I’m grateful to Pablo Fanque for pointing out that Topsyturvydom was recently featured in the “Blogwatch” section of the North – West Enquirer web site. By that strange internet process that James Joyce would doubtless call the commodius vicus of recirculation, the first name I saw there was that of someone I taught twenty eight years ago. It had to be him – as the football chant would have it, there’s only one Kevin Gopal…
To Manchester, to see Arlo Guthrie perform. Arlo is a girlhood hero of ‘er indoors, and a favourite of mine. He rarely makes it to these shores – the last time we saw him was 1988- so this was a must-see for us.
He was great. Backed by son Abe and grandson (!) plus an excellent pedal steel player, he ran through some of his most well-known songs, and some of his dad’s, in fine style. His between song – and sometimes in-song – chat is brilliant. He’s wry, clever, witty and self-deprecating; actually, quite a considerable orator. We sang along to the inevitable “Alice’s Restaurant” and “This Land is Your Land.” We also listened to a newly discovered wire recording of Woody, and were moved by an encore which showcased a new song, lyrics by Woody – apparently there are thousands of songs he never recorded. Two hours without a break – not bad for an old-timer!
One of the pleasures of being a toiler in the groves of academe is that you get to work alongside some truly remarkable people. One such is my colleague Harriet Devine. Harriet’s academic reputation rests on her work on eighteenth and nineteenth century authors. She is a highly respected academic in her field, but has also led a remarkable life. Her latest publication is an autobiographical piece, which is a joy to read. As the daughter of George Devine, founder and leading light of the Royal Court Theatre, she had an unusual girlhood, punctuated by visits from Laurence Olivier, Peggy Ashcroft and other leading actors of the day. The book is full of fascinating anecdotes about some very well-known people, illustrated with some very evocative photographs from Harriet’s collection.
Harriet writes beautifully, in a clear and entertaining style. She is very honest about herself and the people she encountered. The result is a fascinating book, which should be read by anybody with an interest in British post-war theatre and culture. I’m already looking forward to the second volume.
Our local paper, The Lytham St Annes Express – and I’m not providing a link because it’s such a useless publication – recently saw fit to splash a large photo of Abi Titmuss on the front page. The reason was, apparently, that she might – note the conditional – make a visit to Lytham. The article then goes on about the burgeoning celebrity culture in Lytham, brought about by its trendy bars and restaurants. The list of celebrities is awe-inspiring: apart from La Titmuss, there’s Phil Vickery, Andrew Ridgeley, Britt Ekland…and, er, that’s it. Just run that by me again, will you? So that’s a man who’s married to a fat lady on the telly, the uncreative half of a pop duo that broke up twenty years ago, and a woman whose main claim to fame is that she used to be married to Peter Sellers. I’m all agog. Truly, Lytham is the new St Tropez…
Guardian Unlimited Business | | Tesco offers carrot to reduce use of plastic carrier bags
Tesco are trying to present themselves as all eco-friendly by this move – but their “biodegradable” bags will still take years to degrade in the landfill sites where they will end up. I really can’t see why Tesco in Ireland can say a charge on plastic bags is a great idea, while their English counterpart says they have to continue to offer them free. Ther answer to this problem is so bleeding obvious – charge for plastic bags, and as we have seen in Ireland, use of them will plummet.
This confirms my worst fears about the plagiarism epidemic. It’s drearily predictable that the person whose conscience is entirely clear as she makes up to £1000 a week writing essays for students to pass off as their own is a lawyer by trade.
Bring back exams! Actually, that is happening, at several HEIs of my acquaintance. It seems to be the only way.
BBC – Berkshire – voices2005 – Management-speak
Thanks to Anglepoise for this collection of appallingly mangled English. It’s a kind of Black Museum of the worst offenders.
I’ve changed the title of this thread – “Little things for which I have an irrational loathing” is clumsy, and also, I’ve decided, inaccurate. Contemplating these loathsome things, I came to the conclusion that my loathing was not irrational, but actually entirely justifiable and correct, and that anyone who disagreed with me was wrong. Hence the snappier title.
So – today’s object of disaffection is management speak. The English language is the most glorious and infinitely subtle way of communicating on this planet. It might not mean much to be born English these days compared to the glory days of Empire, but being a native speaker of English is a huge advantage. The language is supreme as an instrument of expression, capable of conveying nuances of the most subtle kind. It’s a lot to do with the way that successive waves of invaders have left their mark without erasing the previous vernacular. It means we have lots of synonyms, but with slightly different connotations. Freedom and liberty mean the same, don’t they? But there’s something stirring about the Anglo-Saxon freedom that the Anglo -French liberty doesn’t manage. You can think of other examples.
So why, given the vast resources of the language, do people resort to the ludicrous gibberish that is management speak? Not only do they write in this strange hybrid language, which reads as if written by an Albanian on a correspondence course, but they talk it too. It’s hideous. What sort of stuff do I mean? Using “impact” and “benchmark” as verbs, saying “delivery” for “teaching”, “rolling out” instead of introducing… Using ridiculous buzz phrases – “best practice”, “value for money”, saying “issues” instead of problems…
It’s not uncommon in certain circles to hear this kind of thing:
“We’ve got some issues impacting around delivery. We need to benchmark best practice, and see if we can get vfm on this, yeah?” And if it’s said with a rising tone, then my trigger finger gets very twitchy.
I did enjoy a remark in the Radio 4 show Weak at the Top, featuring an obnoxious Jeremy Clarkson type. “When someone from HR speaks, it’s like a neutron bomb – the building’s standing, but everyone’s dead.”
-and HR (or Human Resources) instead of Personnel is a classic piece of management jargon. Ugh!
EducationGuardian.co.uk | comment | We are not amuth’d
Here’s a lovely piece by the always entertaining John Sutherland. It is distressing that so much unintelligible gibberish gets passed off as learned criticism these days. I always pass on to students the words of Nobel-winning scientist Peter Medawar:
“No-one who sincerely believes he has something important to say will willingly run the risk of being misunderstood.”
If only they all followed that advice…
Telegraph | Education | I cheat us all by doing my pupils’ work
Most people who work in education are aware of the situation described here. It’s now reaching epidemic proportions. I’m coming across more and more undergraduates with apparently good A levels who flounder hopelessly when asked to take part in any kind of academic discourse. What’s worse, the culture of target setting and league tables is creeping into HE. Already there are worrying signs of declining standards, and increasingly bizarre methods of coping with the Google generation, who just don’t “get” plagiarism.
We may just have to rethink the whole process of assessment before grades become utterly meaningless.