.  (I say supposedly, because suicide is never that simple).  Of course, the natural reaction in the media is calls for the Government to do something and the website (ask.fm) that has been implicated in both cases, to come on the airwaves and give an account of themselves.  It's all very "Won't somebody please think of the children!" à la The Simpsons (and the reason for the sub-heading above).

This kind of emotional, irrational response serves no purpose.  Those teenagers did not take their own lives because they were bullied on-line.  Of course, the bullying would have contributed to their feelings of isoliation, worthlessness and despair, but it would not have caused those feelings.  Bullying has been around a lot longer than the internet.  Most people have experienced, at the very least, a bullying attempt.  It's how one reacts to it that makes the difference.  If you give in and aknowledge them, you are feeding the bullies and the abuse will continue.

The problem therefore is that some people do not have the tools to deal with abusive behaviour.  If children are happy, secure and have confidence, they will not take their owns lives.  Bullies are everywhere; in the playground, in the classroom, in the workplace, in the sports' clubs, in the pub.  Even if it were possible to eradicate cyber-bullying, people would still meet and have to deal with bullies at some place and some stage of their lives.  You can't protect children forever.  Sooner or later they will be fending for themselves and exposed to the possibility of bullying.  "But it should be stopped!" I hear the 'do-gooders' cry.  I don't think it can be; it hasn't yet.

The danger is this situation is that people don't want to take responsibility for themselves.  "The website should be banned!" they implore.  Well, here's a novel idea:  if you think your child is susceptible to being affected by bullying on these sites, don't let them go on-line unsupervised!  It amazes me that parents can, on the one hand, be so protective of their children; giving them lifts everywhere, arranging supervised 'play-dates', insisting on knowing their every move and location and yet give them free-rein on the internet.

Access to the world wide web and the internet should be available only in a family room, where parents or guardians can keep an eye on what's going on.  And so what if every other kid has a smart 'phone?  Parents set the rules for their children.  This is enshrined in our constitution.  Whatever happens, there should be no sanctions for any websites that appear to connect these suicides.  As my sister once remarked "Over 90% of people who die are wearing underwear.  Therefore not wearing  underwear will significantly reduce your chance of dying" (I paraphrase, of course.  The discussion, as far as I remember, was in relation to erroneous correlation non evidence-based assertions).  Banning this website will not reduce cyber-bullying and does not address the issue.

When Tim Berners-Lee conceived of the world wide web (oringally dubbed Enquire) in 1989, it was to communicate and collaborate.  As he said

"When I proposed the Web in 1989, the driving force I had in mind was communication through shared knowledge, and the driving 'market' for it was collaboration among people at work and at home." (Berners-Lee, p174)

Also

"The web was designed as a universal medium.  A hypertext link must be able to point to anything.  Information that is put up for commercial gain can't be excluded." (Berners-Lee, p115)

You may wonder why I included the reference to commercial gain.  In the mid to late 90s, the web shifted in ethos and the for some the focus shifting to making money.  Although, some worried that this went against the ideas of information being freely available, he was making the argument, that by definition, this included all information, even if it was for commercial gain.  By extension, I assume the same argument would apply to social networking and other sites which facilitate cyber-bullying.

Censoring, in any form, goes against the whole philosophy of the web.  This issue also came up in the mid 1900s.  At this time, the biggest threat of the internet was children gaining access to pornography.  Tim Berner-Lee describes how the issue was dealt with:

"John Patrick from IBM was the first W3C member to broach the topic. ... John mentioned that there might be a problem with kids seeing indecent material on the Web.  Everyone in the room turned towards him with raised eyebrows: 'John, the Web is open.  This is free speech.  What do you want us to do, censor it?'" (Berners-Lee, p121)

For me, this is what the World Wide Web and the Internet is all about- "the Web is open.  This is free speech".  Any attempt to censor it cannot be tolerated.  To appease the concerns about vulnerable people accessing inappropriate information, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) came up with PICS which rates content and allows parents to filter content on the Web.

By calling on the websites mentioned in these suicides to take responsibility for the actions of their users, or by shutting them down, you are marching another step closer to George Orwell's world of 1984.  Is that really the kind of world you want to live in?

All quotes taken from Weaving the Web: The Past, Present and Future of the World Wide Web by its Inventor by Tim Berners-Lee (with Mark Fischetti), published by Orion Business Books in Great Britain, 1999

Farewell to Analogue TV

or

Oh I know, I too shall cease!

Goodbye analogue TV!  Today is the day you close down forever and we all switch to digital television.

One unfortunate loser in this changeover is Aertel.  It hasn't died comletely but has had radical plastic surgery.  It's even changing its name to the RTE Aertel Digital Service.  Changing names seems to be on trend at the moment - even the VECs are changing their names to ETBs - Education and Training Boards.  A bad move in my opinion.  I was going to call it a regression but I think it could lead to a new bad place.  Anyway, I digress - more of that anon (Incidentally, I see on Aertel p108 that the teachers are meant to protest today about pay differentials between new and existing teachers.  This is the first I heard of it!).

Some would argue that Aertel with its 1980s style and font and also with the near ubiquitousness of internet availability that there is no need for a teletext service.  Sure, everything is on the Internet!  Aertel has been around since 22 June 1987 and is a mere 25 years old.  Old enough, apparently in television-land to be put out to pasture.

But, while it is true that most of us automatically turn to the Internet to get our information, there are some things many still turn to Aertel for.  Want the News headlines?  Go to Aertel, page 103.  Missed the Lotto results?  That's on page 150.  A quick glance to check what's on TV - page 180.

It's quick and easy.  To get that information on-line, you'd have to turn on your computer, wait for it to boot up, connect to the internet, open your browser and then either type the appropriate URL, assuming you know it, into the address bar or enter a series of keywords into a search engine.

How much quicker is it to press the text button and enter the page number.  We all know our favourites through 25 years of practice.  Want to know the latest sports results?  Turn to the sports index, page 200.  Feel like going on holidays?  Check out the choices starting on page 500.

Aha, I hear some of you exclaim.  Booting computers, that's so 20th Century!  We use our smart-phones now to access the internet.  I have no doubt that you do.   I use mine myself.  But, really, while a smart phone is a handy way to settle an argument in a pub, the screens are still too small to be a practicle way to browse most websites.  Grand for social networking, be it Twitter or Facebook but they still have too many short-comings to be an Internet browser of choice.  And there are so many websites that are incredibly badly designed.  You'll know which ones I'm talking about if you try to access them on a telephone.

It's now late afternoon, heading into evening and Aertel, as we know it, has gone, as has Ceefax.  At least Ceefax said good-bye to us.  There was no such message on Aertel (well, that I found, anyway and I'm not sure if that was an actual page from Ceefax, or a mock-up).

The new RTE Aertel Digital System has a new contemorary look which, like all fashions will appear out-dated in  a couple of years.




We're now truly in the Digital Age, with radio being the last medium of the analogue world.  And, as we venture forth into this exciting new world, spare a thought for the poor luddites, trembling in terrified trepidation in their easy-chairs as the tremendous transformation of their television exerience trundles every onwards!

The Nobel Prize

or

I bet Alfred's spinning in his grave

Last week saw the annual Nobel prize giving, named after Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite (not the horse).  It was established after his death in 1896, in concordance with his will.  Alfred wanted the bulk of his estate to be invested and the interest used to award equal prizes annually in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace.  As well as inventing dynamite, Nobel was also interested in poetry and peace.  For the first three, science, categories, the prize was to the person who shall have made the most important discovery within the domain The literature prize was to be awarded to whoever created the most outstanding work in an ideal direction.  And finally, the peace prize was to be awarded to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses

We can surmise that Alfred wanted the prizes to be regarded based on worth, and not politics or any other contributory factor based on his will which specified

It is my express wish that in awarding the prizes no consideration whatever shall be given to the nationality of the candidates, but that the most worthy shall receive the prize, whether he be a Scandinavian or not

The first nobel prizes were awarded in 1901 and one or more have been awarded every year since with the exception of the years 1940 – 1942, during the second world war.  In other years (mainly during the two world wars), not all prizes were awarded. 

Ireland has punched above its weight in terms of literature.  We have Four Nobel Laureates, William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Becket and Séamus Heaney.  Yeats received it in 1923 for his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation, Becket in 1969 for for his writing, which - in new forms for the novel and drama - in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation and Heaney in 1995 for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past

Shaw was awarded the 1925 prize, but did not receive it until 1926, as the committee decided that no-one met the criteria in 1925.   If only they stuck to these guidelines now! 

In fairness, right from the start, the committees deviated from Alfred Nobel’s will.  It specifies that each of the prizes is awarded to the person i.e. one, singular person.  Yet, even the very first year, 1901, the prizes were awarded, the peace prize was awarded to two people – Jean Henry Dunant and Frédéric Passy.  The shambles of the peace prize has been continued right up until the present day.  The Red Cross was awarded the peace prize in 1917, 1944 and 1963. 

Now, I don’t deny that the Red Cross is a marvellous organisation that has contributed much towards “fraternity between nations”, but by no definition can it be considered to be a person.  Other organisations to have been awarded the peace prize include UNICEF (1965) , the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (1985), the Quakers (1947) and Amnesty International (1977). 

However it wasn’t until the 21^st century that the prize became totally ridiculous with Barack Obama getting it in 2009.  He’s not the first United States president to be awarded the prize – Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Carter also have them.  But things have sunk to a new depth.  Only 5 days ago, on 12^th October 2012, the European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize  "for over six decades contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe".  What a load of bollox!

A number of Irish names have also appeared in the Nobel Peace Prize list – Seán McBride in 1974 and John Hume and David Trimble in 1998.  Betty Williams and Mairéad Corrigan were awarded the 1976 peace prize, but like Shaw, no-one was deemed to have met the criteria in 1976, so were awarded it in 1977 instead.  That somewhat diminishes it, doesn’t it?

Another huge difficulty I have with the whole Nobel prize thing is their invention of a prize in Economics 1968.  That most definitely was not mentioned in Alfred’s will.  It's this, in additon to the peace prize that I have a problem with, although I would prefer if the prize was given to one person and one person only, as per the will.  When the various committees start moving the goal posts, it makes a farce of the whole thing, in my opinion. 

Ireland also has a nobel prize winner, Ernest Walton in Physics.  He shared it in 1951 with John Douglas.  By and large, the science winners, with some obvious exceptions, have been worthy winners.  And I cannot argue with Yeats, Beckett and yes, even Heaney’s wins.  Shaw is slightly more arguable, but then that is reflected in the fact that no-one was deemed worthy originally for that year.  I wouldn’t be terribly familiar with the other literature prize winners, but assume they’re all worthy.

I guess the point I’m trying to make is that deviating from Alfred Nobel’s original criteria decreases the value of the prize.  I urge that the Economics prize is dropped and that the prizes are awarded to individual people. To do otherwise is to insult the deserved winners up to 101 of them in literature and 148 in the sciences.  It’s akin to the dumbing down of the Leaving Certificate and higher level qualifications – when you lower the standards, the whole thing becomes pointless.

Abjuring Autumn

or

But I don't want to go to school!

Slowly, reluctantly I emerge from the comforting arms of sleep and after a few minutes of denial, acknowledge that yes, I'm awake.  I open my eyes and gaze numbly out the bedroom window at the Great Tit fluttering amongst the branches.

Great tit - photo taken last March

Summer, such as it was, has long gone.  The hope that we might get at least a couple of nice days has been firmly quashed.  Well, it is October after all and Winter begins in only three weeks.  Was it a mere fortnight ago that I finally put away my summer clothes and dug out the jumpers, scarves and gloves?  It was certainly in the last couple of weeks that I put on my bomber jacket again for the first time since last January.  Great jacket, that.  Bought for €40 many years ago in Mary Street, it's warm and cosy and can be thrown into the washing machine when it accumulates a critical mass of mud, beer, cigarette ash and other nasties that dwell on pub floors.

It is a dull day, the light is grey and absorbing all attempts to penetrate it.  I turn on the bedroom light, but it makes little difference.  The atmosphere is yet sombre and dream-like.  There are raindrops on the washing line and the bonnet of the car, although the windscreen has dried.  The leaves, still green with a hint of yellow peeking through here and there, sway off-balance in the gentle breeze.

Mushroom

It puts me in mind of Caislean Droim an Oir (Castle of Dromore) and the line

       Tá gach sean-duilleog dul ar crith

A much more apt and poetical description that the English version of the song which renders the line as "Though Autumn leaves may droop and die".  (The literal translation is more akin to "Every old leaf is shaking".)  It's the kind of morning where you yearn to roll over, pull the duvet over your head and drift back to the sanctuary of your dreams, but no, it's Wednesday and social convention dictates otherwise.

In a stupor, I force myself up and into the bathroom to "perform my morning ablutions", turning on all the lights on the way in a vain attempt to brighten my mood.  Clothes on, breakfast eaten, ham sandwich made for lunch and I join the thousands of commuters on their way to work.

Red Clover

Autumn, nearly Winter.  It's time to pick the blackberries and apples.  Only three weeks left to do so before the púca spits on them.  Three weeks to make apple tarts, crumbles and cakes.  There won't be enough blackberries for jam.  The rats tend to get them before I do.  Mushrooms and red clover sprout sporadically in the lawn.  It's also time to dig the small vegetable patch by the back door in perparation for next year's crop.  That'll only happen if I can emotionally blackmail someone into doing it for me.  Anyone need a computer fixed?  Time too, to get the boiler serviced and check the level of oil in the tank.  All these small, seasonal tansks that are trivial in themselves, but feel like a weight on my shoulders.

 
This is a gloomy portrayal of Autumn reflecting the mood of an early, dull Wednesday morning, but, in truth, it's not a bad time of year if I can manage to drag myself out of the leaba to appreciate it.  I've had many a contented day kicking up yellow and rust leaves in Marley Park or in the woods of the Dublin Mountains.  Or playing conkers with fellow revellers on the way home from a night out, perhaps in Whelans checking out a band, in town.  And that's what I have to bear in mind on these soul-crushing days.  Once you're up and out there, life really ain't so bad!

The New Alanis Album

or

My humble opinion 'gainst yours

Earlier this year, in the middle of June, I wrote a post inspired by a chance hearing of Alanis Morissette's One Hand In My Pocket on the radio.  In it I wrote about the impact her album Jagged Little Pill had on me at the time, but that now things have changed, I've got older and couldn't relate to the lyrics anymore.  I also wondered how Alanis was doing and lo and behold, didn't she release a new album!

This Monday something happened to piss me off, so to cheer myself up, I headed off to the record shop to check out Havoc and Bright Lights (as well as Mumford and Sons' Babel and Radiohead's The King of Limbs).  I figured it was a slightly more responsible move than beating the shite out of a group of random strangers.

I still prefer the act of going into a music (I guess insisting on calling it a record shop is a bit ridiculous at this stage) shop to the newfangled options of ordering on-line or downloading onto your computer.  I have done both in the past but now I'd only order CDs on-line if they were unavailable locally.  Apart from having to wait for them to be delivered, I like to support local businesses.

And I won't download songs anymore.  If you get them from legitimate channels i.e. iTunes, and you change computers, you're not guaranteed to keep them.  I've switched computers three times since first getting an ipod about five years ago, but had to reset one and so have used 4 out of my 5 registered computer yokes.  I'm sure there is a way to keep them, but frankly, it's far too much hassle.

I don't download illegally because if I like an artiste, I want to support them. €15 for an album that can give you potentially hours of pleasure is a small price to pay.  A lot of people probably spend that in a week on coffee.

Anyway, back to Alanis.  Somewhat surprisingly, her life has evolved in tandem with mine.  Actually, I've no idea what's going on in her life right now, but I can still relate to her songs, which in the context of this blog, will suffice as being the same thing.

I'm slightly worried about her song "Will You Be My Girlfriend?".  Is Alanis a lesbian?  Not that it matters one way or another, but any female I've ever admired or respected in my life (I'm talking celebrities here, before my mother, sister, niece, aunts, cousins or friends go ape-shit) have turned out to be gay.  I long for at least one heterosexual woman to look up to.  (Oh, wait Victoria Coren's pretty cool - I'm alright!).  Maybe she means girlfriend as in a mate who's female, as they seem to do in American television programmes, rather than someone you're riding.  Hmmm...  Anyway, apart from the single word 'girlfriend', I can relate.

The song that struck me most, undeniably due to the mood I was in, was Numb.  Here's a flavour

           Have to remove myself from sensation

and

           Can't sit with this feeling
            I'd rather be flying
            And comfortabley numb

Alanis, you've done it again - tapped unknowingly into my psyche.  Now, I've only just bought the album and given it a solitary listen, so maybe I'm being premature, but so far so good.  And is the album any good?  To me it's similar in vibe to her earlier work with some current trendy sounds creeping in.  It's essentially more of the same with updated lyrics to match her and my maturing (note the ing, never actually hitting mature) years.  As I stated, it's early days and needs a few more listens to really make a decision.

Next week, I'll tell youse all about Mumford and Sons and Radiohead.  Or not, depending on where my mood takes me!