Month: October 2022

A Lament that Lacks

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By Peter Humfrey

 

Earlier this month the ‘A Lament for Power’ exhibition opened at the Tolbooth, as part of the Stirling Science Festival and coinciding with Black History Month.

The Lament takes the form of a digitally animated short film, from artists, Larry Achiampong and David Blandy, that explores “ the ethics of scientific discovery” inspired by the true story of Henrietta Lacks, or ‘HeLa’.

It cycles through various scenes, starting with a wooden hut, moving through a lab, a hospital campus, a slum, and corridors with a voiceover that explores the concepts of ownership and exploitation in the name of scientific discovery.

The context for the piece comes from the story of Henrietta Lacks, a black woman who was diagnosed with cancer in 1951 at John Hopkins hospital, in the US. A sample was taken and, unlike others collected up to that point, the cells in the sample survived and multiplied.

The cells became known as “immortal” and to this day have directly contributed to breakthroughs in cancer treatment, vaccinations, and a wide variety of other medical treatments.

What makes this story so compelling and controversial is that, whilst the cells are being used even today, the Lacks family did not become aware of, nor were asked consent for the usage of the cells until the mid-70s.

The Henrietta Lacks story has prompted introspection about consent and privacy issues with some, including presumably the artists for the Lament, viewing the usage of her cells as exploitation.

Whilst the piece explores a profoundly important and incredibly interesting piece of recent history, it lacks the emotional punch that the topic should evoke. The animation feels very basic, almost dated, and comical, and the dialogue feels monotonous at points, droning away in the background. There will be many that can engage with this piece but for those with short attention spans or an inability to focus easily the Lament lacks any real pull. The piece definitely isn’t one that will appeal to children which is a disappointment as the topic is compelling and an important lesson for younger generations on the impact and contribution made by a person of colour.

Credit must be given though to Achiampong and Blandy, who have delved into a topic that few, if any, will have given much thought to and given much-needed exposure to a historical figure of who many people are unaware. Illustrating this exact point is that of the 20 or so people I have discussed this exhibition with; students, taxi drivers, cleaners, and people from all walks of life; just one had heard of Henrietta Lacks. This person was a high school biology teacher.

The story of Henrietta Lacks is one that is woefully unknown and unappreciated, so whilst the piece isn’t particularly engaging it is something I could recommend to at least go and sit throw the 4-5 minutes that piece lasts.

The Lament comes against the backdrop of Black History Month, which runs throughout October, with the exhibition being in the Tolbooth from the 6th to 29th October. The exhibition is free to all and comes as the result of a 9-month residency by Achiampong and Blandy at the University of Essex.

Computers are key at The Thistles Shopping Centre

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By Nikita Vance

 

The Thistles Shopping Centre is all about computers this week, as they host a coding challenge and an electronic art instalment for the Stirling Science Festival which is set to end on 22 October. The festival has been providing a plethora of events aimed at children and young people, to keep them entertained while still learning over the autumn break.

Betty the Basking Shark is a sculpture created by Edinburgh artist, Johnathan Elders, with the sole aim of outlining the sheer magnitude of the electronic waste problem in Scotland. It was created using various second-hand electronic devices which include more than two hundred keyboards and water panels, each one being saved from going to landfill; alongside two projector lenses and TV screens which show a film detailing the real and raw impact of e-waste that gets shipped overseas each year.

Talking about his inspiration behind the piece Elders said, “I chose the basking shark, native to Scotland, as I encountered one as a child whilst on a boat trip to Bass Rock in North Berwick. This moment had a huge impact on me, and it has stayed with me ever since.

“I didn’t want to be subtle. As a nation, we have so much to be proud of – like these magnificent creatures – but we also have a massive problem that we’re just not doing enough to address. Like producing such vast quantities of e-waste.

“As the footage shows, much of this waste is shipped away to other parts of the world so that we can forget about it. But that needs to stop.

“Betty is the name of a lovely local lady – a total character who knows everybody. She lives overlooking Newhaven Harbour but won’t go anywhere near it because she is scared of the sea. Hence the reason I called the shark Betty, because like the real-life Betty, this shark will never go to the sea!”

It is only fitting that this computer constructed sculpture be accompanied by a coding challenge, which is available to interact with around Thistles via a QR code. The prompt for the challenge is “Create a text based adventure game using any piece of software. In a classic interactive fiction book your story would change depending on what option you picked at various points …there was always more than one ending to the story or you sometimes never made it to the end of a story! We would like you to create a similar story using software.”

Some of the suggestions for software entrants can use include Scratch; Python; Makecode; and Javascript or you could simply create a game using an interactive Google Slide which utilises hyperlinks to make each choice and progress the story. Thistles also encourages entrants to get creative and tell whatever story their heart desires, provided it is appropriate for public consumption.

Learn more about the coding challenge here.

Stirling gets starry-eyed for observatory

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By Peter Humfrey

 

The Observatory has opened it’s doors for the evening as part of the Stirling Science Festival, giving locals a chance to see inside one of the city’s hidden gems.

The event, yesterday evening, was hosted by the Stirling Astronomical Society, the custodians of the observatory and it’s Newtonian reflector telescope. 

More than 120 people attended, greatly exceeding expectations, with chairman, Deirdre Bryce, describing the turnout as “excellent”

Groups of people were taken up a narrow spiral stairway to the roof of the old High School, now Stirling Highland Hotel, and from there into the small wooden observatory.

 

Observatory guide, Bert Mackenzie, was on hand to talk about the observatory and explain the use of the 133-year-old telescope and answer questions from visitors.

The plan had been to gaze out at giants such as Saturn, Jupiter, and Earth’s closest planetary neighbour, Mars. Sadly the weather had other ideas and, faced with poor visibility the telescope was instead pointed at the Wallace Monument to show off its powerful zoom.

Chairman Deirdre Bryce, the society’s first female chairperson, spoke of how it was “very nice to know people are interested enough to turnout to something they didn’t know existed”

Speaking to The Stirling Scope, Bryce spoke of her path into astronomy, with a Christmas present of a telescope from her eldest son, before joining both Falkirk and Stirling’s astronomical societies when she moved north to Scotland.

The observatory has a storied history, dating back to 1889, being a gift from then MP for Stirling Burghs, Henry Campbell-Bannerman, who was later knighted and went on to serve as Prime Minister from 1905 to 1908. The observatory tower was designed by former pupil, and architect, James McLaren, who sadly died before it’s completion.

The centre-piece of the observatory, the 9ft telescope, was designed, constructed and installed in 1889 by 27yr-old, and later knighted, William Peck, City Astronomer of Edinburgh.  From 1906 onward it fell into disuse until the appearance of Comet Kohoutek in 1974 prompted staff and pupils to begin work on restoring the old telescope. By April of that year the telescope was restored and has been used regularly ever since.

For those inspired by last night’s event, or who simply have the time, next week on Tuesday is a partial solar eclipse. For those viewing the eclipse it is advised you do not stare directly at it but instead make use of a pinhole viewer, of which the instructions on how to make one are available online.

Anyone interested in joining the society or seeing what it’s all about they meet on the last Friday of each month at the Stirling Highland Hotel. Other than it’s historic telescope in the observatory, the society also has an array of smaller telescopes they loan out to members.

Frustration as McGill’s buyout leads to issues with buses

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By Achilleas Salaveris

 

More than 200 buses on East Scotland are run by a different operator, causing frustration to travellers.

Bus passengers in Stirling are hoping for a new start as First Bus Scotland is no longer the operator of the region. McGill’s has officially been announced to have bought First Scotland East bus business.

The agreement includes all First Bus deports in Livingstone; Larbert; Bannockburn; Balfron; as well as the Edinburgh open-top bus operation Bright Bus Tours. Also included in the agreement are over 200 buses that run in the region as well as approximately 550 members of staff.

From now on First Scotland will be operating in Aberdeen and Glasgow. As mentioned by the managing director of First Bus Scotland, Duncan Cameron “This scale is part of a strategic refocusing of our Scottish businesses with significant investment in zero emission buses in Glasgow and Aberdeen”.

He adds, “I’d like to thank our employees for their continued hard work to deliver the best experience possible for our customers across the First Scotland East business”. “We will be supporting them fully as they transfer to their new employer”.

CEO of McGill’s, Ralph Roberts quotes “We would like to welcome all First Scotland East employees into McGill’s family”. “We are pleased by the opportunity has arisen to acquire the business and we appreciate the efforts of the First Bus towards ensuring a smooth transition”.

However, this transition has not come without any problems. Many of the citizens of Stirling and especially university students have been complaining about the services. Some of the complaints are related to the duration of the trip from the city to the university’s campus.  Students blame the current roadworks on Causewayhead road, which are linked to Stirling’s Council Walk, Cycle Live Stirling scheme.

Complaints regarding the routes have also been posed by students. “I don’t understand why they don’t stop in the Union Street.” says a student living in university accommodation.

The change in the ownership has caused confusion among bus users as they do not know how to transfer their mobile ticketing to the new app. In an interview with a student, he described his experience. He mentions that he got informed by a driver, about the need to switch from the First Bus app to the McGill’s in order to keep his online tickets. Unfortunately, he downloaded the wrong application, which did not include the routes part of the East business. Consequently, the online ticketing did not transfer and until the confusion was resolved he was forced to explain the situation to every bus driver, every time.

Scottish Icon Robbie Coltrane Dies Aged 72

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By Nikita Vance

 

Coltrane passed in Forth Valley Royal Hospital on 14 October following lengthy battle with a debilitating illness. Coltrane was wheelchair bound since 2019 due to severe osteoarthritis, which left him with “no cartilage” in one of his knees, and was said to have been in pain “24 hours a day” in the period leading up to his death. The cause of his death is currently unknown.

He was previously forced to cancel his appearance at July’s Comic Con this year due to ill health, presumably caused by this ongoing condition.

His passing was confirmed by his agent Belinda Write who spoke of him fondly, “For me personally I shall remember him as an abidingly loyal client. As well as being a wonderful actor, he was forensically intelligent, brilliantly witty and after 40 years of being proud to be called his agent, I shall miss him.

Image via Wikipedia

“He is survived by his sister Annie Rae, his children Spencer and Alice and their mother Rhona Gemmell. They would like to thank the medical staff at Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert for their care and diplomacy.

“Please respect Robbie’s family’s privacy at this distressing time.”

Coltrane, real name Anthony Robert McMillan, was best known for his roles as Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter series and as Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky in the James Bond films GoldenEye and The World Is Not Enough. He had numerous successes across his almost 39-year career, most notably he was made an OBE in the 2006 New Year Honours list for his services to drama and was subsequently awarded the Bafta Scotland Award in 2011 for outstanding contribution to film.

Tributes have been pouring in for the beloved star. His Harry Potter co-star Daniel Radcliffe gave a statement to The New York Post saying, “Robbie was one of the funniest people I’ve met and used to keep us laughing constantly as kids on the set. I’ve especially fond memories of him keeping our spirits up on Prisoner of Azkaban, when we were all hiding from the torrential rain for hours in Hagrid’s hut, and he was telling stories and cracking jokes to keep morale up. I feel incredibly lucky that I got to meet and work with him and very sad that he’s passed. He was an incredible actor and a lovely man.”

Image via The Sun

Fellow co-star Emma Watson also paid tribute to via Instagram Story which she wrote, “Robbie was like the most fun uncle I’ve ever had, but most of all, he was deeply caring and compassionate towards me as a child and an adult. His talent was so immense that it made sense he played a giant—he could fill ANY space with his brilliance. Robbie, if I ever get to be so kind as you were to me on a film set I promise I’ll do it in your name and memory. Know how much I adore and admire you. I’ll really miss your sweetness, your nicknames, your warmth, your laughs, and your hugs. You made us a family. Know you were that to us.”

Hollywood and Scotland have been joined together, as both were shaken by this unexpected loss. The actor touched the lives of so many throughout his career, with fans citing Coltrane as their “childhood hero”. Without a doubt, he will be sorely missed and never forgotten.