cloudsoup

There’s something about Drupal that makes me feel disinclined to post blog updates. Just one more page to hurdle before you’re into an edit box, perhaps that’s all it is.

So. Wordpress again then

Brief video from our trip this summer.

Music: Explosions in the Sky.

I haz it.

[Update] : Any invites I send out aren’t processed by Google immediately. In their usual charming way they explain they have lots of stamps to lick

[Update] : All invites gone

Labour was never electable in the first place, but it allowed itself for 13 years to be led by someone who was

Oliver Kamm, Great Historical Questions, The Times

A rather talented friend has opened an Etsy shop, hoping to sell her gorgeous photographs and her really rather fine drawings. Encourage her talent and buy one – they’re very reasonably priced. You can also follow her vegan cookery blog, The Gluttonous Vegan, which is nearly enough to make any carnivore chew the cud.

Ann Althouse demolishes ‘philosopher’ Bernard-Henri Lévy in The Philospher’s Petition just a few days after Harry’s Place expresses some surprise at the special pleading – especially from the French – over the arrest of the criminal fugitive Roman Polanski.

If you’d like to know why Althouse is right and French Philosophes wrong, read the grand jury account of the rape and sodomy of a drunk, drugged, 13 year-old girl. Then marvel at the free passes you get if you’re moderately talented auteur.

So Helen’s talking seriously about going back into academia. After about 10 years in teaching, and value-added this year through the roof, adding an average of a whole grade-and-a-half (when hardly any teacher hits even half a grade), and an adoring 6th form and strange cult-like following amongst her past pupils, she’s considering going back to work in a university.

Many years ago, after  Oxford, she worked as a researcher at London University, finally giving it up to do something more useful (her words). I’m wondering what she’d do now that would be more useful than the staggeringly good work she does for her 6th Formers in her role as Top Teacher. I sympathise, though; being surrounded by other teachers – and especially the ‘SMT’ as the ‘Senior Management Team’ self-importantly dub themselves – can’t be a great motivator.

Two of the stars of Helen’s successful debating team will shortly be taking the floor at the Battle of Ideas in London. See ProposeTheMotion and the coverage of the debate.

The problem is that Anna and Isobel are both very taken with Cory Doctorow and Lawrence Lessig (my favourite Lessig here), who, it has to be admitted, are both charismatic, fluent and highly intelligent speakers; but Anna and Isobel would prefer, I think, to be speaking on the other side of the motion, especially because Doctorow is one of the judges (Lessig was probalby too busy advising Obama…).

I think they have the matter slightly wrong; neither Lessig nor Doctorow are arguing for the complete abandonment of copyright; but it’s a complicated matter to get across in a single debate.

A few weeks ago, hunting through Vimeo, I found Man In A Van by Sean Dunne, a simple but excellent interview with a homeless guy who lives in a van.

Man In Van from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.

Then today, taking a look at David Thompson’s most interesting blog, I saw he linked to a Vimeo video interview called The Archive. Another simple, quiet, effective interview. And it is also by Sean Dunne.

The Archive from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.

I think that Mr Dunne will go far.