It's OK, I've Done This Before!

I'm getting straight in with my first blog of the new term. Partly so I don't forget what just happened and partly so I don't forget. It seems a long time since the start of last term. I was in Australia for one or two Skypes. Mind you, I've participated going through security at airports and hotel rooms more than once. I'm fairly certain the current pandemic will ensure my continued presence in my own home. I'm a singer and it's not just my international gigs that have been cancelled, they all have. Just out of interest and by way of encouraging interaction, what's happened to everyone else? As we're all over the world, I'm interested if anyone is getting to perform or teach at all?

Lots of information was imparted during the Skype and though I've definitely been there before, the memory's a bit hazy on detail. So it was welcome. Since we're all based outside the university, we can't help but draw on our experience, both in our own lives and our practice. Reflection is, for me, a very important part of this course. It has become more obviously important as time goes on. I'm in Module 3, so nearing the end of my studies, hopefully. I say that as I have no idea what the immediate future holds. None of us have. But I'm beginning to feel I know what I am doing. I may feel differently with a week to go until deadline, of course.

One thing that was touched on that I feel it's necessary to address is the notion that we are living in a 'post truth' society. History has always been written by the victors, so there is always another story to be told. We are beginning to hear these other stories and that is a good thing. However, when that 'post truth' notion is used to describe science, I have a problem. Scientific knowledge is not immutable. As you uncover more about an unknown, facts change. What was true beforehand may no longer hold. This doesn't mean we can throw the baby out with the bathwater. I'm putting it out there that my tolerance of crackpot, tinfoil hat theories has worn thin. I have to engage in social media, it's part of my job. The nonsense I have come across is startling. So people, think what you like, but please don't invite me into your wardrobe. I don't believe in Narnia. I'll always try to be nice. At first.

If you want to know more about me, here are a couple of recent(ish) links. The first is when at the height of #BLM protests the university posted a video of a single we released during lockdown, which was good of them, here it is:

'Stand Together' - Dub Pistols ft Rhoda Dakar

And this is how I've been amusing myself with no gigs, my radio show 'Pork Pie & Mash Up'. Produced at home, because the studio was shut. Though that may be changing:

Pork Pie & Mash Up - September

So that's me. What's your story?