What is Justice? What is punishment for?

Swiss Toni has provided a very pertinent commentary on how the hell we should react to the grotesque case in Austria currently occupying news headlines.

He makes some powerful points, not least around how we decide and evaluate 'just' punishments for such crimes.

I have to admit that I have felt terribly conflicted over the last two days regarding how, or even whether, to publicly articulate the emotions stirred in me by the horrific uncovered events in Austria. The subject seems so utterly awful, so distressing to even begin to comprehend, that I wondered how - if - it was appropriate to try and do so amidst the frivolity that usually occupies my mind.

But this sort of uncovered event, this history, surely deserves acknowledgement even here. Perhaps precisely because to ignore it is to treat it with the no-questions-asked-acceptance-of-what-is-said mentality that led to a community, a family, being unable to challenge the lies it was fed and turning away from the horror in its midst.

Swiss Toni is certainly right to be firm that any 15 year sentence feels far too short, too inadequate in comparison to the 24 years of grief and suffering already inflicted on his family members. (Plus the rest, since it appears he was brutalising and raping the daughter from around 11). And that's before considering that the family are likely to require intensive support for some time to come, if not the remainder of their lives. Could any sentence be enough for the systematic rape, torture, imprisonment and brutality he inflicted on his family?

Because we surely have to question what is the basis for our sense of 'justice': is it about inflicting some comparable suffering on another human being, dependent on how vile was their crime? Surely it cannot be that, or just that: can there ever be restitution of what was lost? Can there ever be suitable recompense? Should it be about revenge or equivalence of the pain caused?

In this instance one does wonder, even with the confession, how much this man comprehended what he was doing as being 'wrong'... The skewed mindset of the rapist, the manipulator, the exploiter, the controller, the brutaliser is potentially one that does not identify the actions as anything other than reasonable - for them - much as the child abuser, which he also was in this case, sees their actions as understandable and appropriate...

The options available as to how we, how society should respond are inevitably limited: of course they are, and that is probably the most valid marker of a civilised society. In some ways, that is kind of the point because to imagine that there is some way of creating a 'reasonable punishment' is in itself problematic. For where would one draw the line? As much as an individual may want revenge, the ultimate revenge for a life taken, destroyed utterly, would surely always be death - but how can the taking of another life obliterate the hole, the emptiness, created by the original damage done?

Swiss Toni mused that even when society finds its own system of punishments inadequate, if it is to remain civilised "what choice does [it] have but to obey its own laws?" To do otherwise would surely lead to extension after extension into ever-more violent responses and punishments, diminishing our own humanity and civility in the process. But events like those currently dominating the news media do lead to uncomfortable feelings and encounters with the personal - and perhaps instinctive - desire for vengeful action. That is why calls for capital punishment are best overruled by parliament, whatever opinion polls may say because as individuals we probably do need protection from our worst instinctive responses to violence and harm. Maybe all we can do is wring our hands and have the internal debate about what can be done about providing 'justice' for the most heinous of crimes.

Such debates, the ability to pose such questions, are surely the best marker of our efforts to maintain belief in humanity regardless of such aberrant examples of inhumanity as this. We have to keep asking in cases like this: Is prison the best place for this man, this father/grandfather? What would any sentence served in such an environment achieve? Would incarceration at a more suitable institution be more appropriate? Can he be 'treated', or merely 'cared for'? Can he be rehabilitated,; should we even try? What would ever be 'enough' as a punishment?

If we cannot keep asking ourselves these difficult questions, then we shall surely have lost sight of the balance between trust and vigilance necessary to retain our society, however unnerving such debates are -- and however impossible defining answers may be.

5th line meme

Before anyone else tags me (ta Paul by the way):

Pick up the nearest book.
Open to page 123
Find the fifth sentence.
Post the next three sentences.
Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

Nearest book for me was Getting Things Done: How to Achieve Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen. Please don't laugh.

p.123 is from Chapter 6 and the fifth sentence is actually the first in a section entitled 'One Item At A Time':

You may find you have a tendency, while processing your in-basket, to pick something up, not know exactly what to do about it, and then let your eyes wander onto another item farther down the stack and get engaged with it.

The passage continues:

That item may be more attractive to your psyche because you know right away what to do with it - and you don't feel like thinking about what's in your hand. This is dangerous territory. What's in your hand is likley to land on a 'hmppphhh' stack on the side of your deak because you become distracted by something easier, more important, or more interesting below it.

Oh dear: I should probably acknowledge and counter some of my own tendency to behave that way in processing my own non-in-tray-piles of paperwork. *shudder*

Who to tag? Help yourself hapless bloggers...

A-Z of blogs

Stolen shamelessly from EineKleineRob.

Autocomplete blog meme. Simple procedure: type each letter of the alphabet in the address bar (one at a time, obviously) and see which blog comes up first. The result should be a map of your personal blogosphere, or at least those bits of it you’ve visited recently.

This version echoes a bit of Phil (excluding letters where nothing came up) and a bit of Rob (I wasn't particular about excluding those sites only visited a few times, since I too may revisit on such whimsical information).

Apologies to those who maybe came alphabetically a little below the first appearing blog for each letter. Or for those where my history has cleared out identifying them.

A - 'Theatre is Life, Film is Art, TV is Furniture' [Anna Waits]
B - Behind the Sofa [The Doctor Who multi-authored blog]
C - Cloud in Trousers [thank goodness! Neil might never forgive me otherwise!]
D - From Despair to Where? [as the subtitle says 'Stuart and Dave's communist blog]
E - Eine Kleine Nichtmusik [EineKleineRob of course!]
F - Feeling Listless
G - The Gaping Silence [Phil, from whence the meme came...]
I - Indigenous Stranger [James Diggs]
J - Joe in Vegas [Joe, funnily, in Vegas]
M - Music is Our Hot Hot Sex [collective blog]
O - Informationally Overloaded [at onemanblogs - Gordon McLean]
P - You Don't Think You're Taking This Too Seriously...? [persiflage_1 at livejournal for all your Doctor Who thoughts and especially Doctor/Martha fan-fic needs]
R - Rullsenberg Rules [no idea who she is...]
S - Stu_N [unsurprisingly, Stu N...]
T - The Big Blowdown [Reidski]
W - The Woman Who Talked Too Much [Marie - our successful author]
Z - All About My Movies [Emma]

Radio to look forward to...: Fragile

Next Friday (9th May, 9pm), Radio 4 will broadcast Tena Stivicic's play Fragile starring Douglas Henshall.

Wonderful news, especially as Fragile drew this fine review from The Times.

Hat-tip to the usual notification site for all things Mr Henshall.

Darren's meme...

If Darren will make such threats, then I guess I have to respond...!

1) What was the last 1980s song you heard?

The Police - Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
I was (briefly) listening to 6Music's Listener's Mix...

2) What was the last thing you saw on Youtube?

This Scissor Sisters Doctor Who video. God, I'm shallow.

3) What was the last entry on Wikipedia you viewed?

House of Leaves when writing my book meme.

4) What was the last computer/video game you completed all the way through?

You are kidding right? It's well over 10 years since I had a game of Tekken. I think that's the closest I have ever come to playing a computer game at all. I've never done level games.

5) What did you last pig out on?

Chinese meal (or rather the post-meal prawn crackers).

6) What is the last undeleted text message on your mobile phone?

Note to self: delete more texts. Not telling. Sorry. ;)

7) When did you last have a conversation with someone other than a family member?

Depends what you mean by conversation. Do work colleagues count? Last non-work conversation was probably Saturday with friends Nick and Sue.

8) Aside from where you live, what is the last village/town/city you visited?

Derby on Saturday for the Silk Mill Workers commemoration day march.

9) What was the last competition you won?

Primeval book competition!

10) What are the last three blogs you visited?

Rosby, Swiss Toni, Anna Waits.

Tags??? Help yourselves folks...

Book meme: an A-Z of authors

This meme has been doing the rounds for some time now, and I wanted to try and give it a fresh spin: after all, it's not that I couldn't include Austen et al on a list of fiction I have read, alphabetical by author. No, my concern is that such a list merely confirms a lot of similar lists. Perhaps trying to come up with a list of slightly more off-beat texts - ones you may not have already read will prove more interesting for me to write -- if not for you to read.

• Armstrong, Kelley: Bitten
  The first and possibly the best of her werewolf family based stories


• Brookmyre, Christopher: One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night
  I could have gone for any number of CB's fictions, but I have a special love for the Parlabane stories. It could have something to do with this performance or this reading.


• Calasso, Roberto: The marriage of Cadmus and Harmony
  A delightful blending of mythologies


• Danielewski, Mark Z.: House of Leaves
  I know I keep banging on about this book, but I still love it and still enjoy reading it regularly. A totally twisty headfuck that ramps up the tension with its multi-stranded narrative.


• Ellroy, James: American Tabloid
  A grand spreading tale around one of my favourite subjects (the JFK assassination)


• Fforde, Jasper: The Eyre Affair
  Still the most breathtaking and enjoyable of his novels and therefore a fine introduction to an always fun and smart writer


• Grundin, Robert: Book - A Novel
  A 1992 novel that seems to lack almost any kind of footprint on the net. It's a fiction about fiction and academics: I'm a sucker for this sort of thing.


• Hall, Steven: The Raw Shark Texts
  Post-modernism? A bit fantasy-esque? Twisty narrative? Thanks, I'll buy it.


• Iles, Greg: Dead Sleep
  Rather nasty and ultimately predictable thriller. Can't say I didn't enjoy its page-turning skills though.


• Juster, Norton: The Phantom Tollbooth
  Still one of my childhood books, a vivid play with words and numbers.


• Krauss, Nicole: The History of Love
  Even just thinking about this story makes me well up with tears; a poignant and touching multi-stranded tale.


• Lurie, Alison: The Truth About Lorin Jones
  It's about an art historian and feminist art history: of course I like it. Sad that it seems to be out of print...


• Miller, Martin: Lonely Werewolf Girl
  Read quickly because it was just so darn much fun and gripped me throughout.


• Noon, Jeff: Pollen
  Still creeps me out even thinking about this book: a vivid bit of fantasy.


• O'Flynn, Catherine: What Was Lost
  A fabulous capturing of voice and place that has stolen the hearts of all who have read it. A remarkable debut.


• Phillips, Marie: Gods Behaving Badly
  What is wrong with you people!? BUY AND READ THIS BOOK! It's warm and very, hilariously funny.


• Q.... na, sorry, stumped on this letter.


• Rosoff, Meg: How I Live Now
  A book for 'young people'? Just a fabulously tender tale. I couldn't bare to listen to the radio reading because the story breaks my heart.


• Sudbery, Clare: The Dying of Delight
  Clare is brilliant and brings all of her characteristic verve to the page.


• Tyler, Anne: The Amateur MarriageA gift from a friend and a story I loved reading.


• Updike, John: Seek My Face
  Another art history related tale of a scarcely veiled Pollock, Krasner and Guggenheim tale.


• Vidal, Gore: Empire
  Shades of heiresses and powerplays: the only Vidal novel I've finished...


• White, Antonia: Frost In May
  I went for one classic text on this list, partly because I think it may have fallen out of favour, but its a much loved text by me.


• X... nope


• Yalom, Irvin D.: When Neitzsche Wept
  It's about Freud and Neitzsche. It's a lot better than that sounds...


• Z... stumped me there too.

Done.

Happy-Go-Lucky

Happy-Go-Lucky features: a scene in Crockatt and Powell (with someone serving who is the antithesis of both Adam and Matthew); a quirky teacher who dresses in bright colours and whose response to picking up Penrose's tome 'The Road to Reality' is along the lines of "I don't think so!"; and several confrontations about the need to 'grow up' that are refuted with verve. It concentrates on a character who despite all the petty difficulties life throws at her, despite the damaged people she encounters, nevertheless retains empathy and positivity (whilst also managing to convey that underneath all her energies to remain so 'happy-go-lucky', she can feel the darkness: the scene with the homeless man, incoherent, is almost heartbreaking in showing a brief splinter of sadness and recognition of the reality she earlier shunned).

Come on: you've got to have guessed I really liked this film.

The cast is great, turning in several cracking performances (Hawkins and Marsen are especially good) and though your head may explode if you try to follow how the hell she did the opening bike ride, I'd certainly recommend it.

Defending the (in?)defensible...? The Sontaran Strategem

I sometimes wonder about my critical faculties: do they occasionally just cease to function? Go on strike? Rebel?

Cloud will frequently comment that I am remarkably unobservant for someone who originally studied as an art historian, let alone someone deepily addicted to visual culture in its many forms. It's as if I can be both capable of spotting little details at fifty paces as well as missing the bleeding obvious straight in front of my nose. Equally, my ability - even dedication - to enjoying certain things even when they may seem patently obviously pants on closer inspection (and very much declared thus by those around me) has an almost legendary reputation. I, after all, was possibly one of the only people semi-behind the sofa defending the dalek two-parter from last year's NewWho S3. By Helen Raynor. Even though on reflection it undoubtedly constituted a weak link in an otherwise admirable season.

Anyway, this is all by way of leading to some initial thoughts about 'The Sontaran Strategem'.

You know what: I really rather enjoyed it. And this was despite knowing that Helen Raynor was back on scripting duties. I was even excited by the cliffhanger ending (cliffhanger endings, even/especially when they seem to give us a Doctor and/or earth-in-peril have always been a bit rubbish but you know what, you go with it!)*

Okay, there were too many moments when you wanted to send everyone concerned with presenting/ directing/ scripting the character of Martha back to the school for even getting basic characterisation and performance functional let alone consistent to the development over last season and through her Torchwood experiences. And yes the Sontarans are as much amusing as they are scary (they always were potato-headed shorties). And yes Murray Gold doesn't know when to let go of a syrupy theme (Donna seeing lovely gramps) and the director/script writers reinforce this by unncessary flashblacks... but ... but...

It's no good. I enjoyed it. I'm as a pissed as hell that next week I won't get to see the ep until the Monday night (events and scheduling of a family get-together beyond my control but with a delightful and more than wonderful substitution on the cards). Sigh. Maybe by then everyone will have had their fill of ranting about how 'bad' it was. Already Anna and Marie are at best ambivalent and bored (and both, unnervingly, cross with Tennant's performance as the Doctor -- I'm more with those commenting at Marie's that actually Tennant was more back on form this week). And Donna continues to impress, which has to be worth something. I'm just going to have to resign myself to being ever so slightly less critically minded than others are - or would prefer me to be. Call it my inner child combined with adult delight: I just can't not enjoy it as much as I can.

Let's review the story, flawed as it is, properly after I see the second ep in this two-parter.

* Yes, I know. Smash the bloody windows...

I've been earworming...

Oh my, it was fun to write up my earworms of the week.

And ST was really REALLY nice to me! Shucks.

I had a blast. If you fancy passing on your earworms to Swiss Toni for a guest-slot, then I'm sure he won't mind you letting him know...

He's coming home, he's coming home...

Neilie's coming home.

He's been in Glasgae and boy have I missed him.

Been able to watch Doctor Who and other assorted goodies in peace though..
;)

He's texted to say he's landed so I'm getting the win ready.

Happy Birthday to Marie

It's Marie's Birthday!

Assorted Dougie goodies

I have to say I'm really rather enjoying my prize of the Primeval book: okay, so I'm probably most enjoying the fact that I can visualise and hear all the characters Cutter vividly inside my head, but it's still fabulously enjoyable. Even if I do feel like a mid-teenage boy for reading it. It's very fun. Full review to follow.

I'm also feeling pretty pleased with myself that as the main phase of current work on the house nears completion (bathroom and toilet flooring in!!!) I made an executive decision yesterday to go get a towel hook and new toilet roll holder. Not very exciting you may think, but I had A Plan.

"Shall we go to B&Q?"

Off we trot, find said items...

Coming out I add "While we're here, can we go to Toys 'R' Us?"

Hee hee hee... I get me my Primeval figure of Cutter and the anomoly.

Even Cloud had to admit that was subtle retail park planning on my part...


And in other Dougie loveliness related news, there's now a spiffy gallery of pictures from 'The Last Days of Judas Iscariot' on the Douglas Henshall website. Be still my fast-beating heart for that delectable lounge-lizard Satan...

"Cheap shots": an Ood review

Spoiler warnings if you haven't seen the episode yet. But you probably knew that.


















Hmmm.... when even the almost always positive Stuart Ian Burns has to declare in his first line review "Well, they can't all be classics", you can probably guesstimate this may divide opinions.

Heck, it even divided MY opinions. I was thrilled that we got an alien planet made visable in glorious wide landscapes (and using a quarry! Ah, quarries again: old-skool Who); I was much less thrilled by this meaning there were Ood again in DW. I'm never that wild about the blue suit; I loved Donna's initial dress and then her going back for the intermittently hearing impairing hooded coat (I so want one like that even though I'm almost completely sensorally challenged once inside a hood - if I turn my head I also can't see much either). I loved the Ood song; I utterly FUKCING wanted to take the baton and staves away from Murray Gold for overdoing so much of the rest of the score, thus diminishing the song's impact. I was very excited by the bouncing off the side of the containers running by the Doctor; I desperately tried to ignore the pretty crap claw CGI-ed into attacking him (three pointed??? how does that grab 3-D 4-sided objects?) I get that slavery is bad, oh how I get that 'metaphor' - to the point where I so did not need a full-length subtle diatribe; I still choked slightly at finally getting an explanation about the translators and their relationship (replacement) of the hand-held Ood brain. I did like that Halpen got the full Ood treatment; I have to admit I was disappointed that we didn't get a full-frontal facial transformation a la 'The Empty Child' (even if, as the Confidential raised, it only looked like the character was barfing spaghetti...). I noticed a few more quirks of Catherine Tate's characters this week than I would have liked; I really, really loved her calling him 'Spaceman' (and indeed that whole 'cheap shots' exchange .... even if the Converse shoes and wardrobe of the Doctor rather undermine his criticisms).

And so on.

How did I feel at the end of the episode? Well, better than I thought after 50 mins of being hammered over the head by anvillicious RTD's 'slavery-is-bad' subtlety. I'm still liking Donna over-all; I like that she isn't afraid to tell him off and that he kinda likes it (the slight, oh so slight smile of wry 'yeah'-ness when Donna bites back at him in the 'cheap shots' exchange). And I just can't help watching the programme still with all the attentive adoration of my younger self.

And Martha is back next week, being rather UNIT and soldier-y and perhaps not quite influenced for the better by her experiences with the Doctor or Torchwood...? Hmmm...

PS can I just say how much I loved it when Donna asked the Doctor to take back the Ood song and then noted how he must 'hear it all the time'? That was just brilliant.

Music Intelligence

Apparently I am a:
Mix-Tape Master (109-144 points)
You are a music evangelist: the person in your network of friends who always has the coolest new song, the one whose iPod gets picked to DJ every party. You understand the art of the segue, how the key to the best mix-tape isn't just the songs you pick, but how they interlock with each other. You also know who the up-and-coming acts are and are quick to recognise where their influences lie and whether they will make it big. You work hard at the pursuit of this knowledge, scouring music blogs, magazines and record stores. Most importantly, you are generous with your passion – and your friends should be very, very grateful. Still, it’s always good to get new inspiration for your latest mix.

Music Intelligence Quiz

I wonned! I winned! I am a WINNER!

Coo-er, my grammar went all ker-pluee then with the glee that I will soon be receiving a prize-winning copy of the Primeval novel 'Shadow of the Jaguar' courtesy of lovely MediumRob.* I'm really rather looking forward to reading Steven Savile's well-presented novel.

And as I rarely win stuff it's an especial delight to get this as a prize. Not at all as if I'm drawn by the cover...

;)

* Even if I did effectively plead my way to acquiring it...