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Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Prison Law war breaks out

Prison Law war breaks out

Yesterday evening I went along to hear my friend's Inaugural Lecture entitled: "Re-enchanting the world:the role of imagination in perception". I understood what she was saying, but cannot get over why academics waste so much time and energy making cowpats when the only good ingredients are the pieces of straw which have to be pulled out of the surrounding mess.

It didn't help that the Vice-Chancellor moved the mike up to his level, when it had been set for Kathleen's level, and then failed to return it to the desired level again for Kathleen. Kathleen probably did not notice that her voice did not initially reach the back seats. But then she spoke up or whoever was controlling the mike level increased the volume.

The PowerPoint Kathleen admitted she had not mastered, and it showed. The written text did not always sync with the spoken word. There were a couple of slips pressing the next section before finishing the present one. And, jumping from section 7 to section 9, both verbally and on screen had me asking where was section 8? The missing link. Otherwise, it was a good lecture.

Kathleen is fragile. Humphrey felt he had to bodyguard her. For a feminist this must rankle. Lucy was moist-eyed at the wine buffet, and Daniel and I talked old times. The drinks were ok. The food was crap. I feel sorry for the old bloke who had only turned up for the free food and drinks. Earlier we had discussed our local chippy compared to McCraps and the former won hands down. I told him where he could get better chips.

Cold soggy pizza, tiny bits of salmon squares, and some veggy-things for the Vegetables who don't eat meat. The University of Hull needs a lesson in how to put on a buffet. You should see the ones put on for the Parole Board. Alternatively, those put on by the Open University.

I returned home at 8.30pm.

Fist things first, I greet Rocky. Apologise for being late for his 7pm walk. I give him a bone out of the freezer as a consolation. Whilst he is busy with that in the kitchen I roll a joint in the lounge. At 8.50 I rush out to Nissa to get Rocky a tin of dog food. Give him some with some mixer biscuits. Another joint takes us up to 9.30pm, and I take Rocky for a walk in the park. But, as some have asked "Who is taking who for a walk?".

Rocky does tend to pull you in the direction and at the speed that suits him. The problem is, Beverley Road tends to be busy and Rocky is not aware of the dangers of traffic. His nose is to the ground, scanning the scents like I scan the onlinenewspapers and blog headlines. I have to be his eyes and ears. I can let him off the lead in the park.

He has got a lot better and more confident over the years. He did bark at a group of yooves. They laughed, and said I had a good dog. I told them I love him. They know the importance of having a good dog who looks out for the leader of the pack. The park is not as rough as it used to be. The park wardens might clean up the dog shit, Rocky cleaned up the human mess that used to hide in the bushes to mug the unsuspecting passerby.

At 10pm I check my emails. There is one from the Students for a Free Tibet, and another email telling me that Mark Leech is dissing the Association of Prisoners and and myself on his Google group. I go and take a look. What do I find? Only that the prisonguru has taken a fight to Mark Leech in the bear pit of prison politics. So, I jumped in and gave Leech a mauling. Take a look for yourselves...

Link.

If Mark Leech deletes the comments, I have copied and pasted them to those within the loop and can repost them on here if necessary...

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