An uneventful journey to Spain. I should have a decent amount of reading time, so am loaded down with stuff. Knopper's Appetite for Self-Destruction, Perry's On the Bus (a book about the Ken Kesey/Merry Prankster road trip in 1964), Baverstock's Do you have a book in you?, Garber's Academic Instincts, various PH400 notes and some Wikipedia articles on P of S to critique as the final part of my revision
Snow on the Sierra Nevada mountains - always a surprise to see in southern Spain, this time of year. I have a meal out tonight consisting entirely of local specialities - lots of meats, potatoes and peppers.
Sunday June 7th
A free day, so lots of reading, mainly Knopper's book. This is very good on the history of record labels, but less good on actual music making and the implications of recent developments for this - just a few points touched on this towards the end. It does raise the possibility that record companies will cease to manufacture music in the future - everything will be downloaded. Yet the paradoxical aspect of the current period is that there has never been a wider selection of interesting music available than now - just think of all the fantastic tracks heard on Peel over the years that can now be acquired simply (if often illegally).
Next book is On the Bus. I bought this in 1991 and have read it before. There was a documentary on it a few years ago that I recently downloaded and watched again. A timely reminder of the possibilities of freedom (even if it did cost Kesey $100k)
Lots of interesting cuttings from the weekend's papers. Nuns offering "well being breaks", an article on Joyce's Ulysses, a long piece on Antony Beevor's new book on the D-Day landings, an interesting piece on grief that I entirely agreed with, and so on
Monday June 8th
Finished On the Bus - lots to ponder on from this I thought. It has lots of implications for philosophy of life issues. Wish I could re-read The Electric Cool Aid Acid Test next
Some time free for a drive up to some of the local white villages. Reminds me of the various trips to Pampaniera last year. Some melancholic thoughts about this while taking photos of rugs for sale
Close ups of rugs - always like the geometry of these
An hour of PH400 revision later on - mainly realism, inference to the best explanation and structural realism. I have been pondering on the relation between IBE and detective fiction such as Sherlock Holmes. Are they the same? Would I be brave enough to write this in an exam essay?
Tuesday June 9th
Reading Garber first thing - her discussion of amateur-professional and journalist-academic. All linked in with my very tentative thoughts of writing a book myself.
Afternoon at the Alhambra. Unlike last year, I have acquired tickets to go round the Nastrid Palaces. Very dramatic stuff. I take about 200 photos during the Granada visit, but few are particularly serious efforts. I do like some of the below pictures though, especially the various close ups of decorative patterns in the palaces and the Medina foundations
One of the many classic views of the Alhambra from the Arab Quarter
The distant Sierra Nevada mountains still have snow on them in June!
Impossible to take too many photos of patterns inside the Alhambra
The detail is overwhelming - quite ridiculous really How did they ensure everything was symmetrical?
One of my favourite patterns
And another
The Lion Courtyard - sadly without its lions at the moment
More patterns - I read somewhere that some of the patterns are arabic text
Perhaps my favourite photo - as the exposure is so good! (12 attempts got this one in the end)
Some of the old walls of the Medina
. . . . which do make very nice geometrical shapes
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Wednesday June 10th
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A quieter day - but no long periods off to visit places. More PH400 revision - mainly social constructivism, a topic that I rather like but which rarely comes up in the exam. Also more reading of Garber's book and also a few chapters of Baverstock - ironically the latter has been damaged and is falling apart somewhat. Now what does that say?
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Some swimming today for the first time in ages. Pool temp of 26 is very pleasant. If I had been in the U.K. now I would have been preparing for PH404.
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An article in today's paper says that Indonesia is planning extensive new forestry destruction that might threaten the various apes that live there. Apparently this is necessary to ensure that the world's supplies of cheap photocopying paper don't run out.
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Thursday June 11th
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Into Granada for a second time to find that today is the Corpus Christi festival and everywhere is closed except for the various bars and restaurants. Chuisso - the local doughnut - is available so not all is lost.
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It seems a bit hotter today to me - maybe mid 30s. Or perhaps I am dehydrated. I have been drinking over 2 litres of coke and water per day, but feel really tired the moment I go out into the sun late afternoon.
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Thinking about maybe doing a small amount of trading when I get back - perhaps something like Oxeye's footsie options strategy. I will have a look at their website when I get back. I know last Sept-Oct was hard for them, but they bounced back well - as they always seem to from these events. Should I invest with them or do it myself? Not sure yet. For the first time in ages I am thinking about implied option volatility
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Finally venture out in to the incredibly dark night for some star gazing. Due south, Scorpio is well above the horizon - a constellation that is really hard to see from the UK. Antares is an amazing site.
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Friday June 12th
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My quiet moments today are spent thinking about landscape photography - some ideas for sequences on photos taken over many hours e.g. identical shots of a hill ever hour from dawn to dusk, sequences showing the sun's motion, etc. Inspired by Richard Long and Andy Goldsworthy. I have a couple of photographic magazines with me - hard to avoid being intimidated though by the shear brilliance of some peoples' pictures.
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Yesterday's slightly hotter temperatures seem to have resulted in me getting slightly sunburnt despite not going outside till after 5:00pm.
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We have a barbeque tonight and I get talking to someone who was also a philosophy student and followed it up with a chemistry PhD. He is now winding down his career having been a partner at McKinsey's management consultants. Now I expect that involved long working hours - didn't ask him if he thought it was worth it or if, hand on heart, he had really enjoyed it
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Saturday June 13th
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Uneventful trip back. Finished Garber's book -the last chapter on jargon was very interesting.
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Limited time now for preparation for Monday's exam. But I also feel quite confident about it really - and so I should. Wonder how the others have been getting on e.g. PH404.
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