A Clockwork Orange
For those of you who haven’t read it, I’ll summarize – Alex is part of a teenage gang in a future society where crime is out of control. They spend their days beating up men and raping women, and Alex is also a big fan of classical music. Beethoven’s Ninth especially. Eventually he is caught by police and after a few years in prison is ‘cured’ of his violence using a form of brainwashing so that any time he has violent thoughts he feels sick and is unable to do it. By the end, after having been beaten up several times, he tries to commit suicide after being unable to even enjoy his music anymore. Somehow, the suicide attempt (he jumps out of a window) reverses the treatment but over time he matures and decides to ‘grow up’ of his own free will.
(Note – I haven’t seen the film, I hear it’s slightly different.)
I’m a bit of a loss as to what to say. Nearly 2000 people have died in the Pakistan earthquake, while Tropical Storm Stan also has a soaring death toll. Everything else becomes rather irrelevant when you remember how fragile our grip on the planet is.
Having said that – I spent most of today sleeping and buying clothes. And yes, I do love Primark. It’s perfect for me. It just says “I know you don’t like buying clothes, and you don’t care much about fashion, so let’s just get you the stuff you need cheaply and get out of there.” I also doubled the amount of footwear I own by getting a new pair of trainers and ‘proper’ shoes too. See – I think ahead to this year’s certificate evening.
New slogan: “What would Hiten wear?” 
Touch wood, a force-refresh seems to be successful at bringing back Gravatars at the moment. As you probably know they’ve been having problems the past week or two and we’ve all be subject to ugly black or grey boxes, but things seem to be looking up at last.
Talking of weblogs – I heard today through MSN that someone had been attacked on the way to our school (not by another student or anyone they knew, I understand.) It was a nasty shock, and I hope they’re all right. It actually got me wondering how news like this filters through various communication networks. By the time it reaches you, you have no idea how accurate the details are. The truth will normally come out through the school, but that’s days later in an assembly or newsletter if at all.
Wouldn’t it be good for schools to interact with students more online? Could there be a Queens Park weblog? And it doesn’t just have to be for the rare occasions like this – schools are full of bits of information that could be gathered in one place and discussed online. I mean, it’s 2005 and we’re still using School Councils, noticeboards and Friday newsletters? Why can’t I subscribe to an RSS feed of all this? Why isn’t there a podcast of Governors’ meetings? (OK, maybe that is going too far).
School websites at the moment seem to be very static, circa-2000 sites such as this calendar. As usual, I think they’ll catch up, but it could be a while.
… as I had to attend an English lecture on Othello instead, and while kayaking\canoeing is great fun this was really interesting too. Especially considering I haven’t read Othello and only got a brief summary of the plot beforehand (we don’t start doing it till next term). The lecture (from Prof Robin Headlam-Wells) concentrated on Othello’s ‘clash’ between a heroic culture based on honour, and a civil one dedicated to justice, law, soceity etc. The bit about ‘honour killings’ today got me thinking – how many teenage boys have a set of criteria from which it’s OK to beat your wife? (That’s a rhetorical question, I read the statistics in the Guardian.)
I personally gave up on the whole ‘honour’ thing when I decided survival was a better policy 
Edit – Oh, and tomorrow is ‘Progress Review Day’ = A Day Off. Nice.
Double Edit – Today’s fun fact question: What is Tory leadership challenger Liam Fox’s flagship policy on education?
Answer: put a Union Jack outside each school. Good to see he’s got his priorities sorted then!
It’s very late, and I have to write this article. I’ve searched my brains for things to write about – from Tories to animal rights, nuclear power to feminism, nothing has sparked enough insight to warrant an article.
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Helen on It’s (waiting) time.: “Fabulous news, congratulations to you both! X” Jun 8, 21:51
