The place where lost socks go...

Dylann Roof
Elliot Rodger
Adam Lanza
James Holmes
Jared Loughner

Need I continue?

Perhaps we should start a random 'stop and frisk' type screening for white USAmerican males who are roughly between the ages of 16 and 25?[*]

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[*] Yes, I know they don't account for all the mass shootings. You've got Seung-Hui Cho (Korean), Wade Michael Page (40), Aaron Alexis (black), and so on. But the list is definitely disproportionately young white men.

It's been more years than I care to think about since I've could rightfully call myself an activist. After spending the better part of my 20s involved in Anarchist activism, I trickled off around 2007 for various reasons.

In that time, I did a variety of things, including mass demonstrations, local demonstrations, political prisoner support, copwatching, books to prisoners, food & clothing redistribution, and union organising work. It was always an uphill battle, and we lost more than we won... but it was a good fight, and I'm proud of the role I played, however small.

Now, after years away from anything resembling activism, I appear to be back at it again. Except -- surprise -- this time the union organising is with my own union... and the fight is over my own pension.

The main pension plan in the UK, the University Superannuation Scheme (USS) is under attack, with the 69 universities that support it trying to effectively dismantle the fund and replace it with something far smaller (and cheaper). The Universities & College Union (UCU) isn't taking this lying down, and we've begun to fight back. Starting today, an assessment boycott has begin -- all across the nation, folks are refusing to prepare exams, mark papers, or assess students in any way.

It's not an easy decision, and the students themselves aren't to blame, of course! But the universities need to be made to listen -- and until now, they've refused to even negotiate with us. Fortunately, the National Union of Students supports us -- it's good to know that they can see where we are coming from.

Imperial College has determined to dock 25% pay from anyone who participates in this industrial action, even though student assessment comprises far less than 25% of anyone's time. Other universities -- like York -- are docking 100% pay, and I've heard that there are even good old fashioned lockouts going on at some places. Ah, welcome back to the 19^th century!

I do not personally have any assessment responsibilities at present, so I cannot directly participate in the boycott. However, I am in full support of this action. I have been to multiple meetings on this topic in the past couple of days, I plan to donate a fraction of my own salary to the UCU's "Fighting Fund" that will help offset the lost wages of my colleagues, and I have written an appeal for others in my position to do the same. I am also organising a response amongst other research staff in the Physics Department and have been newly recruited to enlist other volunteers on a wider scale within the university.

I have to say: I don't need this right now. I really really don't need this. Without boring folks with details, my life is really chok-a-blok full right now; the extra committments on my time (and finances) is not welcome. Still, I didn't pick this fight, but I'm going to do what I can to help us win it! What else can I do, really? All progress in working conditions has come from people sacrificing their time and resources to further the labour movement. Joe Hill, Utah Phillips, and so many others have done their bit before me. Who I am to shirk my small part?

So, yeah, back in the thick of it again... at least for now. And unlike so many of the broader political battles, I do think this is one that can be won.

So, in the immortal words of Ralph Chaplin:

When the union's inspiration through the workers' blood shall run,
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun;
Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one,
But the union makes us strong...

Returned to the Event Horizon last night, following the nearly nine hundred mile drive home from the Sooper Sekrit October Pagan (SSOP) festival. This marked my sixteenth year attending, and eighteen for my beloved cheshcat, who starting going two years before me. We have moved around quite a bit in that time, living in different states and different countries... but we always make the October pilgrimage. The SSOP is my spiritual home, and the people that attend are my extended logical family.[*]

This year, cheshcat and I were organizers again, like we were in 2010. Back then, we did it all on our own; this time, we were part of a team of six -- working with the ever-awesome jeneralist and three others, we put together a pretty spectacular gathering... if I do say so myself!

On the long drive home yesterday, I had plenty of time to mull over the long weekend just passed. It was quite spectacular, in many ways... and just what this doctor ordered! There was, of course, all the usual excellence -- like the various rituals, some great workshops, going canoeing, the fire circle, taking in the breathtaking Autumn foliage, going to the Sunday night dance, et cetera, et cetera, and so forth. I did not find time to make it to the sauna this year, but I did spend some lovely time in both of the Sacred Sexuality spaces -- the Temple of Aphrodite[**] and RG's Dark Temple.

As always, there were many awesometacular new people at the festival. I want to make a particularly special shout-out to my newest LJ-friend, the lovely creativexangst -- welcome aboard, sweetie!

In addition to the parts that are the wonderful staples of the SSOP, there were certain extra bonuses that made this year even more special than usual. For instance, I received multiple heartwarming comments about how well cheshcat and I had handled the community crisis of 2010, which unexpectedly exploded into our laps during the year that the two of us had been entrusted with the stewardship of the community. Our efforts at the time sucked up enormous time and energy; two years later, however, it is clear that they were a success. This acknowledgement was immensely gratifying. I did the WORK as a labour of love... but it is a nice surprise to see the fruit of said labour recognized.

Another unexpected moment involved finding out that I am a movie star! Okay, a really really minor movie star... but still. Has anyone ever heard of a 2005 film called "The F Word"? I had heard of it before but, not being much of a movie buff, never seen it. Then, at dinner one evening, CR comes up to me and asks if I knew that I was in said film. Um... what?? As it turns out, the movie uses interview footage taken of me shortly after I was released from jail following my arrest at the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City. I very vaguely remember giving that interview, but I never followed up on it after. The film intersperses the footage of me with a press conference by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, using my words to put the lie to his. Excellent!

Perhaps the most touching moment of all came from the wonderful bloodsong1.[***] I met this fantastic woman only last year but -- as is so often the case in poly-friendly community -- we have a bit of a strange relation. She is the widow of the ex-husband of my first poly partner, from waaaaaay back in the mid-90s. That's right, my ex-secondary's ex-primary's wife. I very much enjoyed meeting her and was rather pleased that she returned to the SSOP this year. This time around, she brought her two children: IDK (aged 12) and the Cuteness (aged 5). IDK glommed onto me immediately, wanting to play with boffer swords and go canoeing together and eat his meals with me. I was really touched by this bond... and further honoured by a request that his mother asked of me regarding IDK. Without bloodsong1's explicit permission, I won't mention details in a public forum, but I can say that I was delighted to accept.

This was most likely the final SSOP to be held in the buildings that have been our home for twenty-two years.[****] By next year, the current buildings may be beneath one billion gallons of water; we will be on the same site, but in new structures currently under construction on higher ground. The gathering ended with a procession from the old buildings to the new, bringing our essence with us to transfer to our new home. It was a most fitting ending.

Of course, every ending brings with it the promise of new beginnings. In this case, the SSOP ended with multiple invitations, to visit HY and EB in NYC, to visit with AB and rbdarkly in Kingston, and so on. As we urgently needed to get back to the Event Horizon to start packing up the house, we had to defer these invitations until we return to the States in December. However, they were still very much appreciated; it feels good to have a community where one fits in so well and just belongs.

With all these amazing happenings, I was feeling very well balanced and grounded on the car ride home -- a most welcome change from the drive out, where I was feeling rather ungrounded about some matters that have nothing to do with the SSOP. I was thinking how very good this year's SSOP was for me... until, sitting down to write this entry, I happened along a post written just after the 2010 festival. Ah, it looks like this may not be the first year that I have come away from the October Festival feeling refreshed, rebalanced, and rejuvenated. I guess that is why P**T*** is home!

I will wind down this entry now with a picture, taken on Sunday afternoon by your friendly neighbourhood Nomad. Tis the famous Wiggly Bridge that is such an icon of the site where the SSOP takes place. Enjoy!

Sunday October 7^th 2012: A Bridge Over Peaceful Waters

(click for full-sized version)

There is much to do in the next two weeks before I head back to Merry Olde England. However, that doesn't mean that there will be no time for fun. Having just connected strongly with my East Coast community, I am very much looking forward to connecting with my Chicagoland community at the final Event Horizon party this weekend!

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[*] "Logical family", in contrast to "Bio-Logical family".

[**] A great many thanks are due to kenshardik and CG for making this happen on short notice. At the last minute, the person who was supposed to serve as the Priestess of Aphrodite could not come. After a hurried organizer conference to discuss suitable replacements, I tapped kenshardik and CG each on the shoulder as they arrived and asked if they could run this Temple. It is very much to their credit that they did not run screaming in horror... and thus the "Acolytes of Aphrodite" were born.

[***] bloodsong1's own quick synopsis of the weekend can be found here; it features an outfit that I really need to get.

[****] The SSOP goes back over ten years further, but it was at a different location before 1991.

Leaving Glasgow now, after what I would call a successful trip. Generally, I feel that anytime they invite you back to speak again next year, your presentation has been a success.

The subject of my talk last night was "Neutrino Astronomy". I presented to the Astronomical Society of Glasgow, reusing one of my lectures that has been well received at the Oxford University Department of Continuing Education's 2010 Astronomy Weekend as well as at the British Astronomical Association's 2011 Winchester weekend. Amazingly enough, no one asked about superluminal neutrinos... so I brought the topic up myself in the question period -- after that, there was a goodly amount of interest.

By chance, I happened across the Occupy Glasgow protests, camped out in the statue-laden George Square, where my hotel was located. It is rather impressive to watch the Occupy movement spread so far from Wall Street. Let's hope the momentum continues!

All in all, not a bad week. Chicago on Monday -- including time at Fermilab and gaming in the evening with the gleeful gyades, the spiffy xirpha, and the lovely danaeris; Oxford on Tuesday; London on Wednesday -- plus a date with my darling miss_amaranth in the evening; Glasgow on Thursday; and now back to Oxford once more for theatre with my beloved cheshcat this evening!

Back in Glasgow again in a fortnight to give a seminar on T2K results. Much to do between now and then!

On my way to work this morning, I encountered an entourage of royals in the park. At least I assume they were royals; all the pieces seem to fit:

• The park in question was Kensington Gardens, adjacent to Kensington Palace.
  
• The entourage was dressed in very posh clothing, riding in two extremely lavish horse-drawn carriages.
  
• Said party had an escort of four cops, two on horseback and two on motorcycle.

As they say, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

I had to pause in my journey until they had passed and the path was clear to cross once again. I had to be careful in my crossing, however. When the royals had moved on, there was a pile of shit in the road, left behind as witness to their regal presence.

Need I say more?

I currently find myself at a loss for which of the two major political parties in the United States currently disgusts me more.[*] The Republicans are evil bastards... but astoundingly effective. Meanwhile, the Democrats, whilst quite the lesser evil, cannot actually manage to get anything done anymore. Despite holding both houses of Congress and the Presidency. Oi! With significantly slimmer majorities -- including a 50/50 tie in the Senate -- the Shrub was able to accomplish far more with far less effort.

Honestly, I am utterly astounded at the fact that a Republican minority can hold tax cuts for the middle class hostage to giving more money to billionaires. Cuts that, I might add, are favoured by a majority of Congress and, according to polls, the public. Amazingly enough, they can even do this all whilst loudly proclaiming themselves to be fiscally responsible deficit hawks. Indeed, the audacity of the Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, blew me away when, after defending tax cuts for billionaires, he then goes on to talk about what spending cuts will be needed to offset the cost of extending federal unemployment benefits!

Honestly, people voted for these jokers? I find it difficult to even take them seriously!

Yet somehow, after creating a major recessions with their economic policies, these are the people being brought back to power. I certainly don't want them to have it, though goodness knows that the Democrats sure don't deserve it because they don't have a clue how to use it! Unable to pass popular legislation with double majorities? Incompetent. Not to mention being stupid enough to wait until after the midterm elections to even tackle an issue that could have easily won them political credit going into the midterms. Imbeciles!

Considering the current political landscape in the United States, I find that lines from the poem The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats spring readily to mind:

The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Not that the Democrats are "best" in most things... but at least in the context of a two-party legislature they are. Leave it to the US Congress to remind me how good, relatively speaking, things in the UK still are -- even with the accursed Tories doing their best to run everything into the ground.

As things fall apart, I can only hope that another of Yeats's predictions from the same work will soon come true: "...anarchy is loosed upon the world..."

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[*] As an Anarchist, of course, I strongly disapprove of the entirety of the US political structure and would dearly like to see it overthrown. That said, for the purposes of this post, I am accepting said structure as the reality of 2010.

[ETA: I love Paul Krugman! I really really do! His editorial on the above sums up exactly what I have been hoping against hope will end up happening. Thank you, Paul! I want to marry you and have your babies! Seriously, why is this man -- a Nobel Economics Laureate, no less -- not the Secretary of the Treasury??]

Today is the first of May, an important day for me in two very different ways!

For my Pagan side, tis all about Beltane -- celebrating Spring and rebirth and lust and sex and all those other wonderful things!

For my Anarchist side, tis Mayday, commemorating the noble Haymarket Anarchists who were put to death by the State of Illinois for demonstrating in favour of the eight hour workday.[*]

Traditionally, I have often been split on how to celebrate. In 2002, I remember being assaulted by the Tempe police in Arizona; indeed, I still have their on video at the Event Horizon! In 2004 and 2005, I celebrated in various ways, including with the IWW's annual picnic at the Martyr's Monument near Chicago. In 2006, I spent the long weekend at an Anarchist conference in London, culminating in a Mayday march. Whereas in 2007, 2008, and 2009 I mainly focused on the more Paganesque celebrations reflected in the Oxford May Morning.

Of course, this year my choice is simply: (c) None of the above, as I am holed up in the quiet little village up Mozumi, high in the Japanese Alps. Still, Spring is definitely here -- as can be evidenced by the weather and the green everywhere. Don't believe me? Take a look at this picture that I shot on Friday and see for yourself!

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[*] That's right! Any of you like working only eight hours per day? You have Anarchists to thank for it!

Sunday morning. I'm sitting in the hotel lobby[1], eating the small pre-wrapped smoked cheeses[2,3] that I used to love so much[4] when I lived here whilst I catch up on replying to various and sundry messages.

( My brain is very full )

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[1] As the Tokai Royal Hotel is not quite regal enough to have WiFi reaching up to the rooms.

[2] They have pre-wrapped cheeses, but they don't have pre-wrapped bacon!

[3] Oddly enough, whilst we were at the supermarket last night, RT sang "All you need is cheese" as I was buying these. I say that this is odd because he does not know about the Silly Cheese Song Project. I guess the tenet "cheese is love" is self-evident!

[4] And still do.

[5] Indeed, despite all their hype, we may fail to destroy the world before the LHC fails to destroy the world! So there!

[6] Eeeeep!

[7] Fifteen consecutive years for cheshcat, who has been going since 1995.

[8] Assuming that mattp is able to loan me the handbells.

[9] Which -- wonder of wonders -- has not gone away now that Obama is president! Who would have known?

[10] With one notable exception -- the lovely uberredfraggle!

Riding into London now, on my way to work. Only three more workdays before heading out for Japan! Eeeep!

Feeling much better today -- amazing what a difference eight hours sleep makes. Especially as opposed to two or three!

That's right -- to the surprise of no one, yesterday was somewhat difficult to get through, given the lack of rest the night before. With the help of two energy drinks, I think that I managed reasonably well, though.

( At work... )

In the evening, I headed back to Oxford to ( ring bells. [NOTE: This cut contains a bit of campanological explanation] )

( The rest of the evening... )

---

( Footnotes )

I'm being bad right now, writing this entry whilst also participating in an international video conference for the T2K Super-Kamiokande working group. What can I say? We are up to the final talk, on a proposal for a blind analysis... which is not exactly a topic that I care about.

Today has been a really good day. My darling cheshcat and I got to sleep in until about half ten, as we were both taking the day off from work. Catching up on sleep was definitely a good thing, as I have not been resting nearly enough of late. The beauteous bunnypip arrived at the Flat With No Name around noon, with L1 and L2 in tow. After getting food and whatnot, we made our way into city centre, where we had two o'clock tickets at the Oxford Playhouse.

The performance of the day was a theatrical adaption of Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, performed by the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. As it is too long to reasonably collapse into a three hour show, the show was presented as two three hour shows. Part One ran from two until five, after which we had a two hour break for dinner. Part Two ran from seven until ten.

Alterations from the novels still needed to be made to make the show fit. For instance, Mary -- the dark matter researcher -- was completely removed. So was Lee Scoresby's death. Nonetheless, the show worked well. Really well. During the second half of Part Two, I was starting to feel frustrated... but then the ending was done so well that I ultimately ended up forgiving them.

Overall, then, I thought it was a really good show. So did L1, who absolutely loved the books. Additionally, it was most appropriate to see it performed in Oxford, where much of the story is set. Indeed, at the end of Part One, I announced that I had found a window to another world -- if we walked through the theatre doors then, like Will and Lyra, we would also find ourselves in Oxford! The author, Phillip Pullman, lives here as well... and apparently he made a surprise cameo appearance in last night's performance!

After the show, there was a short question and answer session with part of the cast. I asked a question about the puppetry in the show -- which had been excellent -- and started a discussion about that. Needless to say, da_pupdetz[*] were quite chuffed by this!

When our day at the theatre finally ended, we zipped back to the Flat With No Name as quickly as possible, as I had my video conference beginning at 11pm. Is still going on. When it ends, I am off to bed immediately, as I need to wake up at half four to go back into city centre to celebrate the May Morning festivities. cheshcat, having done it all before, is sleeping in until her regular wake-up time, then going to work as normal. bunnypip is joining me, though, as is L1 and L2. The usual singing from the Magdalen tower will happen at six, I am ringing with the OUSCR at half six, the usual contingents of Morris dancers and street bands will be present, and breakfast is at half seven.

Looks like sleep isn't on my agenda for the next day or so. I only expect to get three hours tonight, due to the late-night meeting and the early-morning festivities. Last year, I was asleep again by nine o'clock in morning for a nice nap. Not so likely this year, as I would like to bring L1 to the Oxford Botanic Gardens[**] when they open at nine o'clock tomorrow. Then, at 11:15, I have another meeting to attend, this time from the T2K UK analysis group. Should be done by 12:30, at which point I can squeeze in a little bit of rest before tomorrow evening, when I have a private Beltane ritual and celebration to attend!

Still, sleep or no, this is a four day weekend with many fun things in it... and it is just beginning! Can't really complain about that! (Who need sleep, anyway?)

I hope that all of my fellow Pagans are also having an excellent Beltane weekend... and I wish all of my fellow Anarchists a marvelous Mayday!

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[*] Who may well be my daemons.

[**] Largely to flesh out his His Dark Materials experience, as Will & Lyra's bench is located in the Botanic Gardens.