Science is Vital

Since today is the day of the big Science is Vital rally and, as an impoverished student, I couldn't get down to London to join in, I decided to make a cake. An epic cake. (Possibly an epically wrecky cake). And I roped in my housemates :)

For those of you that don't know what Science is Vital is about, the basic idea is that the British government is threatening to make cuts to scientific research funding - big cuts. Our argument is that this is silly, because, well, science is vital. (You can find a much better and more coherent explanation here).

Anyway, the cake had to represent as many branches of science as I could fit on a cake board (and, for that matter, had a chance of modelling out of icing). This is what we ended up with:

The cakes were in a box with a closed lid, leading to quantum uncertainty about the cake's whereabouts (and existence).

There are two cakes of identical composition, with slightly different mass values, meaning that we have isotopes of cake.

The cakes were combined to create a geological profile (one with a tectonic fault, as it turned out) and 'fossils' (strips of sugared orange) were 'deposited' in one of the cakes.

Around the cakes, the following sciences are represented:

Archaeology - partially excavated skeleton, ranging pole, archaeologist.

Astronomy - sun, asteroid belt, stars, Patrick Moore (apologies).

The natural world: flowers, jelly snakes, Darwin's finch (couldn't figure out how to make David Attenborough).

Oceanography: whale, octopus, diver.

Physiology: eyeballs, brain (for Krystyna), DNA (for Becki), skeleton.

Chemistry: lab equipment, (badly iced) Harris structure of H2O, schematic of Chemist... minor explosion.

Paleaeontology: flower (representing the foliage of the time), dinosaur, meteorite.

Meteorology: various weather events.

As a fan of Cake Wrecks, I can safely say that these cakes were made in the spirit of that excellent blog; if they can raise a bit of awareness for Science is Vital, even better!

Thanks to Jamie (who I made get her hands dirty), Rowena (who has a hidden talent as a cake decorator), Niall (who financed the cake and fixed the icing), Mike (moral support and guinness) and the people who helped think of things to decorate them with (Krystyna, Becki, Seb, JacAbsolute and Ben to name but a few).

More images can be found at my deviantArt account, here.

So, Politics

I posted this as a response on a messageboard discussing the Lib Dem conference, and thought I'd repost here, as I feel quite strongly about it. This might make more sense if you read the original post by JacAbsolute and yahyah's response.


I'm JacAbsolute's daughter (aged 23, if it helps), and for the most part I agree with her original post, although I felt I should add, on behalf of the individualist, greedy, porn-downloading, young, politically-ignorant fools that we are, that many of us, recognising that the LibDems are still the best of a bad bunch - with their friends the Tory bullies and the frankly ridiculous Labour party - have decided to continue to hope. There is a lot of feeling at the moment among the 'youth' that there is nothing that we can do, politically speaking, so many have become cynics (though I suspect I hit 'cynic' at the age of 12) about the government and it's apparently fleeting interest in the country which it governs and the people within it. All we can do is work hard and hope that our wide future is less narrow than it currently looks.

So, I have this to say to Mr Clegg and his party. Do better. Please. For all of us.


yahyah, re:

"One of the things that is worrying about some young people is how they seem to have swallowed the whole 'I' and 'individualism' thing.

For a lot of them it's all about 'my right to download porn on my mobile while sitting on the bus', 'my right not to have to pay tax to keep some old crusty warm in the winter'. Not much about about helping those around them and contributing to the old age of those who paid for their schooling and child benefit."

I'm sorry yahyah, but your comment smacks a little of bitterness.

Although I am an individual, I am also very well aware that I am part of a community - something which appears to have escaped the attention of all too many people of every generation. It's about hitting a balance between the freedom of the individual and the good of the community. ie. I do not wish to be told how to dress, but nor will I wear a skirt that is closer to a belt and top that is closer to a bra to attend a primary school fete.

For the record, I'm relatively sure that the bus is not the venue of choice for the downloading of porn on a mobile or any other device - it's not really a spectator sport after all. That said, there is, as you said, little care or common courtesy for others around at the moment - and far too much greed. But I would like to make it plain: this is not the luxury of a dissaffected, individualist youth. People of all ages have 'bought into' what you refer to as the individualist lifestyle, and frankly, it sickens me. I think it is a product of the lifestyle that is sold to us through advertising and the media - one recent advert encouraging viewers to 'be impatient' because, apparently, patience makes you boring rather than polite.

To address why it seems more obvious in the youth of today: perhaps this is because those of our parents' generation who have accepted this lifestyle of 'me,me, me!' have taught it to their children. We do learn by example, after all.

For example, my grandparents saved up, built their own house, inherited their phone number from their parents and never threw anything away - Grandad still has a vacuum from possibly the 1930s in working condition. When they needed anything new, they saved up and bought what would last; if they wanted a gift to be something special, they made it themselves. They also, when Mum would let them, spoiled me rotten. I'm trying really hard to live the same way, but I have become used to the 'disposable': buying clothes from primark because they're cheap and knowing that they'll be unwearable in three months because the fabric will go funny in the wash (though I'm still battling with a couple of shirts that have survived, against the odds), throwing things out instead of taking the time to fix and maintain them, letting picked fruit go off instead of making jams (though in my defence, I had a distinct lack of jars and a deadline to meet).

We are a product of our time (even Lady Gaga and Lily Allen have sung about it), but that does not mean that we should not struggle against it. I'm not saying 'you made us this way, now live with it', but please, accept some part of this and help us struggle on instead of making lofty statements about how we're all self-centred and anti-community.

Perhaps I'm wierd, but for me, phone app's and the latest bling aren't what make my world go around; family, friends, people helping each other and the turn of the seasons are enough. Failing that, a hot bath and a good book.

Feel free to disagree!

Exploding Beans

25th July 2010

At some point in the last few weeks the allotment exploded, particularly the beans :) Everything has survived quite happily with the copious sunshine and showers and they've done our small team of volunteers proud. I think i shall let the plants speak for themselves!

Photos: Strawberries (in the patch prepared by Charlotte) and Rhubarb (from Uncle Keith and the Venerable Bede); the first Cucumber (planted by Miss Jamie); our very own triffid patch (beans and nasturtiums planted by me and Rowena); wildflowers (me), potatoes (Niall), onions (Mark and Niall), more beans (Allan), peas (Miss Jamie), sweet peas (me) and broccoli (planted by me, rescued from stone arches by Rowena); radishes, lettuce, spinach beet (planted by Allan, ignored by me, oops) and Pumpkins (grown by me, planted by Rowena).

Tom and Sarah's Wedding

18th July 2010

Yesterday was Tom (Niall's brother) and Sarah's wedding. We went up to Woolley Hall in Wakefield, where a good time was had all :) Sarah, naturally, looked stunning, and Tom and his brothers brushed up pretty well too. They had a Beaufort car for the day, which was very swish, and i spent a fair amount of time hairing around the gardens after various children who had far too much energy. Good times XD

Photos: Tom and Sarah Fleming; the Fleming boys; Woolley Hall.

Woop Woop

15th July 2010

As me and Miss Jamie had a day off today and Niall had to work for a bit, we followed him into Keighley and then the three of us had a jolly on the steam trains. The station at Keighley is still all 1910-esque and we had a good run through the Keighley Worth Valley. We stopped off in Haworth - of Bronte fame - for a bit of a wander and thoroughly enjoyed browsing antique shops, pagan shops and second hand book shops. I found a copy of the flower fairies book and a poetry anthology I'd been looking for, and Miss Jamie got a copy of the Lord of the Rings; Niall got several pints of beer and some mintcake. Good times :) We also find possibly my favourite street name in the world before heading home to teach Miss Jamie Carcassone.

Photos: Keighley Station; Oakworth Station, where the Railway Children was filmed; Purvs Corner. heh heh heh.

Alton Towers, WHEEEEE!

4th July 2010

We headed home from Wales today, taking a welcome detour to Alton Towers along the way. It's way past my bedtime :)

Photo: Matt, Abi, me and Helen, pretending to be pixies.

Day Three in the Big Blue Bradford Bus

3rd July 2010

On day three in the Big Blue Bradford Bus, we drove out to Welshpool to visit the Collinette wool factory shop. As an avid knitter, I was practically out of my seat for the whole journey, so I was expecting it to be a woolly wonderland, but it exceeded even my sugar-fuelled expectations. It was one of those only-happens-in-cartoons moments, as five knitters got through the door and simultaneously ran off in separate directions, squealing with excitement… if we hadn’t been among fellow knitters it could have been quite embarrassing. Amused, perhaps, by our enthusiasm, the proprietor gave us a tour of the dye works – which we were astonished to discover is still only worked by twelve dyers – and the spinning room, full of top condition 1970s equipment. As the man said, if it aint broke, don’t fix it!

Apart from the large volume of stunning wool (which we spent many hours on the journey home balling up in the minibus), the new and interesting patterns and designs and the truly informative tour – he was so excited that people were interested – they gave us cake. Seriously. Go there. It rocks.

After our day of collective excitement we decided to relax in the evening with a trip to the beach… as you can imagine, our… ingenuity… came out immediately, along with our inner six-year-olds. Okay, I admit it, we may have buried Jamie… but only a bit! And Liz fell in that hole, honest!

Photos: Liz and Jamie get stuck in with their new snazzy yarn; like six year olds; 'uh, guys?'; the Indicent Pit, Oh No!