I (finally) went for a run
Posted: 28 May 2012 Filed under: Running Leave a comment »This year has mostly been one big fail. Well, at least on the running and blogging front. There have been other successes, but I’m saving that for my first Juneathon blog, so you’ll just have to keep waiting to find out. (Yes, I know, I’m a big tease).
Anyway, today that all changed. Today I went for my first run since 31 January. Yes, that’s right, my first run since the end of Juneathon.
So, how did it feel? Well, it started surprisingly well, and I was very quickly (and pleasantly) surprised to discover that my pace is bizarrely bang on its Janathon average: 7:46/mile. How on earth have I managed that after nigh on 4 months without running a single mile?!?
That said, I also discovered that my abs are really ready for me to push myself like this (they did complain a bit as I did my little 2.2 mile circuit) and that I need to remember to properly hydrate. The latter may or may not have been the cause of the former, I’m just not entirely certain.
A good start though (and significantly better than that on New Year’s Day, after my last running lazy bout, although I was also hangover then). Next up, a day’s rest and then another similar length run on Wednesday before I hit Juneathon head on this Friday.
Stats:
Distance – 2.21 miles; Time – 17:12; Pace – 7:46/mile
The political mandate for gay marriage
Posted: 21 February 2012 Filed under: Equality | Tags: A Contract for Equality, c4m, Coalition for Marriage, Gay marriage, LGB equality Leave a comment »One of the points that the Coalition for Marriage is keen to make, is that there isn’t a political mandate for introducing same sex marriage. This isn’t something that rang quite true when I heard it, so I decided to do some digging.
What I came across, and remembered from the time of the 2010 election, is the Conservative Contract for Equalities. Now, admittedly, this is not the party manifesto (as the Coalition for Marriage is technically accurate, if some nit picking to point out), but it is a supplement to the manifesto, and is regardless a commitment that was made during an election campaign:
Now, at the end of the campaign, we are setting out our side of the bargain: what we will do if we win the election. [...] And we are saying clearly in this contract that if we fail to make progress in these areas, if we do not deliver on our side of the bargain, then vote us out in five years time.
So it certainly sounds like this contract is to carry the weight of a manifesto commitment, which is good, given what it says about same-sex marriage:
We will also consider the case for changing the law to allow civil partnerships to be called and classified as marriage.
So far, a clear mandate then for a Conservative-led government.
Now, as neither of the other main parties made such a commitment, you might think there’s scope for saying this mandate is incomplete in a parliament where the Conservatives do not have a majority. But the government is only seeking to legislate for same-sex marriage in England and Wales, as that’s all it has the power to do. And if we look at just England and Wales, we see that the majority of MPs are Conservatives (305 out of 573).
So the majority of MPs in England and Wales belong to a party that during the election promised to consider changing the law to introduce same-sex marriage in England and Wales.
If that isn’t a political mandate, then I’m not sure what is, and that is a question that I’ve politely asked the Coalition for Marriage to answer.
Lord Carey’s own goal
Posted: 20 February 2012 Filed under: Equality | Tags: c4m, Coalition for Marriage, Daily Mail, Gay marriage, homophobia, LGB equality, Lord Carey, same-sex marriage Leave a comment »This internet has been abuzz today with the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey’s article in the Daily Mail about gay marriage. Writing to coincide with the launch of the Coalition for Marriage, he sets out his stall for why same-sex marriage should not be legalised.
As is so often the case from gay marriage opponents, he makes three fundamental errors, that can only help the cause of those of us who believe in full marriage equality:
- Claiming allowing same-sex marriage ‘fatally weaken’ marriage as a whole. This will always sound like what it is, utterly ridiculous.
- Focussing on a supposed lack of public support, despite the evidence (in particular polling by Populus which showed 66% support for gay marriage). Furthermore, he bizarrely claims it is undemocratic for our democratically elected government to enact legislation.
- Having a homophobic tone that goes beyond just that issue of marriage, You just need look at his argument that marriage is an essential cornerstone to society, but that homosexuals shouldn’t be allowed to marry. The implication is clear: homosexuals can’t be part of the cornerstone of society.
I for one am very happy to see such obvious mistakes continuing to be made by Lord Carey. The only effect his words can truly have is to win the hearts and minds of the tolerant to full marriage equality, who will see his article for what it is: full of hate and without any logic to it at all.
Sentamu for Canterbury? You must be joking….
Posted: 2 February 2012 Filed under: Equality | Tags: Fraser Nelson, Gay marriage, homophobia, John Sentamu, LGB equality, Spectator Leave a comment »Fraser Nelson at The Spectator, someone whose opinions I normally have a great deal of time for, has got it into his head and onto the front page of his magazine that John Sentamu (Archbishop of York) should be the next Archbishop of Canterbury. It’s not so much the suggestion itself as his reason that I find ridiculous:
if Britain is to have a figure who epitomises our country’s inherent tolerance and open-mindedness I’d pick Sentamu above anyone else in public life.
Tolerant and open-minded? Perhaps Fraser missed this at the weekend:
Don’t legalise gay marriage, Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu warns David Cameron (Telegraph)
In which, of course, Sentamu compared the PM to a dictator for his movement to legalise civil gay marriage. How tolerant and open minded of him to suggest that politicians should ignore majority public opinion.
Doubting how far we’ve come
Posted: 1 February 2012 Filed under: Equality | Tags: Anne Widdecombe, conversion therapy, Daily Express, homophobia, IDAHO, International Day Against Homophobia, LGB equality, LGBT History Month Leave a comment »There are times when I can see the reality that LGB equality has come a long way, and then there are times when I’m still shocked and surprised by the narrow-mindedness of some people. Today seems to be a day that is a combination of the two.
It’s disappointing, but not surprising, to see that Anne Widdicome has written for the Express about helping those who aren’t glad to be gay. She argues that psychotherapists should be able to offer conversion therapy to those who want it without the fear of being struck off. It’s easy to see what I’ve found infuriating.
What’s particular infuriating is her suggestion that any professional should just accept someone’s priorities without trying to alter them. If I go and say I’m deeply unhappy being gay, they shouldn’t help me to come to terms with my sexuality, but should help me stop being gay.
I’m particularly struck by the contrast today, as LGBT History Month gets underway. After all, let’s not forget that one of the most significant moments in our community’s history, and that we celebrate each year on IDAHO (the International Day Against Homophobia, 17 May) is the removal of homosexuality from the WHO’s international classification of diseases.
My sexuality is not a disease; it is not something to be ‘cured’ by a therapist. For that reason is right and proper that no-one offering such a cure should be allowed to practice as a psychotherapist or, at the very least, offer their ‘cure’ in that capacity. To do so is to give it a stamp of medical authority, something it clearly does not have.
We have come so far, and that’s something I hope to reflect on this month as my own contribution to the celebration of LGBT History Month. But articles like Anne Widdecombe’s are often a sobering reminder that the case for equality has not been universally accepted. We may be living in the 21st century, but the opinions of some people seem more medieval.
Janathon: What have I achieved?
Posted: 31 January 2012 Filed under: Running | Tags: janathon Leave a comment »Well, I’ve managed it, I’ve made it through January and run every single day. I think it’s quite interesting to look back on it all and consider what it is that I’ve managed to achieve over the course of the month:
- I’ve been running for 31 days in a row (but you already knew that one!) clocking up a total run time of 7:51:24
- I’ve run over 60 miles in a single month (well, 60.59 to be precise) despite having not run since 9 October prior to that
- I’ve discovered a pace that I just hadn’t realised was in me, the kind of pace that might actually help me to achieve my two target times for the year (sub 45 minutes for 10k and sub 1:40 for a half). My final average pace for the month is 7:46/mile. Not fast enough over the month, but I did start off much slower, as my weekly paces show:
- Week 1: 8:16/mile
- Week 2: 7:55/mile
- Week 3: 7:40/mile
- Week 4*: 7:26/mile
- 20.15 miles 2:29:38
- I’ve (nearly) bought a flat (subject to contract et al).
*Up until the end of the month
Stats:
Today
Distance – 1.96 miles; Time – 14:14; Pace – 7:17/mile
Final Janathon Stats
Distance – 60.59 miles; Time – 7:51:24; Pace – 7:46/mile
Britain’s Gay Footballers: Revealing A Code Of Silence
Posted: 30 January 2012 Filed under: Equality | Tags: Britain's Gay Footballers, football, Football365, homophobia, Justin Fashanu, LGB equality, rugby, sport Leave a comment »I’ve just finished watching Britain’s Gay Footballers on BBC Three, a documentary that was at times both immensely moving and troubling. Moving because of Amal Fashanu’s personal journey of discovery about her uncle’s story; troubling because of the seeming code of silence about homosexuality around football.
It seems utterly remarkable that the biggest triumph of this programme was for Amal Fashanu to secure an interview with a top footballer. I’m personally astounded that that should be significant enough to be considered a breakthrough. This is particularly contrasted by the openness of the Rugby world as Gareth Thomas and other recent retirees sit and discuss his sexuality and how big a non-issue it is.
Given this seeming reluctance to talk, I’m no longer surprised by this blood boiling, narrow-minded and homophobic article about the documentary that appeared on Football365 yesterday. Let me pick out one particularly flabbergasting quotation for you:
What is not considered here is that maybe there are almost no gay footballers. Maybe they’re put off early or don’t fancy it. The old canard about “one in ten people being gay” is trotted out, but is there really any reason to suppose that any profession should have a representative proportion of gay participants?
Or, to put it another way, let’s just pretend there aren’t. As my brother (a statistician who recently completed his Ph.D.) put it on Twitter last night, ‘The idea that there are no openly gay players because there are no gay players is laughable in the extreme’.
This code of silence seems to extend beyond the players. The programme’s researchers managed to find a gay official who was willing to talk to the programme, but pulled out because the Professional Game Match Officials Board wouldn’t allow him to talk to the media.
Furthermore Amal managed to meet with someone at the FA, none other than their equalities manager (why not someone more senior?). What pray tell did she have to say, well apparently they have a four year plan (no details were given of what it actually entailed) and they’re focussing on the grass roots where ‘millions of people play the game’. It’s so nice to know they’ve decided to focus their efforts on where millions play it, rather than where billions watch it. After all, the Premier League reportedly has a global TV audience of 4.7 billion every year.
As John Amaechi pointed out (and I did too in a post a couple of days ago) British football has the resources to solve the problem of homophobia if they so choose. The fact of the matter is that they don’t as is perfectly evident by both their paltry efforts thus far and the reluctance to engage with the issue or this programme.
The tragedy of Justin Fashanu’s suicide is that 15 odd years later nothing has changed. The UK does not have an out professional footballer, and even more disgracefully there’s no evidence that anyone really seems to care.
If you missed Britain’s Gay Footballers, it will be available on iPlayer until next week.
Warming the cockles
Posted: 30 January 2012 Filed under: Running | Tags: janathon, Madonna Leave a comment »I could tell from the moment I first looked out of the window this morning that it was going to be very cold outside. But of course that doesn’t stop a Janathoner (we’d all be a bit screwed if it did).
I got ready, and as I was going down in the lift decided I need some warming music, something with a Latin flavour. I decided to stick my iPhone on shuffle, starting with a live version of Madonna’s ‘La Isla Bonita’ and take it from there. (I had tried the Beach Boys with less success earlier in the month – I ended up just resenting their carefree beach ways – so hoped this would be a better choice.)
It’s got me wondering who else uses music to encourage themselves on a cold day. Anyone other Janathoners got any particular favourites for helping them ignore the harsh winter temperatures? Stick them in the comments if you do.
Anyway, whether it was Madonna’s effect or not, I seem to have got even better pace today, coming in with an average if 7:11/mile. Now that really is something to warm the cockles.
Stats:
Today
Distance – 2.01 miles; Time – 14:25; Pace – 7:11/mile
Janathon so far
Distance – 58.63 miles; Time – 7:37:10; Pace – 7:48/mile
Cultural roundup: The Artist and Sylvia Plath
Posted: 30 January 2012 Filed under: Arts and Culture | Tags: Ariel, silent film, Sylvia Plath, The Artist, The Bell Jar Leave a comment »
The Artist
Anyone who knows me well will be aware that I am quite the Alfred Hitchcock obsessive. This comes hand in hand with a love of his silent work and a belief that it was his understanding of silent film that made him such a great director. With this in mind, I was excited to see The Artist, which has really catapulted silent film back into the public’s imagination.
And my verdict? Well, The Artist is absolutely charming. From the strength of its two central performances, to the clever touches is uses to play homage to a bygone era of cinema, this is an exceedingly accomplished film.
It’s the small touches that make it so exceptional: the montage scene of film posters and headlines as Peppy Smith climbs to the top as an actress; the use of intertitles to expert comic effect; the very fact it’s present in 1.33:1 as films of that period were. These small touches add up to produce a whole that seems effortless. I enjoyed every minute.
Rating: 5/5
The Bell Jar and Ariel, Sylvia Plath
I first read The Bell Jar and Ariel in my late teens, so it’s been interesting to return to them after several years and further study.
Somehow it seems they don’t terrify me in the way they once did. I can clearly remember reading The Bell Jar and almost shouting, ‘Don’t leave, you fool!’, as Esther Greenwood looks with cautious optimism to leaving the asylum she’d been in.
It seems to me then that I’m more able now to separate these two works from what happens next. Even largely autobiographical as they are, I’m no longer compelled to draw a line that runs through their madness to Plath’s and then her suicide.
Because there is still madness there. By inhabiting the minds of Esther Greenwood and Sylvia Plath we too get caught under the bell jar and can feel in every word and phrase the feeling of constriction and suffocation, so much so that it is almost a relief to put either book down.
Yet both books remain beautiful. From self harm as she cuts her thumb through to the paranoia of the tulips watching her, Plath’s madness is always expressed so beautifully that it’s difficult not to fall in love, or to regret that her life and her talent was cut so short.
Rating, The Bell Jar: 3/5; Ariel: 4/5
