Getting there

Damp, overcast and depressed – and that is only my mood.  And the weather?  This is supposed to be the first day of spring?  It is only listening to the Today programme on Radio 4 and laughing at the weather forecast in Britain that I keep my sanity!

However, the simple reality of today is that it is the ante-penultimate day of term and I have just ascertained that the last day will be taken up with a “Fun” run and other sporting activities – which would seem to indicate to me that my academic expertise will not be needed and it therefore follows that . . . I wonder just how unobtrusive I really can be!

The day has started with an English class being given over to the kids to work in groups to perfect their presentations and use their statistical results to produce pretty graphs.  Whatever.  It does mean that I am, yet again, sitting at the front of a class doing something else.

What I should be doing, of course, is revision for my forthcoming examination, and I do have electronic copies of the books from which to plan my final note taking – but it is too early and I am far too lazy to get down to such serious work when there is a subdued air of festivity about.

I met one of my jollier colleagues at the school gate this morning and she was bemoaning the fact that she has yet another meeting to look forward to tomorrow after school.  At present the School on the Hill is trying its best to emulate the slogan of The Windmill – “We Never Close!”  Perhaps not the best of comparisons: a strip club and an educational institution, but you only need to ponder for a few seconds before the parallels become telling!

As a piece of sheer self-indulgence I have bought a ten-disc set of Nielsen’s Orchestral Works.  The number of versions of the symphonies that I now possess is rapidly approaching obsession, but listening to bits and pieces of the music which is now safely lodged on a corner of the hard disc in the iMac I was taken over yet again by what I heard.  I am not sure that the sound quality is quite as crisp as some of the other interpretations in my collection but it is another example of a way of understanding the music which I welcome.  It is also about time that I left the tried and tested path of the symphonies and started to learn some other music by this composer.  He may now have overtaken Sibelius in the number of discs of his music that I have.  I must do something about that!  My original favourite must reign supreme!

With Sibelius it is easier to own discs which trace the tradition of his music being played from first generation enthusiasts in Britain like Sargent, Barbirolli and Beecham up to the young conductors of the present day.  You have a greater choice with Sibelius because he has always been relatively more popular than Nielsen, so the discography is more extensive.

The day tailed off into little more than baby-sitting and in desperation I turned to a Swedish detective novel that has been lurking in my Kindle for some time and it allowed me to pass the time while the kids allegedly got on with their project work.

Two working days to go!

To the future!

The die has been cast!  And I sit here with potential impunity waiting for the reaction to my conduct last night.  I would like to say that I am waiting with a certain degree of trepidation.  But that would be a lie.  I really and truly couldn’t care less.  But I am interested to gauge the reaction.  From a purely sociological point of view of course.

Today is one of my “short” days and so I will have the afternoon to consider my next moves!

I am going to have to curb my propensity to splash money at any reasonable CD offer that flits before my fascinated eyes – and Amazon make sure that plenty of offers so do.  I am now fully CeeDeed to see me well into the summer holidays and some of the discs are going to be hard listening which it going to take a certain degree of concentration and determination to listen with anything like informed appreciation.

So far the EMI Eminence disc of Britten has been a revelation.  “Les Illuminacions” and other Britten choral works has been an utter delight.  Not having the dreadful Peter Pears singing is of course an advantage – though one can always hear his warble in the background of one’s memory whenever a piece of Britten is played!  The Ceremony of Carols too was amazing and I cannot imagine that there were many other drivers singing along to that excellent piece as I made my way on the north circular to The School on the Hill!

From what I can see from my purchases over the last couple of months, I am going to be a bit of an expert on the Baroque by the time I have exhausted the new discs with multiple copies of some works, especially by Bach.  Perhaps this is the time when I finally get to like the Brandenburg Concertos – though I doubt it.

The information booklet on the latest batch continues to surprise.  It actually talks about the music in something other than platitudes and uses fairly technical language.  Revelation - and it just shows that Sony has the right attitude and all the others could learn something from them.

Absolutely nothing has been said about my non-attendance at the meeting (which went on for two hours twenty minutes) and I shall therefore take that to mean that I can continue to act with impunity.  Hooray!  And the weather is fine and the wind is less and the sun is shining – who can ask for more!

The group work that the kids are completing at the moment is supposed to be evaluated by the presiding teacher who is supposed to give marks for a variety of attitudes and achievements in a great number of columns.  As you may have been able to tell by the tone in this paragraph I, of course, have done nothing of the sort.  My first repulse by the system was also my last and I have kept well away from the system ever since.  If this is a problem, then tough!

Lunch in our old stomping ground near the flat: mussels, whitebait, mixed paella with snails and chicken, Tarta Santiago, coffee - €12.20.  And people ask why I am living in Catalonia!

Full day tomorrow and the realization that there are only three days to the holiday.  That is a good realization.  Apart from there being three days.

Flux!

It comes to something when I can’t be bothered to walk down a couple of flights of stairs to get a computer on which there is typing which I have completed today and prefer to retype so that I don’t have to move more than my fingers.  This is not good, and does not bode well for my future physical condition!

However I have much on which to ponder (and I seem to be over using the “on which” construction today) on an eventful day in which (see, I can vary my style if I choose) the two most significant events were arrival and non-arrival!

The arrival was a boxed set (yet another) of 60 CDs produced by Sony under the Vivarte label.  The book which accompanies the set is one of the best produced and most exhaustively informative I have ever come across; it makes me feel toweringly ignorant just holding the damn thing!  My favourite disc so far, I am indeed downloading it to the ever empty hard disc of my computer, is entitled “Utopia Triumphanes” – The Triumphs of the Renaissance: this opens with Spem in Alium the forty-part motet and ends with Ecce Beatam Lucem another forty-part non-liturgical motet, taking in a mere six-part motet “Laudate Dominum” by Machincourt.  The first is by Tallis and the second by that name-to-conjure-with, Striggio.  I am sure that I am displaying woeful ignorance in my lack of ability to whistle Striggio tunes, but there it is – I am, after all, only a poor student trudging my weary way along the road of knowledge.  And who the hell is Machincourt – apart of course from the well-known composer of a famous six-part motet!

The non-arrival [can your mind actually remember as far back as the beginning of the last paragraph to make that opening valid?] is arguably the more interesting.

As I have been highlighting for the past few days, today was the day of The Meeting.

The day started on a low note as I had done nothing to put the results of the examinations on the new-fangled computer platform whose complexity makes the other two platforms that we have used look like writing figures on a piece of paper.  O halcyon days when that was all we had to do!

The present platform needs a password to get in which is generated anew each time you try and access the program.  This password is sent to your email account and you have to paste it into the  . . . well, you get the idea.  Simple?  No.

So the morning was one of increasing hysteria as I constantly failed to get into the system.  Now it must be admitted that if I had been just a little more pro-active I might have achieved more – but I would have enjoyed my weekend less!

So with colleagues on each hand and elbow I was guided through the mysteries of data input in about eight minutes.  My hapless colleagues have spent some four hours being “instructed” on the various delights of the system and if the essentials can be conveyed in such a short time it does make one wonder about the usefulness of the instruction and the eating into the spare time of colleagues.  But that was them, this was me and eight minutes seemed to be pushing the limit of my interest.

Hysteria eventually gave way to normal chaos and the work that I had to do was done.  I also typed out some comments to go with the results and I sat back and saw that it was good.  I photocopied the sheets, but them in a nice folder and planned the next step of my campaign.

Which was simply to leave before the meeting started.

Tomorrow my absence will be put down to, “Well, that was Stephen and we all know that he doesn’t like these meetings and he did take the place of that teacher who left us in the lurch so what can we say?” or “Who the hell does he think he is!”  I am easy with either as long as I don’t have to go to the meetings.  I can take opprobrium, but not two hours of mind-rotting tedium.  Or indeed four hours counting tomorrow.  Or six counting Thursday.  You wouldn’t believe it unless you see it!

So, anyway, I didn’t go.  And I am looking forward to the morrow to see the reaction of my colleagues.  I did say, “See you tomorrow!” to one as he disappeared down stairs to go to the last lesson of the day, and he didn’t bat an eyelid.  We will see.

The school is going through a cataclysm in which the classes of regimented learners have been cut loose and are indulging in an orgy of project-based learning.  The kids always respond well to this way of learning and it is hard not to see the obvious questions that should then be asked about the way that the school teaches normally – but let it pass, let it pass!

There are four more teaching days to the end of term and we are all counting.

I have just listened to Spem in Alium, and delicious it was too, it is quite late and so I couldn’t play it as loudly as I would have liked but it was loud enough, and the recording is clear enough for the layers of music to enfold the listener.  It sometimes seems almost indecent that I can have music like this at the click of a button and that I can choose from something like 600 albums of music in my library.  So far!  And those albums are not taking up 10% of the storage space available on my computer!  I still find that breathtakingly amazing.  Not surprising for someone whose first computer had a memory of 28K!

Before the end of the week The Revision must start.  And I am sure that everyone who has been too tired to post thoughts on the subject related threads on the Internet, will flock back to voice their fears about what The Examination will hold in store!

Although I am quite jocose about the even on the 22^nd April, I am sure that even my equipoise will be somewhat shaky by the actual date, when I am waiting outside a room in the British Council clutching my brace of blue disposable fountain pens and a highlighter!  Though I also have to admit that a masochistic part of me is actually looking forward to the experience!

Meanwhile an early bed to prepare myself for what incriminations and imprecations tomorrow might fling in my direction.  Who knows, sacked by Easter is a very real possibility.

Out of the way!

It is finished! 

It sounds a bit blasphemous, but I do understand the sense of completion.  The Essay has been sent off.  As usual the most annoying part was the writing of the bibliography; but I did use an idea passed on to me by Paul 1 who said that the easiest thing to do was to write the titles of the books etc. on Excel in a single cell per book and then simply ‘sort’ to get the alphabetic order so beloved of the pernickety - and copy and paste!

I will have to ask Paul how he got the lines of information to fit on an A4 page – knowing such things is the difference between serenity and mindless panic at the end of an assignment!

I am now “free” as far as TMSs are concerned until the middle of June, when the next course will have started up and enough will have been done for the first of the three TMAs to be sent in.  Though, thinking about it, that will be before the end of term – if I am still in the school.  Which looks less likely the more the “Meetings” loom large!  Long before that I will have to sit the exam for this course, of course.  Now when did I last sit an exam?

I feel that my revision will have to be a little more directed than it has been in the past and, given the way the OU approaches these first level course examinations, I will be guided pretty comprehensively towards what I need to study.  I must take heed of the help and abide by the advice!  That, in itself, is going to be difficult!

The Family has descended for lunch – but bringing with them calçots and various forms of meat that they have barbecued and served – and excellent it was too.

I am a little disturbed because the work I had to do this weekend has been done.  Not, admittedly the work that I have to complete for school and the dreaded meetings on Monday and Tuesday, but the work for the OU course has been done.  Done.  Done.  Done.  Thinking about it – when did I last do revision?  Dear god, talk about reviving old, well-lost abilities!

As long as I can get through this last week next week, then there is a holiday until the 5^th of next month.  That is a much more acceptable way of putting it because as sure as god made little fishes, we do not have the clear fortnight which is a god-given right in the UK.  Best not to think about it too closely because that way lies madness!

Having failed to find free app which allows me to watch British television, I had to listen to Radio Wales and let out various whoops and hand claps as Wales trounced England and denied them The Triple Crown and the Grand Slam and the Championship.  Sweet!

We must make the most of this excellent win against England because we know that our moments of delight are going to be tempered by bitter loss in the future and we have to have these frustratingly irritating (from the English point of view) victories to relish in memory!

And Scotland are not doing too well in their job of forcing France to accept the wooden spoon in so far as they don’t appear to have as many points as the French.  One doesn’t want to disparage our northern neighbours but the Old Alliance seems to be coming into play!

Well, Scotland may have lost but we won - and that is the important thing.