Journal Refereeing

Currently I'm largely occupied by preparing teaching for next year, but I know that what I really need to be doing is sending chunks of my thesis off to journals (which, unfortunately, requires me to do considerable re-working of them, if I'm not just going to be wasting everyone's time).

It's hard to get a guage on what the expectations are on a young academic. The latest poll on the Brooks blog - actually, two polls (1), (2) - concerns how often people submit. It seems the vast majority submit papers more frequently than every 6 months (generally every 2-4 months), although it's not clear whether all of these are new papers. Someone could just have one paper than they keep submitting to new journals every 3 months as it gets continually rejected!

I'm also keeping a close eye on this Leiter thread. No comments as yet, but it's a question about reviewing from a young academic who's just started beign asked to do peer review. I suppose it's comforting if much that goes to journals isn't that good, assuming it's not my work s/he is talking about!

UPDATE: See also this on peer review (via).

Valeranga 1-4 Liverpool

Another four goals, although the same scorers this time as last. The starting line up, with the exception of Reina for Cavalieri in goal, is probably what I'd expect against Sunderland at the start of the season, barring injuries or the possibility of Gareth Barry finally arriving/Alonso possibly departing.

Speaking of injuries, the one negative of course was seeing Gerrard walking off after 28 minutes. Our pre-season has been hampered by niggling injuries to Gerrard (this looks like a recurrence of the groin injury that forced him to miss our training camp), Finnan, Degen and Skrtel. The positive is that Alonso looked in good form and willing to get forward, although perhaps that's only because he was allowed time on the ball and his influence did wane after Spearing replaced Gerrard.

In any case, it was Alonso being further forward that allowed him to receive a lay off from Keane around the D and score the opener from 25 yards. That was all that separated the teams at the break. Things soon changed after the restart though - Reina and Hyypia had just come on for Liverpool, which perhaps contributed to some slightly disorganized defending and a quick equalizer (47 minutes).

Thankfully, this seemed to galvanize a team whose dominance had waned since Gerrard's departure. Within a minute, Torres restored the elad - it took a slightly fortuitous deflection off a defender in the build up, but there was no faulting his clinical finish. On the hour, Benayound scored another with a mazy run around the edge of the box and a sweet left-footed chip into the far corner of the net.

This gave Rafa the cushion necessary to make more changes and bring on the kids: by the end of the game, Hyypia, Reina and Agger were the only players over 21, and the youngsters acquitted themselves well. Hopefully those that aren't on loan will get the chance to play in the league cup, and a few may even feature as squad players when we're hit by injuries (particularly with the seven subs coming in).

Ngog, who scored a second goal in three part-appearances (after only one in 18 for PSG last year), looks like - as Rafa predicted - he could be ready for the first team. Some of the others aren't quite ready yet, such as the much-hyped Pacheco (still only 17). Perhaps, with Gerrard now side-lined for a week or so and Mascherano and Lucas at the Olympics, Plessis or Spearing may get a chance to play a couple of games in the usually very competitive centre midfield. I wouldn't mind seeing more of Darby either, as I think he's one of four players vying for probably the most open spot in our team at the moment (right back).

Norrington Table

I've just seen the publication of an interim Norrington table (a semi-official ranking of Oxford colleges according to this year's undergraduate Finals results). It looks like my move from Jesus to Corpus Christi is a step down, from 8th to 11th based on this year's figures!

Fork Handles

I'm back in Essex for the summer - well, just over two months of it - and, though you might have thought nothing changed in Oxford, it seems the city will be almost unrecognizable when I return. Oxford now has a Weatherspoons.

Rangers 0-4 Liverpool

There had been some worry at only one goal scored in our last three friendlies, but this match went some way to silencing the doubters. Torres, in his first start (having only played 20 minutes of our previous friendlies) opened the affairs. Too bad Keane couldn't get off the mark but our other new striker Ngog did get his name on the scoresheet - which was welcome, as some had already been criticizing him on the LFC messageboards after only 45 minutes against Villareal! The rout was completed by Benayoun and Alonso, both goals made by Nemeth which was pleasing to see. There should be some competition between him and Ngog to break in to the first team this year...

Popular Culture and Philosophy

This post over at Philosophers Anonymous leads to two interesting links - one, two - on 'philosophy and X' series.

RJPP Update

I mentioned when bringing news about my second publication that the RJPP unfortunately has a rather poor net presence. Things seem to have changed with this snazzy new site. You can browse tables of contents - it seems they actually managed two issues in volume 6, both in practice on the same subjects, though my paper is in issue 1 (which seems to be the 'official' special issue). It also seems as if they've already assembled volume 7! Good going!

Villareal 0-0 Liverpool

So debuts for two new strikers (Keane and Ngog), plus a return for Torres, and sadly another blank. Still we were playing decent opposition and the team are still gelling and returning to fitness so I suppose not much to complain about. The real shame is, that with the likes of Nemeth, Pacheco, Plessis and Darby playing here our reserves lost a cup final to Man Utd. Perhaps the most pleasing thing about the match was that it allowed Pepe Reina a hero's return to his old club.

Leiter Links

I guess what I should be doing, probably right now (though getting much done at home is difficult) and certainly over the next two years, is sending more stuff to journals. (Which will, unfortunately, require some substantial re-writing of bits of my thesis). Therefore this thread about single submissions and timeliness of reviews is of interest. (As is this Wiki).

Another, unrelated, thread on Leiter discusses whether senior professors have any obligations to retire to make room for 'new blood' is also very interesting. I didn't realise that tenure means no mandatory retirement age, as here in the UK. I wonder if anti-age discrimination laws mean that things will go the same way here?

Hertha Berlin 0-0 Liverpool

I only have LFC.tv's not necessarily impartial report to go on, but it sounds like tonight's performance was one of those that stops us really challenging - not too bad, just without creating too much. You know Man Utd or Chelsea will probably nick a late 1-0 win, whereas we tend to puff and puff away without result. Apparently the new full backs contributed well going forward, but we still didn't create much. I'm really worried by our lack of cutting edge without Torres (and I think that would be true even if we signed Keane - we need an out and out striker should Torres be rested, suspended or - hope it doesn't happen - injured).

Another Publication

I have a piece on 'Acts of Self-Harming Protest and the Definition of Terrorism' in the lastest issue of the Review Journal of Political Philosophy. (Sadly, minimal online presence, though table of contents here). Congratulations to my friend Rob, who's also represented in this special issue on terrorism, torture and the use of violence. And thanks again to Thom Brooks for bringing the CFP to my attention.

UPDATE: They have a new website (see my subsequent post).

PhD Studentship

It seems that I now get emails asking me to advertise stuff, so here it is:

*AHRC PhD Studentship in Political Philosophy at the University of Exeter*

We are looking to appoint to a fully-funded 3 year PhD studentship in Political Philosophy as part of an Arts and Humanities Research Council project on luck-egalitarian and left-libertarian theories of justice. The project is being led by Dr. Keith Hyams and Dr. Robert Lamb in the Department of Politics, University of Exeter. It aims to investigate the moral foundations of luck-egalitarian and left-libertarian theories of justice, to consider their political implications, and to address questions about the nature of justice and moral justification in general.

The successful applicant will work on a doctoral thesis related to the project and will play a role in the organisation of annual workshops and a conference on these themes. Candidates should have:
- First Class or Upper Second Class Honours degree in an appropriate discipline.
- Masters degree in Political Philosophy or a related field (desirable but not essential).
- Background in Anglo-American political philosophy, with knowledge of and interest in contemporary egalitarian theories of justice.

The studentship will begin in October 2008 and *the closing date for applications is August 4th 2008*.
For further details, please follow this link:http://www.huss.ex.ac.uk/politics/news_item.php?id=267<https://owa.ex.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://owa.ex.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.huss.ex.ac.uk/politics/news_item.php?id=267>

Terrible news

Cases of systematic bias can now be referred to as lotteries. So much for lotteries as a solution to such!

Wislaw Krakow 1-1 Liverpool

This was Liverpool's sternest test of pre-season so far, against the current Polish champions (who, btw, played their first team and are only a week away from the start of their season proper).

It was pleasing to see a bit more of some fringe players, but I have to say that aside from Pacheco (and maybe Insua) none have really caught the eye while the new signings have yet to impress. Buying Cavalieri for £3m and selling Carson for £4m hardly strikes me as good business, even if the former will presumably be happier on the bench. Can't really comment on Dossena after one game (even Skrtel looked shaky at first), but with Degen ruled out tonight after a minor knock I think it was evident Derby and Hobbs offer less going forward but are more solid defensively. I wonder if Degen may get tried at right midfield, if we stick with 4-4-2 - or if Rafa is planning to try playing wingbacks again as we seem to have the players for it.

Leto's lack of final product is frustrating. Spending so much time on the sidelines probably hasn't helped his development but with his permit/passport problems apparently not yet solved I'd be tempted by the rumoured £1.3m offer from Olympiakos. I also hear that Voronin is attracting interest from Germany and, while he's looked quite good in pre-season (this his second goal), a bid of £3m for a player we signed on a free last summer does look good business - although we'll need another striker (at least) until Nemeth and Pacheco are ready to step up. The worrying thing is that players like Voronin and Benayoun have looked a class above most of those they're playing with so far, but they're not up to the standard we need.

So far, not too impressed with the summer's transfer business then, or on-going wrangling over Alonso, Barry and Keane, but there's still some time so room for hope I guess.

More Computer Problems

Lastweek I had a working PC with no internet, now the internet's fixed and the computer's given up the ghost. It's not my PC, thankfully, but the 'family' one - so I still have my work, but my PC isn't online here at home. Guess my internet access will continue to be a bit scarce.

Lucerne 1-2 Liverpool

I only got to see the first half, but things looked ok - Liverpool controlled the game, without quite carving the opposition open at will. Two good goals: one nice interplay from Pacheco and Leiva around the box and the second a sweet volley from Voronin. The goal conceded was disappointing, but I'll put it down to lack of communication between new teammates. Good to see Leto playing again after being sidelined by work permit problems too.

Parenting Incentives

I know a number of people who are advocates of basic incomes, whereby everyone would get paid something like a state pension, which would enable them to pursue whatever activities they wanted (whether it be working or education, care-giving, etc) without having to worry about covering basic needs. I've also proposed incentive payments for voting myself. Now it seems that in NYC they're paying disadvantaged parents to make sure they do basic parenting things, like taking children to the dentist.

Tranmere 0-1 Liverpool

One advantage of being back home was I was able to watch this game live on TV. Good to see several young lads get a run out, although striking (pardon the pun) how short of strikers we are without Torres and Crouch. Mind you, Babel didn't feature (he's back in training I believe, but perhaps wasn't to be risked) and ditto Nemeth (playing in the U-19 Euros). I was planning a more detailed post on transfers, but for now I'll just leave it at we need another striker and a decent attacking midfield type.

Offline

Something's fouled up with our internet at home, so I won't be online much until we get it sorted.

Organ Sales on BBC 1

Long-running readers will probably remember the review I wrote of Fabre's Whose Body Is It Anyway? (see here). In the book, she tackles issues such as whether we have obligations of justice to donate organs and whether there are any objections to markets in organs. Readers interested in these issues, and with access to BBC 1, may be interested to know there's a documentary 'Buying Hope: Selling Illegal Organs' on BBC 1 at 22:45 (BST) tonight. Here's a link.

Markets, Stocks and Jobs

After yesterday's pointer to the ever-gloomy prospects of PhD candidates at the Philosophy Job Market Blog, I thought I should follow up by drawing attention to Brian Leiter's recent, equally pessimistic, forecast on the academic job market during recession.

Leiter predicts a market crash taking us to something like the early 1990s, when apparently there were 2.3 candidates per job advertised (as opposed to 1.4). His main piece of advice, for current PhDs, is to sit on their dissertation a bit longer and hope to wait out the recession, before going on the market later on when prospects are better. It's true that graduating can cut you off from support enjoyed at university, such as teaching opportunities offered to postgraduates, but this particular recommendation only really seems applicable in the US, where PhDs regularly take 5-7 years+ and involve considerable flexibility in when one actually finishes. Here in the UK, people are generally expected to finish in no more than 4 years, especially if they have funding bodies chasing up after them.

I'm not entirely sure economic recession will be as catastrophic here as Leiter predicts. Of course, that partly depends how bad it is, but universities aren't directly dependent on economic markets for much of their revenue and I'm not sure how many students would be put off going to university by recession - after all, for many it will probably seem more attractive to spend another three years studying and to hope that the economy improves in the meantime. Moreover, numerous people had told me this year that I was job-hunting at a bad time in the RAE cycle, so hopefully that means more UK universities will be looking for relatively junior hires over the next few years anyway, even if perhaps not quite as many as in more prosperous times.

I guess the best-case scenario, for me, is that in 18-24 months' time the signs of economic recovery and RAE cycle leave universities looking to hire, while house prices are still depressed enough to let me get on the property ladder. On the other hand, it could all go terribly wrong. One of the problems with the future is uncertainty, which makes temporary jobs all the more dangerous.

Independent Scholarship

This comments thread over a PJMB has some interesting thoughts on the obstacles to independent scholarship.

Two Things from TV

I've previously gone on record as a fan of the Simpsons. Tonight's Channel 4 show (actually one I'd commented on before) was particularly educational - offering re-tellings of Homer's Odyssey, Joan of Arc and Hamlet. One glaring inaccuracy though, that needs to be pointed out, is groundskeeper Willie showing up in the Hundred Years War, between the French and English, and declaring himself a great English hero!

Afterwards, as I flicked through the channels - wondering what to watch without Wimbledon - I caught the end of the quiz show Eggheads, where the decisive final question was 'where was political theorist Machiavelli from? Florence, Rome or Milan'. Reminds me of the time I saw 'What was Wittgenstein's first name?' for £125,000 on Who Wants to be a Millionnaire? - if more quiz questions were about philosophers and political theorists, I could probably do them, but as it is I'd use up all my life-lines not knowing soap actors!

In Print

Ben Saunders 'The Equality of Lotteries' Philosophy, Volume 83, Issue 03, July 2008, pp 359-372.
doi:10.1017/S0031819108000727, Published online by Cambridge University Press 01 Jul 2008. Direct link here (subscription required).

Is it Art?

I've been thinking a bit about aesthetics lately. There was one piece - that I remember being told about in lectures and that recently came up in conversation with a friend - where Michael Craig-Martin turned a glass of water into an oak tree with the sensible properties of a glass of water. It's in the Tate Modern, and you can read more about it here.

Just yesterday I read about another new exhibit at the Tate Britain, featuring people running about. The press release quotes artist Martin Creed as saying “I like running. I like seeing people run and I like running myself… running is the opposite of being still. If you think about death as being completely still and movement as a sign of life, then the fastest movement possible is the biggest sign of life. So then running fast is like the exact opposite of death: it’s an example of aliveness” - which doesn't sound like quite the deep, intellectual justification you might expect from someone like Duchamp.

I remember a fairly standard exam question being 'could X be art?' where X might be, say, natural scenery, graffiti or a faulty lightswitch. I suppose the answer are fairly formulaic: a run through problems defining art, Wittgenstein on language games, the institutional theory, and a vague conclusions - perhaps it could be.

Brave New World

Today is the first day of the BNW conference in Manchester (blog here, schedule here). I'm not there, no longer being a grad student, and indeed I'm sorry to say I only ever went the once. I did have a really good time though, and heartily recommend it to any current grad students for next year.

I'd also like to point out that the annual Philosophy Faculty graduate conference in Oxford has a call for papers out.

Euro 2008

Because of yesterday's jaunt to Oxford, I still haven't got round to posting on Sunday's Euro 2008 final (which, thankfully, passed without further transmission breaks). Suffice to say, the better team - both on the night and throughout the tournament - won and I'm glad for the four Liverpool players involved, particularly Torres who rounded off a perhaps disappointing tournament with the goal that won it. Too bad they don't get much of a break - those players get 3 weeks, but Liverpool's first preseason friendly is on the 12th...

UPDATE: For more on Euro 2008, see Chris(!) and Thom.

To Oxford and Back

Yesterday I paid a flying visit back to Oxford, taking advantage of my last day of free rail travel. I hope - fingers crossed - that I now have both accommodation and employment for next year sorted out (more details to follow). I was also able to catch up with several friends, including wishing my former housemate Pavel a happy birthday and congratulating Miriam on passing her viva. Sorry to those I missed, but hope to see you in September!

Rights Talk Gone Too Far?

We're already familiar with some dubious seeming human rights, such as that to paid holiday. Now it seems that not being invited to a classmate's birthday may be a violation of human rights! (Via BBC news)

How is this a Lottery?

Lexus SUV crushes Porsche in car park. BBC headline 'Lexus rollover in parking lottery'. Is anything bad now called a lottery, or were they just desperate to use a rollover pun?

What Happened to Jones?

Those familiar with Scanlon will know that one of his famous examples, used against utilitarianism, is of Jones who falls into a TV transmitter during the world cup final. He's in fairly severe pain although not at risk of long-term damage or death. The only way to rescue him involves interrupting transmission. Scanlon says we should save him, regardless of how many are watching the match.

I mention this because although tonight's match was only a European championship semi-final, there were two disruptions to the BBC coverage, one of which included Klose's goal. (Since there was a replay later, presumably it was only the transmission rather than recording of pictures affected). They claim it was a world-wide picture loss caused by storms disrupting power in Vienna. Well, that's what they say - who knows whether they were really rescuing some unfortunate individual from the transmitter room...

Contrary to all expectations, it was a very entertaining match, which the Turks thoroughly deserved to win. The loss of pictures did make me wonder whether Scanlon's obviously right. It's not really clear how much pain Jones is in, and some of the many millions of viewers probably do care an awful lot about the result. Indeed, at the extreme, it's not unusual for people to suffer heart attacks during football matches - what if the break in transmission actually imposed a greater risk of death on at least some spectators (more nervous because not being able to see what's happening ruins the illusion of control)?

Anyway, the BBC's online commentary suggests a more practical solution:
2106: Don't worry people of the UK, we are not alone. The TV pictures have gone all around the world. They are still playing though - which is a bit selfish. Jens Lehmann collects Sabri's shot comfortably.
Why don't they just pause the game?

I Had A Dream

We're all familiar with what to do when 'raptors attack (if not, see here). This morning I woke up from a pretty weird dream in which a rhino somehow entered the house. Having had more time to think about potential escape routes, I now reckon the best responses would be either:
1) run into my brother's bedroom, from where I can attempt to climb out the window onto the conservatory roof - a potentially risky escape that would get me outside
or
2) if given time at the top of the stairs, climb into the loft, where I'm presumably out of reach but have nothing to do but sit and wait (either for help or the rhino to leave).
I'm not sure which strategy would be best, and I don't really want to waste time thinking about it - I just hope this doesn't come back to haunt me...

University Degrees in the News

Each summer we're used to another set of record A level (and GCSE) grades and the consequent media furore about whether or not the exams are getting easier. Just lately, however, the spotlight seems to have been on university degrees.

First, one 'whistle-blowing' academic admits that foreign students are awarded degrees - often at Masters level - without even a decent command of English. I'm guessing that may be easier in the natural sciences than for arts and social sciences, but in fact the allegation is that a blind eye is turned to plagiarism or even supervisor writing essays for their students!

I have to say I can think of one or two students I've known who seem to have struggled with the course - perhaps due only to their English being not up to scratch. My experience suggests the problem isn't as prevalent as made out, but then it's reasonable I suppose to assume that the students you see in seminars or down the pub are the ones with a reasonable grasp of English, and it's the people you never see that we should be worried about...

Now the QAA watchdog has apparently issued a warning that degree classifications are arbitrary. (Perhaps they should be assigned by lottery?). To a certain extent, this is an obvious and unavoidable problem. Not only does marking essays involve an amount of inherent subjectivity, calling for difficult adjudication as to whether students are wrong or merely arguing for something you personally disagree with, but the banding of all students into 1st, 2:i, 2:ii, 3rd, pass and fail is an attempt to divide a continuous spectrum into very few distinct groups. Of course the top 2:i will almost certainly be considerably closer to the bottom 1st than to the bottom 2:i.

Then, of course, there's variation between institutions, hinted at in the article. I'm sure that if any Oxbridge student went elsewhere and did a similar amount of work they could get a first, but can we give all students - or even the majority of them - firsts? The fact is a 2:i from Oxbridge isn't perceived to be equal to a 2:i from an ex-Poly red brick, and that's probably the reality in most cases too.

All this is complicated by rising fees that raise the question whether students are merely learners or customers. Faced with increased costs, they're increasingly required to see their degrees as investments and want to be sure of a return for their money - which means at least a decent degree and chance of profitable employability.

Croatia v Turkey

Last night was my last in Oxford before going home for the summer, so I went out for a drink with an old friend - someone who did a masters in my first year, but who I hadn't seen since - and missed the football. When I got home, I saw that it was half-way through extra time, so I decided to head into college to watch the likely penalty shoot-out. I turned the TV on just in time to see replays of the Croatia goal - which left me somewhat disappointed. Needless to say, I was pretty happy when the Turks - for the third time in four games - scored an injury time goal to send the game to penalties, which they won. I thought the outcome was pretty obvious, given the Croats thought they'd won and were clearly dealt a huge psychological blow. Bilic, however, claims penalties are a lottery. In some sense, I guess they are, but it's not like the match was decided by the toss of a coin.

Who Should Tell the President?

Over on his Dilbert blog, Scott Adams suggests that in the future bacteria may be able to convert rubbish into oil. This in itself would be great, but what caught my eye was his proposal for who should tell the President of Venezuala: "I fantasize that someday the United States will hold a national lottery to see who gets to tell the president of Venezuela that we no longer need his oil."

Abortions and Ageing

Rob briefly touches on abortion here. This comes at the same time as shocking figures about how many under 14s are having abortions. There's also a very interesting piece about ageing on Colin Farrelly's blog. If I understand him rightly, all those under 14s reproducing early are diminishing the effects of natural selection and thereby preventing humans living longer...

Eating More or Better?

I recently used my piece on J. S. Mill and higher/lower pleasures, currently under review, as a writing sample for a job. That's only of passing relevance to this interesting discussion of food portions on CT. Someone, way down at comment 82, however, makes the following point: American restaurants are just another example of Americans concern with quantity rather than quality. Quality requires taste and is considered elitist, but anyone can judge quantity. No wonder Mill is often considered elitist!

Oxford Grad Conference in Philosophy

Details of the 12th Annual Oxford Philosophy Graduate Conference are now online here. Selections are pretty tough, but they're usually rather light on political philosophy, so I'd encourage readers to apply if that's what they're interested in.

More on Job Applications

I recently posted the BBC's discussion of interviews. More helpful, particularly for academics, are the following two threads on Crooked Timber:

1) The importance of a web presence. I hope that's fulfilled, between this blog and my academic page, which people occasionally find via searches.

2) Laying out a CV. There doesn't actually appear to be much consensus, merely personal preferences (e.g. whether to list papers under review and whether working papers should be separate from publications).

I wish this advice had come before, rather than after, most of this year's round of applications. Nonetheless, I now have three interviews lined up over the next two weeks - so maybe it's the interview advice I need...

Of course, there's always general job-related discussion here.

Exams

Via CT, here's the ideal exam paper for any philosophy student. And, via their comments, here are some more funny (though sometimes well-known) stories about exams and answers.

Interviews

Since I'm still currently job-hunting, I thought this BBC article on interviews might be informative. As it was, it wasn't much help, but good for a laugh, or at least a bit of mild amusement. I note they couldn't resist mentioning Oxbridge admissions interviews, in light of today's news about how we're still failing to admit enough state school applicants.

MPS Update

As I announced yesterday, I was giving a talk at the well-established Moral Philosophy Seminar in Oxford (where I've previously seen the likes of Scanlon, [Bernard] Williams, Pogge, Sen, Parfit, Raz, etc). I'm happy to say that my talk drew a fair-sized audience and good questions, particularly from Raz and Broome, who both pushed their point a bit. I'm grateful to all who attended.

After the seminar, I got taken to dinner at Cafe Zouk. I could get used to be a speaker and having meals (and drinks) bought for me, given the chance...

There is now a discussion thread up at Ethics-Etc (direct link to the paper here). Any further comments welcome.

(It's also apparent that this talk has led to people searching for me online)

Moral Philosophy Seminar

Today I present the main arguments of my thesis to the Moral Philosophy Seminar - 4:30 in the Philosophy Faculty. Here's an abstract:

This paper challenges the common assumption that democracy requires majority rule. I assume that we can adopt a contractualist approach to uncover the demands of political equality and argue that contractors would not necessarily accept majority rule to make decisions in their society. I first reject broadly consequentialist arguments, arguing that firstly no procedure guarantees ideally best outcomes, secondly that in cases of pluralism there is no need to suppose there is a uniquely best outcome, and thirdly that we need to be fair between different individuals. I develop this need for fairness into a case for weighted lotteries, drawing on the Taurek-Scanlon 'saving the greater number' debate. This leads to my conclusion that democratic ideals can be realized by selecting a random vote to determine the outcomes of decisions.

Another Sunnyvale gig

Tonight I saw Sunnyvale Noise Sub-Element for not only the third time this term but my third successive gig. I might not have bothered, given that I had no one to go with, but I wanted to pick up their new remix album and they'd announced that it would be their last gig before a break to work on new material.

The email advertised a start time of 8pm, but in fact when I got the Wheatsheaf at half-past that was the time on the posters, and in fact it was almost another half-hour before we could get in. I always like to catch the support bands, but I'm not surprised so many people choose to arrive late.

Von Braun 6/10
As it is, I'm there in time to see supposedly hotly-tipped new local band Von Braun. To be honest, I didn't see what the fuss was about - they were perfectly adequate, in a Franz Ferdinand kind of way, and get better through the set, but nothing struck me as special. Even though they were the most convential band line up of the night, my attention was still rather focused on the screening of Metropolis in the background.

Space Heroes of the People 8/10
The second band are a rather unusual threesome - keyboardist, electric double bass and drums. I very much enjoyed a rather energetic set, including a performance of their Sunnyvale remix 'I Love You Every Time You Struggle Heroically Against Imperialist Oppression' and end up buying their CD too. I have to say it's not quite as good on CD as live, but a nice momento.

Rothko 5/10
The most established band of the night, I hadn't heard of Rothko before despite a string of albums to their name. It's more instrumental post-rock, with the frontman noodling away at some keyboard like device. To be honest, I didn't find either the music or stage presence that interesting - though I notice the background movie had now switched from Metropolis to Godzilla.

Sunnyvale Noise Sub-Element 7/10
The problem with seeing Sunnyvale live on a regular basis is that - the odd technical hitch aside - they're remarkably consistent because most of it's pre-recorded anyway. Maybe it's only worth turning up for the announcements, which are punctuated by slabs of noise like 'Godzilla vs Kathleen Hanna' (appropriate given the video in the background). Still, I suppose the good side of consistency is that you're rarely disappointed, but to be honest I would welcome some new material. I guess I have the remixes to keep me amused in the meantime...

UPDATE: Though they had said it'd be their last gig for a while, they've just announced a support slot to The Kills at the Carling Academy 15/06/08.

Viva

Well, the final (oral) examination of my thesis is now complete. Things didn't get off to an auspicious start, when the room supposedly booked ended up being in use for a meeting, so we had to relocate to Adam's office. After that, I enjoyed most of the discussion, although it of course raised a number of problems for my thesis. How urgent these are, and how much has to be addressed in corrections and how much later, I'll have to wait for the official reports to find out. I do know that, at least in some sense, I passed though!

Friends in High Places

My friend Sonia - who did the MPhil in Politics at the same time as I did - has obviously gone on to make quite a name for herself at the IPPR. Here she is talking about her latest report on BBC News.

Graduate Junction

I already have an academic webpage here, but now there's a new(ish) social networking resource for graduate students (via).

If I Was Running Eurovision...

Belgium - Front 242 - Moldavia (I wanted the C-Tec side project, but couldn't find them on YouTube)
Finland - Nightwish - Wish I Had An Angel OR HIM - Buried Alive By Love
France - Avril - Like Everybody Else (not a live video as it was hard enough finding something that wasn't Avril Lavigne)
Germany - Rammstein - Du Hast OR Guano Apes - Pretty In Scarlet
Italy - Lacuna Coil - Our Truth
Netherlands - The Gathering - Amity
Norway - Apoptygma Berzerk - We're In This Together OR Leaves Eyes - Ocean's Way
Portugal - Moonspell - Vampiria
Sweden - Covenant - Go Film OR Opeth - The Grand Conjuration

I'm sure I should be able to think of more. Suggestions welcome.

Cohen Conference

Details here:
Friday 23rd January 2009 (1st wk HT), 09:30

Conference: The career of G. A. Cohen
On January 23-24 2009, with the generous support of Philosophy and Public Affairs, we will be hosting a conference to celebrate the career of G.A. Cohen, who is retiring after 23 years as Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory. We have assembled a team of distinguished contributors; those already confirmed include:
Professor David Estlund (Brown University)
Professor Cecile Fabre (Edinburgh)
Professor Michael Otsuka (UCL)
Professor Joseph Raz (University of Oxford)
Professor John Roemer (Yale)
Professor Seana Shiffrin (UCLA)
Professor Philippe Van Parijs (Louvain)
Professor Andrew Williams (Warwick)
Professor Gerald Dworkin (UC Davis)
Professor Joshua Cohen (Stanford)
Professor Tim Scanlon (Harvard)

Summer

You can tell it's summer because we had a week of nice sunny weather and now it's raining again. Nonetheless, we pressed on with our MCR Pimms and croquet events this afternoon.

I'd only ever played one game of croquet before, ending up on the winning side. Sadly that record's gone - I can't even claim to be undefeated - since we resumed after a rain-break (with different teams) and although we never actually finished, first and second had come in and I was bringing up the rear, having been caught up for the last few moves retaliating against black in third (they were closely chasing the lead, but I told them they didn't want to croquet me...)

If Music be the Food of Love...

Apparently wine actually tastes better with music. That's somewhat interesting in itself, because while I'd say many experiences are more pleasurable with music, this claim is actually stronger - that you have the pleasure of the music and more pleasure from the wine. It could thus be an example of something like G. E. Moore's organic unities (the whole being more than the sum of the parts).

A sceptic might wonder whether this kind of claim could be true. Can the wine really taste better? Surely its taste isn't affected by music, even if people's perceptions are somehow tricked. This is a case though where there doesn't appear much room for scepticism since, intuitively, what you taste is what you taste (if you get my drift). If it seem to taste good to you, then it tastes good, irrespective of 'objective quality' of the wine. In this respect, it's like pain - if you feel like you're in pain, you are.

I'd like to know more about what music might complement what wine. The report claims "cabernet sauvignon was most affected by "powerful and heavy" music", but it seems that they deduce this from Carmina Burana by Orff and go on to recommend All Along The Watchtower (Jimi Hendrix), Honky Tonk Woman (Rolling Stones), Live And Let Die (Paul McCartney and Wings), and Won't Get Fooled Again (The Who) - that seems slightly odd in itself to me, but I don't know the full details of the study.

In any case, I wonder what wine would suit my listening habits. Thom Brooks also picks up on the story, but has nothing to add about wine for Rammstein or Metallica.

Carrots

I'd seen this on Facebook, but I didn't go and buy carrots. Did anyone?

Cohen Jokes

I've only been to two of G A Cohen's Humour Seminars this term, but I thought this was much more interesting - and amusing - than the first. The idea of academics sitting around dissecting jokes doesn't actually sound all that funny, but when you actually see these people doing it - in All Souls' Old Library - it's actually pretty funny just because it's so ingruous. That, in fact, was part of Cohen's point: jokes need some bomination of incongruity and sense.

The puzzle comes with how these combine. He illustrated with a fairly routine example of two people complaining about restaurant food. The first says 'the food is terrible' and the second 'yes, and the portions are so small'. This, he said, could make sense, but at the same time it seems prima facie absurd to make both complaints. Interestingly, had the order of the two complaints been reversed, the joke doesn't seem as funny. Had the second merely said 'yes, and they've stopped giving jumbo portions' it would have been more absurd but made less sense. Taken to a limit, if the second said 'yes, and I'm going to the movies this afternoon', the joke wouldn't have made any sense.

I can't be bothered to type out many of the jokes in full, but hear are the bones of a few:

A husband and wife are trekking through the jungle when suddenly a giant ape jumps out and starts ravishing the woman. 'Quick! Do something!' she cries, to which her husband responds 'tell him you have a headache'.

A man rings the Jewish solicitors Cohen, Cohen, Cohen, Cohen & Cohen.
1: I'd like to speak to Mr Cohen please.
2: I'm afraid he's in court right now.
1: Ok then. Can I speak to Mr Cohen?
2: He's off sick.
1: How about Mr Cohen?
2: He's at lunch.
1: Then can I speak to Mr Cohen?
2: He's on holiday.
1: Well, in that case I'd like to speak to Mr Cohen.
2: Speaking.

Two men facing a firing squad. 'Any last words?' the captain asks. The first remains silent, but then the second starts hurling insults at them. The first nudges him and says 'Quiet down Pete; don't make trouble.

Why Moral Philosophers Can't Provide Answers

At least since Plato, many philosophers have pretended to have some sort of insight that makes them best placed to answer moral questions. Today, most take the more modest line that they can't really provide answers. The purpose of philosophy seems to be conceptual clarification and making distinctions. Thus we can, for example, isolate potential differences between (say) killing and letting die, and thereby clarify exactly what is at stake in a question. This may lead us to reject certain bad reasoning, but when it comes to deciding substantive issues philosophers are no more better than the proverbial man in the street.

There was a fine example after today's moral philosophy seminar. A visiting economist wanted to ask the five moral philosophers round the table whether one should tell a married friend that his wife is cheating on him. (I believe the example was fictitious). Assume all the normal caveats, about how the cuckold is unaware and will never find out. What should you do?

It seems that he genuinely wanted an answer to the practical question but, as philosophers of the modern/modest sort, we were reluctant to give one. By the time it reached my turn, we'd quibbled with what was being asked so much that all I committed myself to was 'I think being an unknowing cuckold makes his life in one way worse - though not necessarily worse all-things-considered - and this gives you a pro tanto reason to tell him'.

Spurs 0-2 Liverpool

Well, while there was still the title, a UEFA Cup spot and two relegation places to play for, none of that affected today's game - with nothing left for either team to play it was unlikely to be a classic. Things may have been different if some individuals had futures to play for, but Rafa has already revealed that Harry Kewell's time on Liverpool's books (read: treatment table) is coming ot an end. That none of Riise, Crouch and Alonso made the 16 man squad may also be indicative of their respective futures.

Voronin got a rare start, and scored. Some Liverpool fans have been very critical of him this season. I'd say he's been inconsistent, but shown some promising moments - the problem perhaps being that, like Kuyt, he's not an out-and-out goal scorer. Given that he was brought in on a free to replace Robbie as fourth striker, I'd say it's worth giving him another season - although if anyone was to put in a reasonable offer (and Celtic were rumoured to be interested) I'd be happy to make a profit. Even if Crouch also leaves, we can play Babel as a striker or promote Nemeth from reserves, so I think we have some options, as long as Torres stays fit.

Speaking of 'El Nino' it was our number 9 that not only set up Voronin's opener but scored his 24th league goal of the season, surpassing RvN's record for league goals by a foreign player in his debut season. All the more impressive given that they were all from open play - and this one away from home too! Let's hope he doesn't suffer from 'second season syndrome' now defenders will know about him (to be fair, I'd guess they've known about him for a while - but it doesn't help much).

Good also to see Reina keep a clean sheet and win the golden gloves for the third season running.

Penguin Attack

First they came for the pigeons, and I did not speak out as I was not one.

Then they came for the people.

Cambridge

I spent much of the last two days in, or travelling to/from, Cambridge. Never having been there during my time in Oxford, it was something of an adventure, but it seemed a very nice place - no doubt helped by the weather.

I stayed in Churchill college, which is a modern one set in spacious gardens - rather like a cross between St Catz and St Hugh's. I was also treated to lunch in Jesus, Cambridge by my friend Clare - much larger than Jesus, Oxford it also seemed a very nice place. Given the chance, I'd very much welcome the change of scenery.

Despite only leaving Jesus at 13:50, I managed to just catch the 14:15 train to Kings Cross and, from there, get back to Oxford - changing at Reading and despite a train being delayed (I realized it was worth switching platforms and jumping on a train to Bristol, despite the announcement telling other poor souls to wait where they were for 20 minutes) - and get back to Oxford station at 16:45, allowing me to make it up to the department to hear Richard Tuck give a paper for the political theory research seminar. Ironically, he's based in Jesus, Cambridge this year, and would have been there if it wasn't for the fact that he was in Oxford while I was in Cambridge...

UPDATE: Sadly I received notification that, as has been the wont with recent interviews, I was considered appointable but not the best applicant.

Liverpool 1-0 Man City

It's been a while since Liverpool were left with nothing to play for by May, but today - with a 4th place finish guaranteed (either way) - this game was somewhat over-shadowed by the battle for Championship promotion and relegation. With that in mind, I'm disappointed that Insua was the only one of our successful reserve side given a game, but maybe Rafa was keeping the reserve league play-off final (later this week) in focus.

Anyway, the strong team gave Torres the chance to equal Ruud van Nistelrooy's record for a foreign player's debut season of 23 league goals. He also extended a club record, by scoring in his eighth successive home league match - in fact, I believe 21 of the 23 have come at Anfield: imagine what he'll be like if he starts scoring away next season!

Duties to Talents?

Arguments over social justice, inspired by Rawls and Nozick, are full of questions about whether people 'own' their talents or can legitimately expect to benefit from them (or, more properly, their exercise).

This interesting POV on the BBC website, focusing on Amy Winehouse and Snoop Dogg, suggests that people may have duties to their talents. The argument seems not to be a Kantian one, that we have a duty to ourselves to develop our own talents. Nor is it a claim that we have duties to others to exercise our talents for their benefits ("When people say that you have a duty to your talent, they all too often mean that you have a duty to them. But they're misstating the case.").

It's less clear what the argument is, but it seems to be based on a duty to the talents as such (if that's distinguishable from oneself). I suppose it's just about plausible that we might do wrong by destroying artworks, even if no one ever saw them - but it's surely less plausible that we have an analogous duty to create them (such an argument certainly wouldn't hold with respect to people). Moreover, the argument - such as it is - is tainted with religious ideas ("When that young woman sings, it's the revelation of a divine gift. But when she behaves as if the gift were hers to destroy if she feels like it, you can't help thinking of divine wrath.").

Whatever you think (and I'm still not sure what to make of it), it was still an interesting read.

The Rise of the Right

I have to admit, I didn't vote yesterday. I had kind of intended to, not that I had much preference, but - despite getting up at 6:30 - was busy for most of the day.

The BBC reports the BNP are growing in support. It's hard to know what to make of this - it could simply be protest voting, of a sort arguably encouraged by our FPTP electoral system where there's very little responsibility.

In any case, it's an excuse to link to Pop Will Eat Itself's classic warning about the 'rise of the right' Ich bin ein Auslander (video, lyrics).

May Day

Today was May Day in Oxford (and elsewhere, I believe). I didn't go down to Magdalen Bridge this year - much less stay up the night, as I had a busy day planned - but I did get up early for champagne and strawberry breakfast in college.

The rest of the day involved the applied ethics seminar in the morning, a tutorial on Republic, a post-interview meeting with one of the tutors in college (I came 2nd for the third time!) and the DPhil social in the department, before the real highlight: Jerry Cohen's Valedictory Lecture, which included his impersonations of the likes of Gilbert Ryle and Isaiah Berlin.

Chris Bertram, over at CT, also reports on the lecture, with photos, including my friend Kieran's banner. See also Virtual Stoa and Leiter.

The lecture was followed by a drinks reception in All Souls that (like the lecture itself) probably had a great concentration of eminent political theorists than most conferences I've been to - including what might as well have been an official MANCEPT outing - then many of us going to All Bar One and eight of us on for a curry. A thoroughly great night all round.

Chelsea 3-2 Liverpool (CL semi final, AET)

We were always going to be up against it after last week's disappointing draw, and so it proved - we were good enough to force the tie to extra time (which was more than I really expected, given our poor recent record at Stamford Bridge), but sadly then conceded a couple of quick goals.

It's hard to say what went wrong. Benitez's pre-match criticism of Drogba may have been ill-advised - he really was a disgrace in the first leg, but I'd rather have him diving than riled up the way he was tonight. I remember the way he destroyed us in the UEFA cup (playing for Marseille) yet, like Heskey, I think he's too often a sleeping giant given his pace and strength - tonight we saw the striker he can be when effective.

Even so, I think maybe we could have handled him had we not lost Skrtel to an early injury. Already without Agger and Aurelio, it was a big ask, even if few teams have a fourth choice centre back fit to lace Hyypia's boots. More problematic than the change of personel was that it cost us one of our substitutions, denying us the necessary attacking threat (Crouch) and fresh legs going into extra time.

Chelsea had the better of the first half and, despite a touch of off-side about their goal, I couldn't really complain. We came back well in the second, but I did wonder for a while where the goal was coming from. I was just wondering whether it should be Alonso or Benayoun to make way for an attacking change (Pennant or Babel) and thinking that Benayoun - though he'd been quiet - was the kind of player who could make a goal out of nothing, when he ghosted past several Chelsea players on the edge of the box and unleashed Torres for the equaliser.

At this point I hoped the momentum was with Liverpool and, indeed, I think it probably was, but there was to be no further breakthrough in normal time - so, as many had predicted, with scores at 1-1 (2-2 aggregate) the match went to extra time. Sadly, Chelsea seized the initiative - Essien had already had a goal ruled out for off-side before Drogba struck and then Lampard converted a penalty, all in the space of about five minutes and the tie was effectively over.

If there was any hope of recovering the two goal deficit, it was soon over when Torres was withdrawn - apparently suffering a tight hamstring. To be honest, I'd have been inclined to leave him on longer, thinking that half-fit he's still worth having, and there was little lost if he picked up an injury with our season heading to a premature end. Sadly, this left us a bit shapeless up front too.

Babel's long range shot past Cech restored a little hope, but it wasn't to be. I think Hyypia - though he couldn't complain about conceding an uncharacteristically clumsy penalty for chopping down Ballack - could feel slightly aggrieved not to have won one of his own. I also think we probably should have had more than a minute's added time (since extra time included at least two substitutions, a disllowed goal, a converted penalty and two further goals) with which to search for the equaliser that would take us to penalties. At the end of the day, I think we were at least as good as Chelsea over the two legs (I'd have been disappointed with a 1-0 lead from the first), but there clearly isn't much between the two teams so - after we got the better of them in 2005, 2006 and 2007 - I suppose it's only fair that they won through this time. I guess we might as well toss a coin in future...

Transitivity and Footballers, Old and Young

I've recently been thinking again about transitivity (you can find another example, also concerning football, here), due to writing a presentation for G A Cohen's Contemporary Political Philosophy course, focusing on this paper.

I was interested, therefore, to observe an intransitivity in the PFA player of the year awards: Ronaldo was voted player of the year, and Fabregas young player of the year, although Ronaldo was also eligible for that one! How can Ronaldo be the best out of all players but not best out of the young ones? (A subset of which he is a member). This seems to violate the Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives axiom - and that, presumably, is what happened - people who voted for David James, Adebayor or Gerrard for the main award (letting Ronaldo beat Fabregas) chose to back Fabregas rather than Ronaldo.

It's possible, therefore, that no individual has intransitive preferences. Then again, some footballers aren't too bright. Micah Richards reveals, in his BBC column, that he voted for both Ronaldo and Fabregas, rather than working out which was best and voting twice for him: that would have been complicated, since he's also quoted as saying "Liverpool's Steven Gerrard is the best player I have ever seen" (although, in fairness, that may not mean this year).

Miller Bites

My supervisor, talking about national responsibility (topic of his recent book) over at Philosophy Bites. Thanks to Sarah for the link.

See also G A Cohen - whose valedictory lecture will be given this Thursday. I'll also have to listen to Melissa Lane on Plato and totalitarianism soon.

Birmingham 2-2 Liverpool

Birmingham are a team we've struggled to beat in the league over recent years and, with very much a 'second team' (as at Fulham) and them fired up not only by their struggle to avoid relegation but to bounce back from a 5-1 derby drubbing. this was never going to be an easy game.

Even so, we had a decent defensive line - even if Hyypia, Finnan and Riise are all past their best - so I was disappointed to go two goals down. I was cheered somewhat by the way we bounced back - Crouch proving he's still in good scoring form with the first and Pennant again proving effective - he's got to play on Wednesday I feel. That Benayoun's equaliser came via a deflection off Jiadi was particularly pleasing, since his antics in front of Reina had arguably cost us the second by distracting him ahead of what was a great free kick.

Anyway, one point virtually guarantees 4th spot and CL qualification (theoretically if we lost our remaining two, and Everton won their three, we could slip out - but the blues would have to overturn a goal difference of fifteen in our favour in the course). Now hopefully we can put our focus into this year's competition - although, having heard how Chelsea beat Utd, I'm not too confident ahead of Wednesday. I'd rather Chelsea won the PL though, and think there are some signs (1, 2) United might be losing it...

Half Rabbits gig

The Half Rabbits (6/10) + Sennen (7/10) + Sunnyvale Noise Sub-Element (7/10) + Cogwheel Dogs (6/10)

Proof the people who matter read blogs - my post on my last gig received a comment from one of the bands! Anyway, since I wasn't doing anything else, my friend Nick was also free on the Friday night, and the bill featured four bands for just £5 in support of OxJam, we decided to check it out.

First up, the Cogwheel Dogs were a rather unusual line up - female singer/guitarist and a guy with a new-fangled cello. It's quirky, with song-writing as unusual as the line-up, but soon grows on me. I have to say the single, 'Cress', was probably one of my least favourite songs, despite the unusual offer of the single plus a piece of encapsulated cress for £3 (Nick and I were struck by the word encapsulated - apparently, according to her bio, Rebecca "is driven by the omnipresent, nagging desire to encapsulate things"). Other songs, like 'Ducking Stool', were rather good though. Not much stage presence, but certainly a band I wouldn't mind seeing/hearing again.

Sunnyvale were second on the bill, and delivered pretty much as expected - at least Stuart's bass didn't give up after two songs this time! I have to say sound levels were rather high and it did seem to put a lot of people off: at the start of the set Nick and I (sat at a table on the side) couldn't see much, but by the end we had a clear view as people retreated towards the bar. Chief talking point: is it really true that to say 'How Spiderman Was Tricked By His Wife' is a song about Spiderman?

Incidentally, I found out that the reason I'd only been seeing them as a two piece lately is because Giles is taking time out to work on film projects. Also that they're launching a new remix/out-take CD-R with another gig @ Wheatsheaf on 30th May. I also got to give Stuart a couple of quid for Audioscope (BBC story) / Shelter, after recently being sent one of their old CDs.

While their experimental post-rock noise may not exactly be radio-friendly, third band Sennen (MySpace) look considerably more mainstream. In fact, as they're setting up (putting fairy lights round the drum set!) Nick and I speculate on what they might sound like - based on the fact that one guitarist looks very like Matt Bellamy (Muse) and the other someone out of The Feeling. Predictably, it's show-gazing indie and not - as I'd guessed - death metal. One of the early songs reminds me very much of The Cure's 'Friday I'm In Love' while latter on I was thinking their rockier numbers were more like BRMC as they seemed set to go out on a high - only to reveal after a gratuitous solo that they had one more song. Rather generic and derivative, but I honestly think they could be indie one-hit wonders. Also, while perhaps not the greatest band ever, I think assessed purely on live performance probably the best band of the night.

Finally, The Half-Rabbits - who I hadn't seen before, but I'd heard good things about them from Nick, who'd seen them twice before, and via Nightshift etc. I have to say I wasn't particularly impressed. They sounded rather like Interpol and - while not bad - I didn't think they were anything special in either music or performance.

Sometimes three or four bands all putting in good sets can make a really great gig. I think to be honest tonight just fell short of that. All the bands were solid, and I wouldn't be averse to seeing any on another bill, but none quite captivated me and I wouldn't be particularly inclined to go out of my way to see any again. Still, it wasn't a bad way to spend an evening and it was in support of both charity and local music.

Photos available over here.

Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea

If ever there was a draw that felt like defeat, this has to be a pretty good candidate. Chelsea offered very little going forward - with Drogba seemingly more intent on going down (and winning a number of free kicks for doing so - though Kuyt didn't when Ashley Cole lunged through him, in the most blatant free-kick-not-given I've ever seen). We were as dominant as one could ever expect to be, such that not adding to Kuyt's goal would have felt harsh enough, so to concede to a 95th minute own goal was a real sickener.

While the tie is still technically on a knife-edge, Chelsea now have the advantage of an away goal (something they never had in 2005 or 2007) and Stamford Bridge has never been a happy hunting ground for us as far as I can remember, save one year when we won thanks to Bruno Cheyrou(!) - I don't think we've even scored there under Benitez, as we'll need to next week. Sadly, I don't think this is our year - in which case, I hope whoever comes through the Man Utd/Barca tie can stop the Chavs in Moscow.

Fulham 0-2 Liverpool

It's pleasing to see that we can now make eight changes and still put in a professional performance and win. Particularly pleasing as we controversially lost this fixture last season, again with a weakened team and eye on the CL. Maybe Rafa was being cautious, or maybe he's concerned to get fourth place sewn up, but the line-up today was all first team players - when personally I'd have liked to have seen Insua, Plessis and Nemeth given a run out for the senior team.

Hopefully knocks to Hyypia and Mascherano aren't too serious, and Stevie's neck injury will have recovered in time for Chelsea on Tuesday. I think Pennant may have played his way into the team with a goal and an assist today - plus the fact that he has in the past done quite well against Ashley Cole. Several people on the Liverpool message board seem to be debating Pennant versus Kuyt, but I'd play them both (on the 'wings' of our 4-2-3-1) with Babel on the bench as an impact player.

CL Ticket Lottery

Tickets for events such as Wimbledon and the Oscars are routinely allocated by lottery. It seems that, to meet UEFA guidelines, all the Champions League semi-finalists have to announce their ticket procedures now in case they should reach the final in Moscow. I'm pleased to see that the Liverpool website says "Once we have received the applications they will not be taken first come first served because that would be unfair. Instead, we will have a random process. Having weighed up all the options and the concerns that fans had last year we feel that the system we have come up with is the best and fairest way of distributing tickets."

What's in a Job Title?

According to the BBC article, Bez (of Happy Mondays fame - seen in action here) is a "dancer". The court judgement they quote describes him as a "journalist and a musician".

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Wikipedia entry fudges this important controversy, refering to him as a "dancer and percussionist".

Teaching Jobs

I recently applied for a job that required me to outline two courses I could devise and teach for final year undergraduates. Thankfully, as far as I'm aware, the job application process isn't as bad here as the other side of the pond, where it seems candidates are regularly expected to submit statements of their 'teaching philosophy', sample syllabi, student evaluations, and who knows what else. Here the norm is apparently to rely on referees (as if any of mine have any idea what I'm like as a teacher...)

Anyway, this post on Leiter Reports about advice for those applying for teaching jobs still seems to be of some relevance.

And, while I'm linking, I think I may have linked to this humorous attempt at writing a teaching philosophy before, but I also recently saw this observation about student evaluations. This, of course, raises the same question about who's competent to judge the performance of experts as Plato did long ago.

Sunnyvale Gig

Sunnyvale Noise Sub-Element (8/10) + Foxes! (7/10) + 1877 (7/10)

Attempting to put right the dearth of recent gigs, I made it two in two nights (after this) by checking out some more local bands at the Purple Turtle. Contrary to some false advertising, the event wasn't free, but at only a pound not much to complain about (contrary to McDonald's poundsaver menu adds, this gig was much better than a burger).

Sadly, the PT seemed pretty disorganized. Doors were supposed to open at 8 and they were indeed open when I got there at half past but, after I saw a band setting up and sat around for half an hour, a security guy then threw me out of the performance area because they weren't ready. I had to wait in the other half of the PT until gone half nine - although there was no real indication when they finally started so by the time I actually made it to see 1877 I was only able to catch their last song. It sounded very Joy Division influenced, like Editors or Interpol. While I can't really pass much judgement from that one song, I'd certainly be willing to see them on a bill again.

Next up were Foxes! who featured a rather unusual line-up of a female singer-drummer and two guys with guitars (one of whom shared singing duties). They describe themselves as indie / powerpop / folk rock, which I suppose just about covers it, though I can't really think of anyone they sound much like for purposes of comparison. It's an upbeat kind of indie-rock that has feet tapping and people dancing - and it looks like they've brought quite a crowd of admirers, who great each song enthusiastically. Despite the poor singer having coughing fits between each song, they go down well.

Headliners Sunnyvale were due on stage at 10:45, but it's around 11:20 by the time they finally do get on. This is the fourth time I've seen them, which is more than I've seen any other band, though it shouldn't be concluded I'm that big a fan - this is over a period of six years on the local scene! Nonetheless, this is the first time since I bought the Techno Self-Harm EP, and I think I enjoy it more for knowing and recognizing most of the songs (even though they now have a full length debut album).

Sadly, things don't go too smoothly as - after just two songs - Stuart announces that his bass is busted. This results in a brief delay, before he resumes using a replacement (from 1877), which he has to play upside down because he's left-handed. Sadly, that delay when the night was already running late means the band only get two more songs - 'How Spiderman Was Tricked By His Wife' and 'Girl Thief' - in before calling it a night (whether due to technical troubles or a midnight curfew, I'm not sure). Only four songs was massively disappointing, but given the gig was only a pound one can hardly complain about not getting value for money. I enjoyed what I heard, and can't hold the technical difficulties or PT's inability to keep time against them. I guess now I might have to go see them again at one of their up-coming shows (25th April @ Wheatsheaf)...

Liverpool 3-1 Blackburn

On their day, Blackburn are difficult opposition, as shown by the way they frustrated us earlier in the season. Thankfully today was one of their off-days, perhaps because they now have little to play for - it seemed they'd hardly turned up.

Even so, it looked like it might be one of those days when it took an hour for Gerrard to open the scoring. After that, it wasn't quite the opening of the floodgates but it certainly paved the way for Torres to net his 30th of the season (in front of the Kop, unsurprisingly) before Voronin put a slightly flattering gloss on the score at the end - only to have it pegged back by an injury-time consolation from Santa Cruz.

Mark Hughes may well moan that things could have been different had Skrtel been red-carded when he brought down Roberts. The commentators on the radio certainly seemed to think it could, if not should, have been red - but Samba could well have seen red earlier on for a challenge on Gerrard, so I don't think there's much to complain about.

With Everton set to play Chelsea this week, hopefully this leaves us in pole position for 4th.

Winchell Riots gig

Winchell Riots (8/10) + Her Name Is Calla (8/10) + This Et Al (7/10)

I haven't been to a gig in quite a while - at least, unless you count the cover band at Nick & Roo's wedding - but tonight I put that right by going to see The Winchell Riots (formed by ex-members of Fell City Girl) play a gig at the Wheatsheaf, with Nick & Roo.

Opening band, This Et Al, weren't one I'd ever heard of before, but they were pleasant enough, with songs ranging from stoner rock to upbeat indie-pop - while none really stood out at least there was some variety.

The band I'd really come to see was Her Name Is Calla, who we saw supporting Glissando at the Port Mahon last July. A truly multi-instrumental post-rock group, they only serve up three of their typically epic songs, but are typified by closing number New England, which veers from fragile vocals over sparse backing to a rousing crescendo which culminates with all four of the band beating drums. Thoroughly enjoyable.

As I said, it was Her Name Is Calla that I'd initially come to see, having joined their mailing list at the previous gig, but - while I was never a Fell City Girl devotee (having seen them only once) - the chance to check out Phil McMinn's new band was a welcome one. I don't remember Fell City Girl making a particularly distinctive impression on me, though the songs from their later Swim EP did grow on me.

The Winchell Riots were playing to launch their debut EP, Histories, which I bought after the show, and I thought they had a lot more character and individuality - though that's probably me being unfair to FCG. Perhaps they can go on and achieve the big things FCG were tipped for. They'll need to write some more songs first though - Phil admits they have no more for the encore, so resorts to a solo performance of FCG classic February Snow to popular acclaim and participation. (That YouTube video is actually from the gig itself; here's the FCG original)

Music Personality Test

See my results here.

Pretty interesting, but I wouldn't call them terribly accurate. It seems to assume, for example, that if you like rock and metal you prefer music that's 'edgy and aggressive' rather than 'reflective and complex', as if all metal was Amen rather than Tool.

Consequently I get some inaccurate ("People with low scores on the reflective and complex music-preference dimension tend to be traditional, physically active, and prefer the straightforward to the complex") and contradictory ("People with high scores on the energetic and aggressive music-preference dimension tend to enjoy taking risks and engaging in thrilling experiences. They also tend to be dominant, imaginative, and energetic. They tend to be politically liberal, and believe that freedom, independence, and excitement are important aspects of life. When it comes to lifestyle, lovers of edgy and aggressive music, tend to come from the middle to lower classes" versus "People with low scores on the energetic and upbeat music-preference dimension tend to be introverted, less assertive than the average person, and detail oriented. As for politics and values, they tend to lean to the conservative side, and value intellect, ambition, and high art. When it comes to lifestyle, low scorers on the energetic and upbeat dimension often come from the middle and upper classes") personality results...

Liverpool 4-2 Arsenal (CL, 2nd leg)

So, after two recent draws (1, 2), it's Liverpool who establish an aggregate victory and progress to the Champions League semi-finals - and pretty much ending a season that had initially promised so much for the Gunners.

I have to say, this was the most nervous game of football I've endured in a long time, probably more than either of the recent CL finals I've experienced. It was always going to be close, but the way Arsenal began looked ominous - they were all over us, opening the scoring after just twelve minutes. I always though one away goal wouldn't be enough! Thankfully, at Anfield, almost anything is possible and - having been very much under the cosh for almost half an hour - we equalised when Hyypia lost Senderos at a corner to head home. I'm not so sure whether it was our belief growing or Arsenal (who'd been on the back of a poor run, until beating Bolton) faltered, but certainly the goal swung things in our favour.

If Arsenal had had the best of the first half hour, then we probably edged the next third of the match - either side of half-time - coming out after the break all guns blazing in the search for a winner (at 1-1, the prospect of extra-time and penalties loomed). No surprises who delivered, in front of the Kop - Torres scoring a goal worthy of winning any match. The 2-1 lead (on the night) was always precarious, however, because another away goal for Arsenal would take them through.

At this stage, both teams were looking tired and nervy, but while Liverpool may have been caught between whether to stick or twist, there was only one option for Arsenal - to attack. The commentators had been warning all game about the impact Theo Walcott could make, coming on from the bench to run at tired defenders, and their words proved prophetic as - after a fluffed corner at the other end - he was allowed to run most of the length of the pitch and cross for Adebayor (with two other Arsenal players) to tap in from close range. It was a great run, passed several players, although to be honest I was disappointed with the defending. Had it been Hyypia, instead of Aurelio, on the half-way line I guarantee he'd have - as the commentators put it - 'taken a yellow [card] for the team' (i.e. cynically brought Walcott down, although - unlike Rob's favourite Solksjaer moment - with cover behind him).

I'd been literally shaking with nerves during parts of this match and now, with one late (85th minute) goal looking likely to snatch defeat from the jaws of defeat, I was utterly deflated. When the commentators had earlier been building up Walcott's potential impact, however, I'd been reassuring myself that our own Babel is also quite an impact player, and so he proved. Just minutes after the goal, he charged into the Arsenal area before going down under contact from Toure. The penalty gave us a chance to restore our lead (3-2), but it took nerves of steal from Gerrard to score - seemingly completing a real rollercoaster of a match. In fact, there was time for Babel to prevent any further see-sawing, as a long ball gave him the opportunity to race through Arsenal's half (the tired Fabregas was never going to catch him, despite his despairing attempt to grab Babel's shirt) and slot in the decisive fourth.

It's hard to sum up such a match; it's a real shame either team had to lose (of course, I'd far prefer Arsenal to Man Utd or Chelsea). At the end of the day, whether through inexperience, lack of squad depth or (related) tiredness Arsenal lost. Of course, Wenger's first response was to blame the ref. While I think Toure's challenge on Babel probably did merit a penalty, I have to admit that it was probably no worse that Kuyt's on Hleb in the first leg, so in that respect Arsenal can count themselves unlucky to have one given against them but not get one themselves. Neither, however, were cast iron penalties, so perhaps to the extent that one makes a 50/50 challenge in the box one opens oneself up to moral luck...

How to Pay the Rent

I just got paid for last term's teaching, and was pleasantly surprised that it was actually a bit more than I'd been expecting - although it still won't cover a term's rent until I get round to reclaiming tax (which, with the new tax year, I should be able to do as soon as I get the various necessary P60s - which will probably take a while).

Teaching, on an hourly paid basis, can just about support you, if you can get enough of it (and, sadly, exams next term mean there isn't much to go round) but it's not exactly a decent living. That's why I'm job-hunting now. It seems, however, that it's possible to earn up to £30,000 (via) - more than most of the lecturing jobs I've applied for - writing essays for other students!

As the article notes, these essay writing services normally claim their products are to be used as guides or templates. I've been tempted to provide my students similar model answers myself, and don't see anything wrong with that. The problem is that most of them allow students to not only ask for any essay title they like but also include further personalisation, such as the bibliography style (and, presumably, what's on it/referenced). Their defences would be more credible if they made it harder to pass off these essays as one's own - e.g. supplying them in a distinctive format, in PDF files, with the source clearly identified, and copies submitted to online plagiarism checking sites.

White Wedding

Last night was my friend Nick's wedding. Since I'm not currently in Oxford, it meant a quick trip back. This reminded me how bad public transport can be. Buses from my house to Colchester station are supposed to be about every 20 minutes on a Saturday but, since the one I went for didn't seem to turn up, I had to wait about 25 minutes - ironically it took me about as long to get to Colchester station as it then took to get to Liverpool Street. Thankfully the rest of the journey went smoothly, with short waits for quick trains - even one from Paddington that only stopped at Reading and Oxford (which I don't think I've ever had before). Sadly, things look like they'll be much worse today, although at least I'm not in Kent.

I wasn't at the service itself, but the reception was held in Teddy Hall - which confusingly has a hall named the Wolfson Hall. Nick and his wife had booked an indie covers band and chosen songs to be played between and after their two sets, which gave the night a really individual feel - they both have good taste in music and the result was very them. I did think a few of the song choices were a bit odd though, but that will have to be a separate post.

Since Nick and his wife have known each other since school, there were obviously lots of old friends who have known them both a long time. There weren't too many from Oxford, although we did have a 'Jesubite' photo (the couple plus me, Lisa, Sara, Steve & Vicki). It didn't matter too much, as I knew several from the stag weekend and met a few others (through them), then spent most of the night dancing anyway. I should also mention the food - there was a very nice buffet selection (which I wish I'd had more of!), particularly the brandy snap baskets and - instead of a traditional wedding cake - a selection of cup cakes.

All in all, it was a very fun night, and I wish the two of them many future years of happiness together. Too bad that when it ended, at midnight, there hadn't yet been any snow though. Waking up this morning, Oxford was covered in a particularly beautiful layer of white that really would have made it a white wedding!

Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see this match as I was travelling back to Oxford for a wedding, but I did get to follow most of the second half. This is the third meeting between these two sides this season to end in a 1-1 draw (first, second). I suppose I should be grateful that it's better than last season, when we got knocked out the FA and League cups in the space of a week!

Another 1-1 draw on Tuesday, in the second leg of our Champions League quarter final,
will see the match go to extra time (which, other things being equal, I'd probably settle for right now - we'll be at home and I think our players seem fresher). It's no doubt with that in mind that both managers chose to rest players, with Benitez making eight changes including handing a debut to 20 year old Plessis (who's earned good reviews in the reserves this season).

Liverpool's second string had the better of the first half, and led through a Crouch goal. (I was surprised not to see Crouch last week, given how he tormented Arsenal last season). Sadly, Bendtner made some amends for clearing a shot off our line on Tuesday by equalizing and that was how the match ended, despite cameo appearances from Gerrard and Torres.

I can't say I'm too disappointed. Assuming Everton beat Derby, they'll now only be three points behind us, but their remaining five games include Arsenal and Chelsea, which will both be tough even if the London clubs rotate/rest players. A point from the Emirates isn't bad, especially with the side we put out (though Arsenal rotated too) and Tuesday is more important now.

Random Acknowledgement Link

I was just working on an application for a job in Aberystwyth when I remembered that I once read some papers for Nkiruka Ahiauzu, who's a lecturer in law there. I saw the one she gave in Oxford has been published, with me thanked: ‘Multiple Principles and the Obligation to Obey the Law’ Deakin Law Review. Vol. 10. No. 2. 2005. p. 524-44.

Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool (CL, 1st leg)

So the second match between Liverpool and Arsenal this season also ends in a 1-1 draw (read about the first here); again with Arsenal probably dominating play, but not overly exerting Reina. Many pundits said an away goal could prove crucial, but at one a piece I think this is still the most closely balanced of the four semi-finals (Chelsea's shock defeat makes that now close, but I'd still expect them to progress at home).

Arsenal have such dangerous attacking players that I wouldn't bank on a clean sheet at Anfield, and if our away goal is cancelled we need a win or extra time (which could be a distinct possibility). Before that, there's another visit to the Emirates in the league, but I'd probably be willing to concede defeat there in exchange for progress on Tuesday. Only time will tell whether arsenal will still be in the hunt for two trophies...

UPDATE: It's something of a shock to see Wenger criticizing someone for not seeing something on a football pitch.

Priority in Practice Report

I'm happy to say the Priority in Practice workshop (mentioned here) was enjoyable. I got to see several interesting papers and, though I didn't really meet anyone I didn't kind of know already, I did get to catch up with some familiar faces and cement a few acquaintances. Plus, since there was no registration fee, it proved that there is such a thing as a free lunch too!

I stayed with my friend Mike in LSE halls too, which gave us a welcome chance to catch up (though we in fact have a gaudy [college reunion] next week to do that). He helped escort me round London - I now have somewhat better bearings, and was able to walk from UCL back to Liverpool Street, which took about an hour and gave me a blister, but was good exercise, a chance to see the sights and did avoid the very crowded rush hour tube.