Category: Writing

Presentations, papers and other prose around my varied interests.

#ChatGPT4 Writes a #SciFiNovel: #TheBronzeIncursion

I’ve been fooling about with ChatGPT 4.0 for the last couple of days, and it occurred to me to see how creative the AI chatbot can get, so I wrote this prompt”

Write a one-page treatment for a science fiction novel, set in 2053, when astonomers on earth using radio, visual and satellite telescopes spot panet-sized objects entering the solar system. Over the first part of the novel, the governments on earth discuss what they want to do, and start to receive communications from the approaching alien race – christened the bronze men. In the second part of the novel, the 12 planets arrive in orbit around the sun taking position in an earth orbit. Embassies from the 12 planets are then received in New York by the United Nations. All seems peaceful until it becomes apparent that the three furthestmost planets are harvesting the sun. The embassies are rejected by Earth and the planet must decide how to defend the sun from this incursion. The aliens are so technologically advanced that their manipulation of physical space seems magical. All seems lost until a renegade faction of the bronze men contact individuals on earth to begin a resistance to the sun-harvest. Using a cast of characters with names from Shakespeare’s plays Macbeth, Hamlet and the Tempest for the humans, and character names from Beowolf for the aliens, create an intricate plot wherein the initially suspicious humans start to believe in the three alien contacts and utilising the alien technologies begin to resist the alien incursion.

ChatGPT’s answer was as follows:

Title: The Bronze Incursion

In 2053, Earth’s astronomers detect twelve planet-sized objects entering the solar system using radio, visual, and satellite telescopes. Panic and curiosity grip humanity as they try to understand this unprecedented event. World governments come together to discuss how to handle the approaching objects, which they soon learn are inhabited by an alien race called the Bronze Men.

The novel unfolds in two parts. In the first part, Earth receives communications from the Bronze Men, who express their desire for peaceful contact. The world watches with bated breath as the twelve planets take their positions in orbit around the sun, with Earth at the center.

Embassies from each of the twelve planets are received at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Diplomatic relations seem to be going well, until it becomes apparent that the three furthest planets are siphoning energy from the sun. Earth’s leaders reject the Bronze Men’s embassies, and humanity must decide how to defend its life-giving star from the alien incursion.

In the second part of the novel, Earth faces the seemingly insurmountable challenge of outsmarting an alien race with technology so advanced that it appears magical. Hope seems lost until a renegade faction of the Bronze Men contacts select individuals on Earth to form a resistance against the sun-harvesting.

The human characters are named after Shakespearean figures from Macbeth, Hamlet, and The Tempest, while the alien characters bear names from the epic poem Beowulf. These characters find themselves entangled in an intricate plot that tests the limits of trust and cooperation. Suspicion and fear initially permeate the alliance between the renegade Bronze Men and the human resistance, but as the story unfolds, they learn to believe in each other and work together to save the sun.

Using alien technology provided by their Bronze Men allies, the human resistance devises a plan to counter the sun-harvesting and protect Earth’s future. The novel reaches its climax in a gripping, high-stakes battle between the united human-alien forces and the sun-harvesting Bronze Men. Through the power of trust, camaraderie, and shared goals, the resistance faces the seemingly invincible alien threat, ultimately deciding the fate of Earth and its solar system.

The Bronze Incursion is a thrilling, character-driven science fiction novel that explores themes of trust, unity, and the lengths we will go to protect our home. Rich in literary references and complex relationships, the story delves into the nature of fear, friendship, and the power of cooperation in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

At this point I sat up. The title, now that was not what I had in mind: “The Bronze Incursion”. I quite liked it. I read through the treatment, thinking, “Okaaay, so this is generic, its readable but not too original … what is the next step?” Here’s my next prompt within the same chat.

Write a chapter-by-chapter outline of the Bronze Incursion, allocating names to a cast of characters including the individuals on earth who become allies of the renegade bronze men

It came back with this:

Chapter 1: Celestial Intruders

  • Astronomers detect twelve planet-sized objects entering the solar system.
  • Main human characters introduced: Macbeth (military strategist), Hamlet (scientist), Miranda (diplomat), and Prospero (engineer).

Chapter 2: The Bronze Men

  • Earth receives communication from the alien race, the Bronze Men.
  • Alien characters introduced: Grendel (renegade Bronze Man leader), Hrothgar (main embassy ambassador), and Beowulf (renegade Bronze Man warrior).

Chapter 3: The Diplomatic Dance

  • The twelve planets take their positions in orbit around the sun.
  • Bronze Men embassies received by the United Nations in New York.

Chapter 4: A Troubling Discovery

  • Scientists, including Hamlet, discover that the three furthest planets are harvesting the sun.
  • Earth’s leaders reject the Bronze Men’s embassies.

Chapter 5: The Renegades

  • Macbeth, Hamlet, Miranda, and Prospero are contacted by Grendel, who seeks to form a human-Bronze Man alliance.
  • The renegades reveal the full extent of the sun-harvesting threat.

Chapter 6: Building Trust

  • Suspicion and tension between the human characters and the renegade Bronze Men.
  • A risky joint operation brings the two groups closer together.

Chapter 7: The Resistance Rises

  • The human characters recruit more members for the resistance, including Ophelia (Hamlet’s love interest) and Banquo (Macbeth’s best friend).
  • The renegade Bronze Men provide alien technology to aid the resistance.

Chapter 8: Ingenious Strategies

  • Prospero and Beowulf work together to understand and reverse-engineer the alien technology.
  • Macbeth and Grendel devise a plan to counter the sun-harvesting.

Chapter 9: The Eve of Battle

  • The resistance prepares for a daring, high-stakes attack on the sun-harvesting operation.
  • Hamlet and Ophelia share a tender moment before the battle.

Chapter 10: The Battle for the Sun

  • A gripping battle ensues between the united human-alien forces and the sun-harvesting Bronze Men.
  • The resistance uses their newfound understanding of alien technology to their advantage.

Chapter 11: Unlikely Heroes

  • The tide of the battle turns in favor of the resistance, but at a cost: Banquo sacrifices himself to protect Macbeth.
  • Grendel and Hrothgar confront each other, revealing a deep, personal history.

Chapter 12: A New Dawn

  • The sun-harvesting operation is defeated, and the remaining Bronze Men leave Earth’s solar system.
  • The renegade Bronze Men choose to stay on Earth, beginning a new era of cooperation between the two species.

Chapter 13: Epilogue: The Legacy of Trust

  • A memorial is held for Banquo, and Earth begins rebuilding with the help of the renegade Bronze Men.
  • Macbeth, Hamlet, Miranda, and Prospero reflect on the importance of trust and unity in the face of adversity.

At this point I am chuckling to myself, thinking, “Yep, it’s written screenplays before”. I mean obviously I wasn’t looking for a screenplay, but the beats are the same, the structure is pretty standard and the last bullet for chap 13 says it all.

But then I had to do the next one to confirm my suspicions …

Write a detailed brief for Chapter 1: Celestial Intruders, including outlines of scenes in which the planet-sized objects are discovered, the main characters are introduced and earth responds to the shattering news that there are aliens and they are en route.

Chapter 1: Celestial Intruders

Scene 1: The Discovery

  • Setting: International Space Observatory
  • Astronomers detect the twelve planet-sized objects entering the solar system. Dr. Hamlet, a leading scientist, is among those who witness this unprecedented event.
  • Tension builds as the astronomers attempt to understand the nature and purpose of the objects.
  • News about the mysterious celestial bodies spreads, creating a mix of excitement, fear, and curiosity among the general public.

Scene 2: Introducing the Main Characters

  • Setting: Various locations, highlighting each character’s expertise
    • Macbeth at a military base, demonstrating his strategic prowess.
    • Hamlet in his lab, investigating the celestial objects and their potential threat.
    • Miranda at the United Nations headquarters, working on diplomatic strategies.
    • Prospero in a research facility, developing cutting-edge engineering solutions.

Scene 3: The Shattering News

  • Setting: Major cities worldwide, showcasing diverse reactions
  • News breaks out that the celestial objects are inhabited by an alien race, the Bronze Men.
  • The world is shocked and enthralled, with people reacting in various ways, ranging from fear and panic to fascination and excitement.
  • Governments scramble to address the situation, with global leaders calling for an emergency meeting.

Scene 4: Emergency Meeting

  • Setting: United Nations Headquarters
  • World leaders, including Miranda, gather to discuss how to approach the rapidly approaching alien race.
  • The room is filled with a sense of urgency, and differing opinions create tension among the leaders.
  • Ultimately, the leaders agree to establish a unified front to communicate with the Bronze Men, while also preparing for any potential threats.

Scene 5: Mobilizing Earth’s Defenses

  • Setting: Military bases and research facilities across the globe
  • Macbeth is tasked with coordinating the defense forces of multiple nations, preparing for any possible aggression from the approaching planets.
  • Prospero and his team of engineers work on developing new technologies and strategies that could be used to protect Earth.
  • Hamlet continues to study the celestial objects, searching for any information that might help Earth in the upcoming interactions with the Bronze Men.

Scene 6: The World Awaits

  • Setting: Public squares and homes worldwide
  • As the alien planets draw nearer, people all over the world anxiously wait for further news.
  • Family and friends gather together, discussing their hopes and fears about the future.
  • The chapter ends with a sense of anticipation, setting the stage for Earth’s first contact with the Bronze Men in the following chapters.

And then finally:

Write Scene 1: The Discovery beginning with a lowly assistant noticing something odd has appeared in the data from the International Space Observatory

Scene 1: The Discovery

Setting: International Space Observatory

[INT. INTERNATIONAL SPACE OBSERVATORY – NIGHT]

The International Space Observatory is buzzing with activity as astronomers and scientists are busy analyzing data and monitoring the night sky. A young, lowly assistant named LUCIUS is hunched over his workstation, reviewing the latest data from the observatory’s telescopes.

LUCIUS (muttering to himself) Hmm, that’s odd…

He leans in closer to his screen, analyzing the unusual pattern. Lucius hesitates for a moment, then decides to call over his supervisor, DR. HAMLET.

LUCIUS (excitedly) Dr. Hamlet, could you please take a look at this? I found something peculiar in the data.

Dr. Hamlet, a middle-aged scientist with an air of authority, approaches Lucius’s workstation, intrigued by the young assistant’s discovery.

DR. HAMLET (curious) What have you found, Lucius?

Lucius points at the screen, where twelve distinct blips are visible on the data graph.

LUCIUS (nervously) I was going through the data from the deep space telescope, and I found these twelve strange objects. They appeared suddenly, and they’re moving towards our solar system at an alarming speed.

Dr. Hamlet’s eyes widen as he examines the data. He immediately recognizes the significance of Lucius’s discovery.

DR. HAMLET (astonished) Incredible! This could be the most significant astronomical event of our time. We must alert the other observatories and confirm our findings.

The room erupts into a frenzy of activity as the scientists scramble to verify the existence of the twelve celestial objects. Dr. Hamlet takes charge, coordinating efforts with other observatories around the world.

[INT. INTERNATIONAL SPACE OBSERVATORY – LATER]

The confirmation comes quickly. The twelve planet-sized objects are indeed approaching the solar system. As the news spreads throughout the observatory, the atmosphere becomes electric with anticipation and anxiety.

DR. HAMLET (addressing the room) Ladies and gentlemen, we stand on the brink of a monumental discovery. Our lives, and the lives of everyone on Earth, will never be the same. We have a responsibility to ensure the safety of our planet and to share our knowledge with the world. Now is the time to act.

The scene ends with a shot of the observatory’s massive telescope, pointed at the distant stars, as the team prepares to investigate the celestial intruders further. The camera slowly pans upwards, revealing the vastness of space and the unknown that lies ahead.

So, its obviously all very sketchy, badly written, and definitely generic, but in these responses to the four prompts – which I purposefully made relatively undetailed in the cases of the ones subsequent to the first – I see an awful lot of potential. For example, I did not make any comment about tone, style or characterisation. Nor did I look at any underlying themes or agendas. My thinking is that I should rewrite the prompts to cater for some of these ideas as well as including using obscure names for the characters, with vowels changed – Mic Both anyone?

Lastly, I *know* its all a bit meta, a bit SF, using a computer to write a SF novel. Perhaps I should choose in the style of Philip K Dick in the next run, and see what that produces? Really, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

What do you think? Should I continue prompting ChatGPT to create a more detailed less generic story called “The Bronze Incursion” or is the game a bogey?

Obviously I am asserting my rights as author for the above – afterall I wrote the prompts 😉

#HowtoRestoreACastle: Beware Your First #MidgeEncounter. Ours was truly awful!

If you do not live in a temperate, coastal location with high rainfall, you may not know about the midge. You see, the midge is a wee blood-thirsty beastie which rises in late May and spends the next three to four months feeding on any piece of exposed flesh available to it.*

*Please note: Midges occasionally drive their victims to using bad language, and this post is no exception.

The midge bite is small but persistent, itching out of all proportion to the size of the mandibles which cause it. Or at least this is the case for the first three years of exposure – which is no use to visitors of course, but explains why West Coasters born-and-bred barely bat an eyelid under the onslaught of these multitudinous airborne pests. Because, while the bites are an incessant irritant after the fact, the initial onslaught can be truly excruciating.

Imagine an early summer evening, when the light is limpid and louche, falling toward a gentle, welcoming darkness – soft in the virtually tactile way that only the ocean ward coast of Scotland can produce.

Imagine that you are coming home to your newly finished, glorified garden shed after a weekend away with friends. It’s just the two of you, content to come home after a long journey full of conversation, insight and laughter.

You turn your battered soft top Vitara into the drive and allow gravity to take you down to the bridge. You want to keep the car’s progress slow because the unfinished drive rocks the short-wheelbase of the four-by-four such that your already sore backs will be further jarred (the Vitara was never a comfortable ride), and you note as you cross the bridge that the castle is looking particularly pretty, the tops of the chimneys are caught in the last light of the setting sun, and the foot of the ruin seems to accentuate this by being sunk in a deeper, darker shadow than you’d expect. Both of you glance at the stand of tall trees across the ravine from the castle to see if they account for the visual contrast, but nothing unusual strikes you.

The slight rise to the last corner wakes the bassets who immediately become animated with home fever. You glance at one another and smile, anticipating much low-slung and hilarious scooting around by the doe-eyed duo as they reacquaint their patch with them. The drive levels out, and you slip quietly down the avenue of, on one side, overgrown Leylandii and on the other five gargantuan exotics – led by what has come to be known as the ‘Harry Potter’ tree – although I am sure it looks nothing like the Whomping Willow. It’s nearly fully dark under the trees and you put on the headlights. They meet a thick veil of insects which move in mildly hypnotic wave delineating the full beam of the lights to their utmost extent 200 yards away to the foot of the castle. You glance at one another not quite understanding (a) how such insect-life could have arisen in the 72 hours you have been away and (b) amazement at the fecundity of nature even in these hills where the ground is notoriously poor, water-logged and inimical to anything other than pine, rhododendron and rashes.

Imagine that despite your wonder at this sudden irruption of natural phenomena into your life at Dunans, you allow your car to coast at approximately 2 metres per second down the drive and into the gravelled embrasure on which the red shed stands. The quality of the light improves and you see that the entire foliage delimited quadrangle is thick with a floating mass of insect-life fluctuating to an altitude of about 8 feet. It is at this stage, when you slow the car to the point that it will roll at, maybe, half-a-metre a second to its place before the shed, that two things become apparent. First, the canopy of the soft-topped car, which covers boot, rear seat and ceiling above really isn’t airtight, and second that driving so slowly means that this wondrous, slowly and softly dynamic layer of insect-life is in fact able to find admission into our coolly comfortable capsule of car air.

The time between the slowing and the screaming was perhaps all of 5 seconds.

When the red mist of midge rage descends rational thought becomes absolutely impossible.

The bastards bite.

The bastards get into your ears.

Into your nose.

Up your nose.

Into your eyes.

The creases at the corners of your eyes.

You scream. You run. You swear. You slam doors.

You open doors to let the dogs in.

You remember your baggage. You remember the shopping. The milk which needs the fridge.

You swear. Find a balaclava. Run out to the car. Get the shopping bags.

The milk bag splits. The cartons spill over the drive.

You swear. You cry.

You pray to God that the Balaclava is working. It isn’t. You throw it off.

You scrabble for the milk.

You weep.

You run in.

Throw milk at your wife.

Return outside for the bags.

You are hollering like Rambo. And choking on midges.

And still running.

Doors slam more.

There’s the tinkling of glass.

You run in. Slam the door.

Drop the bags.

Look at your wife who is scrabbling at one of the windows.

The windows.

They are covered in midges.

Billions of them.

We can’t see out.

And some of them, some of these bastards are on the bastarding inside.

An hour later we find ourselves sitting in the dark, in close proximity to two floor standing fans and one desktop fan in the centre of the red shed. We are trying really, really hard not to scratch ourselves. I am trying not to weep. My lovely wife is holding her head her hands, her jaw set. I can see she is calculating our next move. I cannot hold my head because my hands are covered in a mixture of silicone sealant and midges. I have a cut across one of my hands where the scissors slipped as I cut organza fabric, and at my feet are several thousand unused staples, an industrial staple gun and all the plasters we own. We know we have to venture into the bedroom to fight the midge invasion, and we also know that because of the variable level of the foundations, there is a big (bastarding) gap between wall and window bottom in that room. We look at one another and ask simultaneously, “What the hell have we done?”

That first year, in the hut with single-glazed windows of approximate fit, without airlock (AKA porch) for the shaking out of insect-life from hair, clothes and dog, without any through-breeze onsite of any kind, the midges were sanity-threatening awful. If I have subsequently called the castle a glorified mouse-breeding box, then the rash-filled paddock next to the red shed, with its sundry hollows, its deeply scored quad bike tracks, the miscellaneous divots and other depressions, all causing the retention of water to the point walking in it required waders, was similarly termed the midge-breeding box. We identified this area as the main problem and that was where we focussed our attention, to begin with.

To wage a successful war against the midge one needs to remember two things: first, this is a long-term campaign and second, there are no short-term solutions. You’ll also need to remember two further things: first, as alluded to in our very first swarming encounter, midges cannot withstanding a breeze of more than one point five metres per second, they are literally blown away, and second, they are crepuscular.

You can walk a swarm off – they literally cannot keep up. If you spot several Scots in a field having an agricultural chat, they’ll not be leaning on a five-bar gate (mostly because three of the five are rotten and the top is so patched with scraps of kindling that its actually quite uncomfortable to lean against) they’ll be walking in an ever-increasing spiral. Obviously, you’ll not want a decreasing spiral because the Pygmy flies will then end of concentrating in the correct space. Also, these voluble West Coast farmers, because, believe me, they can be very voluble, will avoid their livestock. Livestock generally have their own domestic swarm, a colony of midges, who for the summer describe a cloud or halo around their chosen beast.

Now concerning the crepuscular element of the equation (while ensuring we reference the Fire Sermon as the only reason I had any notion as to what this poly-syllabic term meant before the advent of midges into my life) the reasons midges are dusk and dawn-favouring are two-fold, first, the lack of sun. They, like moles, mice and marmots do not like direct sunlight. Well, mice might, but they prefer cover from marauding predators than full sunlit exposure. Not having researched the subject, I am not sure why midges don’t like sunlight, but (vast) experience shows this to be the case. Second, at dusk and dawn, any air movement generally falls away. There may of course be a third reason. Midges feed on blood. Any blood. They are not fussy. Human, deer, coo, sheep, dog, cat. At dawn and dusk these creatures are not wont to rush about madly, they slow, they prepare for the onset of night or begin the process of waking. The midge prey are therefore not moving at more than 1.5 metres per second, and therefore are available.

How is it you may ask that such tiny creatures can find their prey with such alacrity? Midges are attracted initially to the carbon dioxide their prey emits, then by movement, colour and odour. Finally, once a midge finds prey it emits a pheromone which attracts other midges.

It may be the pheromone which finally persuaded us that midge magnets weren’t for us. Either that, or the thought of using a can of gas every couple of months to produce a constant stream of carbon dioxide to clear a quarter acre of ground. While we awaited the effect of the changes we began soon after that tortured evening of the soul, we invested in a midge magnet. Now, quite apart from my inability to

(a) remember to check the gas canister on a regular basis

(b) empty the nets of midges as they neared full

(c ) light the magnet (once I’d managed to remember to check the canister, see that it’d been empty for some time – given the deliquescence of midges in midge-net – get to Strachur to replace the canister, order a canister because I was the only person using that particular type, forget to remember to return the following week once the gas co. had delivered said preferred type, remember a further week later to get the last canister of the preferred type given that four other households “ …. were giving these midge magnet thingies a try”).

No, midge magnets weren’t the solution, not at Dunans, not with our infestation, not with my record of replenishment and maintenance. There is a far flung corner of a shed where several hundred-pounds-worth of kit moulders paying tribute to our commitment to rid ourselves of midges and also, to our eventual success.

Note to those who visit midge-infested areas only infrequently: Do not – I repeat – do not sit around a midge magnet. It’s a magnet. Midges, seeking the carbon dioxide exhaled by animals are attracted to it – as if its a …magnet. By sitting there you’re creating a HUGE target for midges, even those outside the quarter acre of midge-free atmosphere. It’ll not be pretty. You’ll spill your beer, knock the prosecco for six, throw down your burgers in panic, trample small children – all the time swearing, “Bloody-bastarding-thing doesn’t bastarding work. You said they worked! Only reason I agreed to come here. Right, I have had enough Mildred, WE ARE LEAVING!” You will then jump into your seven year-Old Volvo and never return, even to retrieve the youngest’s purple unicorn pillow called Tilly, which a week later a family wanting respite from a midge infested patch of grounds near a castle not 20 miles away, finds in the porch, hanging rather forlornly on a coat-hook.

Over three or four years following, we reduced the incidence of midge deluges markedly, such that now, it is only of passing interest when we have a bad day. My paltry efforts, along with mighty shifts by folk like VBF, Chris, Stuart, Min and Tino, have led to policies in which it is possible to picnic, or to barbecue, in comparative comfort with only an occasional surfeit of airborne bitery. We do still dress our open windows in organza, practice a lights-out policy during late-May, June and July, as well as utilise floor and desk-mounted fans day and night.

#Poem: Thoughts on Encountering #Dunoon’s ‘#JimCrow’ for the First Time. #blacklivesmatter

Racism should have no place in our society. Othering is a pernicious and vile practice – one which affects communities across Scotland. Gossip, innuendo and rumour all contribute to conduct which results in bullying, discrimination and disempowerment. It may not be full-blown racism, it might be sexism, or homophobia, or sectarianism – whatever it is, we are better than this and the campaign to deal with Dunoon’s ‘Jim Crow Rock’ is proof-positive that change is being demanded.

Thoughts on Encountering Dunoon’s ‘Jim Crow’ for the First Time

At first it seems it is Crow,
That sharp-faced Corvid –
Yellow-eyed, black-billed,
Black-footed and Wing-tipped
In iridescent black-blue –
Perhaps hooded in sombre
Grey – seen against a scudding
Winter sky - a darkling flag
Tumbling low over the waves to-
Ward a deep copse roost.

But no –
This ‘crow’ is anchored
Upon the foreshore, stilted
Mid-step, painted by the
Unkind brush of local
Tradition, shaping an Other
With a vile cartoon graffito
Of red lips and white tooth
Strip – it is an indecent dis-
Memberment of that
Which we all share.

Tinfoil: a #poem in response to #lockdown, #covid-19 & the danger #conspiracytheorists pose to #vulnerable #ruralcommunities everywhere

This poem was written with a particular story in mind, one I heard from a volunteer I work with in our community’s response the lockdown. We’ve been lucky so far in ColGlen I think, but it staggers me how stupid some folks can be, particularly those who think ‘they know better’ than the full weight of scientific consensus.

Tinfoil

At dusk I stood at his gate,
His sanitizer in my hand,
A greeting stuttering
On my lips as he crossed
The head of my shadow
And entered Covid range.

I stepped away into the lane
My hands warding against him,
And my penumbra pursuing
His steps, until a bramble
Bit my neck.”You are sweet”
He said, “but this we do not need.”

Later, collar soaked in water,
Hands washed to Dion, tongue
Whetted with Jarl, I explained
The fear this gentle man provoked –
With his jaunts South, his weekend guests, 
The tinfoil hat of his credulity.

Take a #Knee: a #poem in response to the #death of #georgefloyd because #blacklivesmatter after centuries of #othering

It only takes a knee to comfort a child,
To receive a knighthood,
To listen to a god - to be inspired;

Just a knee for grouting around tiles,
To ask a girl if she will,
To loosen bolts and change tyres;

Perhaps two for French cricket,
To warm a lamb as its fed,
To chase mice, all smooth and sleekit.

It only takes a knee placed very precisely
To stop a man’s breath,
To fully express centuries of othering.

Who Owns The Truth You Believe?

So much #disinformation around – and we seem to have stopped having the #criticalthinking skills to #decipher #objectivetruth from ur-truths promoted by #vestedinterests.

This is the first in an occasional series of pertinent questions I’ll be posting on CCC.com – as well as @seedixonspain, @dixonspain and my FB account. Share at will, but always with this url!

Nous sommes unis: By their guns become not their gun #paris #beirut

By their guns become not their gun,
by their killing hasten not their death,
by their hate, forget not the Love
which should infuse every breath:

so embrace them for they are unaware
of the mud they smear upon their souls;
embrace them so that they might learn
only Love is the answer to their call.

The Hydrocarbon Diet: Vote for parties who aren’t going to give up and go for a curry

In the Guardian today:

In a recent private conversation under the Chatham House rule, one of the world’s most senior industry leaders, who is considered to be at the more moderate end of the spectrum, insisted that we are going to burn all the world’s hydrocarbons despite the consequences.

His reasoning is that a growing population in the developing world needs energy to raise living standards, that renewables will not become a dominant energy source till the end of the century and that politicians don’t have the courage or power to limit production.

Reminds me of the recent Horizon special “What’s the Right Diet for You?” whereby two groups of dieters were given slices of cake at 700 calories per slice. One group were told that this was a special dieter’s cake with c. 200 cals. The others were told the truth. After the cake-baking session each group were left with a bunch of cake and a cup of tea. What happened? The ones who had been told the truth ate 8 times more cake than the ones who’d been lied to. The lesson being that if you think you are still on track for the right number of calories in your day, you won’t go on to really bust the limit like the others did. As one of the group who had been told the truth said, “We’d all planned to go for a curry this evening as we’d stuffed our chances of keeping to our limit …”

Seems to me our politicians govern our appetite for hydrocarbons with legislation, and they’re being told the truth. What happens when, as is certain now, we pass 400 ppm of carbon in the atmosphere. In this analysis, they’re just going to metaphorically chuck their hands up and say, “Right, might as well go for a curry chaps, we’ve really blown it now …”

The problem is, that although this is based on pop psychology, I can see it happening all too readily. All these tipping points and limits only give us targets we’re going to miss on the conventional diet of boo-yah politics and industry misinformation.

Is there any hope?

Well, if you want hope you need to vote for parties who aren’t going to give up and go for a curry (allow fracking for example), you’ve got to vote for parties who are going to stick to the diet whatever happens, and make sure the others do too – and just like those who are on a weightloss diet, we do know who the best to parties  are to put our a break on our collective appetite, don’t we?

(Picture from the Guardian article and is by Murdo Macleod/Murdo Macleod)

CGDT AGM: Chairman’s Report

For those of you who weren’t able to make the CGDT AGM, there’ll be a full report on the CGDT website in due course, but for now, below is the text of my report to the membership yesterday in Colintraive:

This year has been an extremely busy one for the trust, so I don’t intend to dwell on detail so much as outline where things now are across the full width of our activity. Sara and Eamon will be making presentations on Greener ColGlen and the forest respectively later.

First I’ll talk about our projects, then our interactions at policy level and finally the work we have done this year on governance and administration of the trust.

But before I do that I’d just like to pay tribute to Rhona Sutherland who retired this last Christmas. Rhona made a huge and indelible contribution to the trust’s development and therefore to this community. As a mark of the value on which we placed her work, the board will be naming a viewpoint in the Forest for Rhona as recognition that without her work we wouldn’t have been able to make the acquisition as well as to mark her enduring contribution across the board.

And I should also say, that Nikki Brown and Mark Chambers also left us. We’re  delighted to report that Nikki has moved onto a more senior full-time post at Kilfinan – and we wish her all the best in her new position – and of course we wish Mark the best of luck too.

We’d also like to welcome Eamon King, Margaret Shields to their first AGM – both of whom have become, or I am sure will become key to our ongoing success as a trust. 

So, this first full year of work on the forest has yielded some great progress. We now have a master plan and consequently we are now much clearer on access to the forest, and how we’ll improve this for the community and public at large. We have viable wind and hydro projects which we are pursuing. The archaeology group have developed some really key relationships with the wider academic archaeology community as well as completed some excellent survey work. We have progressed the crofting part of the project, and some intriguing and possibly ground-breaking developments have resulted. Our relationship with tenant and forest management has been consolidated, particularly in the last few weeks.

For Greener Colglen the growing project is really taking shape. We are delighted to see the polytunnels erected and the fit out of both nearly complete. This despite some difficulties with the supplier. The composting project is taking shape and the rhododendron project will be progressed over the next six months. These three elements of the project will now have three / four new personnel working on them part-time. Sara has been running the project in an exemplary fashion which we have particularly appreciated over the last year – so thank you Sara for your continuing efforts.

Still in development, with applications and paperwork being processed are the projects around the Glendaruel Hotel building, the Cowal Way, Local Community Broadband as well as a footbridge in Colintraive and other sundry initiatives. We’ve also been able to support applications and initiatives in the community, for example providing expertise for the Glendaruel Village Hall application.

While all this work on the ground and in the community has been progressing, we have continued to ensure our profile as a community has been maintained in community development circles.

As chair I have been a member of a panel on a Scottish Government Policy initiative on Community Benefit as well as reporting to the Cross Partyy Group on Scottish Power, Renewables and Energy, Environment at Holyrood. As a Board we have been most concerned at the effects of Government advice on State Aid and the de minimise regulations and therefore have applied pressure on government and the civil service to adjust their advice to benefit community organisations like ours. Margaret in particular has pursued this issue. Progress is happening, albeit at an incremental level. This year also, the Land Reform Review Group has been consulting and we have made our views known, particularly with regard to the Community Right to Buy legislation which we feel could be improved markedly. Furthermore we have interacted at regional and national level with government and agencies around climate change – in the continuing Are You Ready project – as well as around crofting, community woodlands and the Forestry Commission. Sara as project officer is also member of the Steering Group of Scottish Communities Climate Action Network which may lead into participation as a case study for research into Community-led sustainability projects.

You might ask why this work is important – well, it means that when we make applications for funding, when we approach difficulties as a community like school closures, when we have to interact with various governmental and non-governmental agencies, we have a track record, a reputation – for getting things done – for inputting at the highest levels. Given the ways the Scottish Government is presently seeking to empower communities this is highly important work for our community. Indeed, we have repeatedly benefitted from this, not least in our purchase of the forest, but also the second phase of our Climate Challenge Fund projects. We are particularly delighted to be working on a close basis with the Community Council to whom we make a report at every meeting.

In all this activity we are now employing, on full-time or part-time basis, 7 people and we have a board of 6. Given our expanding role as an employer we have this year instituted a full suite of governance and employment paperwork – much of it produced by director Sandra Wilson on a voluntary basis. This provides us with a secure basis for moving forward – and all of these documents, like everything else, are available on our website. As part of this we’re putting together a register of interest, for members of the local community to let us know what skills they have which they would be willing to contribute either voluntarily or as a contractor. There are forms available today to sign up, and when we have contracts or volunteer schemes we need to fill, this list will be our first point of contact.

We have also had to be innovative in our use of project funds to spread the employment benefit across as many positions as possible. Over the last 6 months Colin Boyd our treasurer has worked with Margaret, and also Bill Carlow, to bring about a thorough-going review of our financial systems – work which has ensured our financial position is now more that ever thoroughly documented to the highest standards. But it is in the field of finance that one of our major tasks has arisen. The Development Trust has to find core funding in order to continue delivering the benefits we’ve been so successful at securing these last 5 years.

Renewables, wind, biomass and hydro, Community Broadband, Crofts, Woodlots and other initiatives are all aimed at eventually putting together an income for the trust which will employ more than our present 7 and create real economic benefit in the local community – attracting people to live here and therefore ensuring our services are maintained. This has to be our focus. As a community we are very good at delivering individual projects – for example the play park, the shinty clubhouse, the summer activity school – but these have depended in part on Windfarm funding, and this funding will eventually cease. We need to be prepared for that, and this year, I would argue we have made significant strides in ensuring we will have sufficient levels of income within the next three years.

Of course Governance, Administration, Consultations, Employment, Staff welfare, Recruitment, Board Meetings and all the other sundry tasks associated with running a successful Development Trust take time, much of which, as you may have gathered, is contributed on a voluntary basis by the directors. There has been much negative chat this year about the trust and its standing within the community – consequently it has been difficult at times for us to maintain focus and deliver on the mandate the community gave us at our inaugural meeting. We have persisted and will continue to do so trusting that the majority of the community recognise the effort and thought which we apply to our work as an organisation. On behalf of the members of the trust I want to thank all of the directors and our staff this year for their efforts, their frankness and above all their tireless enthusiasm without which I am sure we wouldn’t have got so far, thank you.

Are Your Ready Workshop Presentation: What does a climate ready community look like in 2050?

The following assumes that increasingly climate change will force communities, particularly rural ones, towards self-sustainability as far as possible …  Continue reading Are Your Ready Workshop Presentation: What does a climate ready community look like in 2050?

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