Tom Roper's Weblog

Medium weight strategist

I shall post in more detail about my search for work when I've analysed progress so far. At the end of three weeks of unemployment, I still have no job.

I saw an advertisement for a 'medium-weight strategist'. I wonder if I could apply? I weigh around 75 kg (that's 165 pounds for my US readers).

Atonement

I am possibly the last man in the country to see Atonement, which I enjoyed greatly on DVD recently.

There are scenes shot at Cuckmere Haven, a spot where I run quite freqently. Yet the location credits don't mention it at all; they mention Redcar, whose beach deos duty for Dunkrk, St John's Smith Square, nicknamed Queen Anne's footstool, where Paul and Lola are married, and some others, but not Cuckmere. I wonder why.

atonement, cuckmerehaven, sevensisters

Hollywood Librarian

The British premiere of the Hollywood Librarian passed off very well. Over sixty people came from all over the south-east to the University of Sussex for Monday evening's showing, in the company of the film's director Ann Seidl.

The film contrasts the portrayal of librarians in cinema with he realities of the modern information profession. So sequences from films such as the 1957 Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn vehicle Desk Set are cut with interviews with modern librarians of all types. We follow the struggle in Salinas, John Steinbeck's home town, to keep libraries open; a group of convicts in San Quentin, who benefit from the library's prison service, raise funds for the threatened libraries. The destruction and looting of Iraq's National Library and the fire at Alexandria are compared.

This is a brief account, so brief as to traduce a very rich film. I wondered how well a film about American librarians would be received by a British audience. But while some of the detail, for example the political processes that the Salinas campaign goes through, are specific to the USA, the problems they face, of closures, of a lack of understanding of what it is we do, of trying to run libraries as if they were supermarkets or fast food outlets, are universal.

I was disappointed to spot no reference to Peter Sellers' performance as a young librarian involved in an affair with one of his readers in Only Two Can Play, a film version of Kingsley Amis's That Uncertain Feeling, which owed a great deal to his friend Philip Larkin's experiences as a public librarian.

The audience last night were mostly librarians; but the film ought to be seen by those who use libraries and, most importantly, by those who fund them, or fail to.

Eider Chase

I only take an interest in three races today, but oppose the odds-on favourite, Hobbs Hill, in the Pendil Chase, with Paul Nicholls' runner.

Kempton 240: Oslot
Kempton 315: Ungaro
Newcastle 335: Money Line

Hollywood Librarian

Not long to go now till Monday's showing: 7 pm in Arts A2 Lecture Theatre at the University of Sussex. To whet appetites, this Technorati search finds blog reactions to earlier showings.

I understand Thursday's showing at Athlone by the Health Sceinces Libraries Group was a great success.

MLA pulls plug on the regions

Just as the Arts Council is cutting like crazy, (see Equity's report) so too MLA, the quango supposed to be in charge of museums, galleries, libraries and archives. In a move the spin-doctors call a 'radical step to sharpen delivery', they have announced that their regional organisation is to be scaled back before eventual replacement by a unified structure: MLA press release dated 20 February

CILIP's current illogical branch structures are based on MLA regions. With the end of the MLA regional presence, is there any justification for continuing with them?

Ascot, Haydock and Wincanton

Another Saturday of short-priced favourites is here, and Kauto Star will be watched closely for clues for Cheltenham, now twenty-four days away. I can't see Kauto getting beaten in the big steeplechase at Ascot, nor Neptune Collonges and Katchit in the Country Gentleman's Chase and the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton. So:
Ascot 150: King's Revenge
Ascot 225: Kauto Star
Haydock 245: Philson Run
Wincanton 310: Neptune Collonges
Wincanton 340: Katchit

Smart lad wanted

I spent a happy hour at the Job Centre today. They have touch-screen machines that perform job-searches, though they need some refinement. A search for vacancies in London and the south-east retrieved jobs in Cardiff and Dumfries.

One in London caught my eye. I quote:'...Are you seeking a career as an impartial political editor? We are looking for an energetic, intelligent and well spoken individual.....ability to write grammatically correct [sic] is important'.'

I couldn't agree more.

Bread riots

On last night's Newsnight they reported that the price of bread has risen by 14.3% over the past year. There was a time when this would have provoked rioting. I'm not sure why we don't riot. I well remember conversations a long time ago when we believed that if beer reached £1 a pint, revolution would follow.

The price of a loaf at the Seaford bakery I use has gone up. At Bill's in Lewes they ask you for £3 for a sourdough loaf. I could bake my own, of course.

There is a slump. The old bipolar disorder of capitalism, known and tolerated for centuries, gets worse with age,

Cat in the fennel

It is hard to adjust to the different rhythms of the day when not working. One depends on so many things for structure: the stampede of students on the hour every hour running from lecture to lecture, the lunch break, or the time of the train home.

In this early spring I sit outside in the sun and the cat plays among the tall dead fennel stalks in the border. I must cut them down. I wear a quilted jacket, true, but am not in the least bit cold.

cat, gardening