Friday 30 November 2007

Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow Style

In the mid 1890s four Glaswegians; Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and his fellow apprentice architect James Herbert McNair in the Glasgow practice of Honeyman and Keppie, and Margaret Macdonald and her sister Frances - who were day students at the Glasgow School of Art , later to be known as the “The Glasgow Four” have entered into an informal alliance. This alliance of the two couples - as McNair was later to marry Frances Macdonald in 1899 and Mackintosh to marry Margaret in 1900 - has produced innovative and creative designs; and probably transformed the art and design scene in Glasgow to this day.




Charles Rennie Mackintosh style proposed a revolution against the Victorian style that dubbed the city with its geometric shapes and lines, in favour of more curvatures and free lines of the Art Nouveau movement.









Wednesday 28 November 2007

The Clyde


The Clyde is the backdrop to every story the city has to tell of the past two centuries. If Glasgow was considered the Second city of the empire, it was something that the Clyde had to take credit for.
The impact of the Clyde on the city of Glasgow took many forms, its role as a highway to the world and a birthplace for the great ships, allowed Glasgow to become the “Second City of the Empire”.




The Clyde brought wealth, prosperity, employment and opportunity.
The Clyde, the shipyards, the tenements that housed the shipyard workers and the markets that sold them goods have all made Glasgow. It's funny though, how the Clyde is not present in the life of the city anymore.
The Clyde is now abandoned, desolated from the culmination of city life, into humble occasional river festivals, postcard pictures and as a mere background to new waterfront architectural projects. Isn't the Clyde worth more efforts from the city officials, or am I just being too romantic?!

Thursday 22 November 2007

Glasgow Green



The park (usually the Green or Glasgow Green), was the place where people used to escape the compact and over-crowded life of the tenement. it’s the place where they used to run as fast as they could, breath the freshest of air, lie flat on the grass, with arms and legs stretched, without the fear of bumping into someone or something in the tight rooms of the tenement. I’ve never lived in a tenement, but I can imagine how it must have felt for them.

Glasgow Green was more than just an open space in a city; it was where people have lived their dreams, and embraced their creativity, freedom, and the strong will to live without boundaries or walls (tenement walls of course).
The Green speaks more of Glasgow than any historian could. It reflects how the city’s social, economical and political life has developed over the centuries.

Wednesday 21 November 2007

The Police State "See"CTV: Big Brother is Watching Britain


In Britain there are over 1.5 million closed-circuit television monitoring systems watching roads, shopping malls, schools and parking lots, yet crime is on the up and up, including armed robbery and homicide. Britain is the most monitored country on earth and yet the government plans to spend a further £70 million to buy yet more eyes in the sky. In my Neighbourhood alone, there are about 4 in less than 0.5 miles walking distance. The government argues that the people ask for it, irony is, bad guys never mind these cameras, all they need to do is put their hoodies on when conducting mischief. Pathetic, but true!

Monday 12 November 2007

Urban Image




When you wander in the city for the first time, you can’t help but notice that the way Glasgow was built is not at all what the people had hoped for, it is something that was imposed on their lives for a large number of years.
The tenements, the high-rise flats, and all other faux pas of previous monstrous design policies, has definitely shaped the city’s whole urban image.






Sunday 11 November 2007

What Makes The British Proud?

So, they may have conquered the world! Built the largest empire the world had ever known where the sun never set! Where at one point it controlled a population of about 458 million people, approximately one-quarter of the world's population! and covered about 36.6 million km²-about a quarter of Earth's total land area!!! But that was history,what is it then that still make the British proud??

I've been meaning to combine a list of the things that I think still make the british proud of themselves and of their country. After various analyzations and observations it looked something like this:


1) English Language and Literature
English is the world’s official language (Some Scottish people might be offended by this, as they refer to their language as Scottish not English). It is the dominant international language in business, communications, science, aviation, entertainment, radio, politics and diplomacy. English is a versatile, easily structured language. Compared with Arabic, for example, it is the best to use in order to express specific meanings, as in Arabic the same words will interpret different meanings depending on the phrase structure and the use of associations that can build up one argument and simultaneously create a parallel implied argument that says something else, simply because Arabic is more rhetorical- which makes it unique as well.

It is a different story for English though, as words usually convey specific meanings. As an example of this, here is how you can play on meaning using different words of English:
When trying to (let a liquid material out) of a container with a small opening, different words are used to interpret different meanings, depending on the quantity of the liquid material, the frequency or the speed of falling onto a surface, and the shape of marks or spots that result from that.
e.g
Spatter: to spurt forth in scattered drops
Drip: to let fall in drops
Dribble: to fall or flow in drops or in a thin intermittent stream
Squiggle: a short wavy twist or line
Squirt: to come forth in a sudden rapid stream from a narrow opening
Dollop: an indefinite often-large quantity especially of something liquid


The English language is extraordinary rich, subtle, flexible and most importantly, perhaps, is its capacity to absorb foreign vocabulary and make it its own. I had just come from a region that encourages the use of the Arabic language, and consider the people who opt for English as snobs that abandon the language of the ancestors, and thus all the heritage and culture that comes with it. And here I was in Britain, a country whose language seemed fearless of other cultures' intrusions. I was impressed!
As for the English literature, it is well renowned throughout history. William Shakespeare was a playwright and poet whose body of works is considered the greatest in English literature. He wrote dozens of plays which continue to dominate world theater 400 years later. Even in modern day literature, J.K. Rowling is the famous author behind the Harry Potter fantasy books, which have gained worldwide attention, won multiple awards, and sold nearly 400 million copies worldwide. Robert Burns is still celebrated in Scotland on Burns Night on January 25th, as the number one Scottish poet. Haggis and Scotch whiskey may be served on special poetry suppers as part of the celebration.

I wish that we could do as good, and celebrate one of our famous icons like Shawqi for example, on a special day like the Scots do on Burns Night. It doesn’t take much effort to teach people how to take pride in their own culture and heritage. I guess that’s one big reason why they’re really proud to be British!


2) British Manners



The Brits are world-famous for their politness and self discipline. They may be considered reserved when it comes to manners and social situations. Some would question that the current generations of Britons may lack some of the well-renowned reputation of their ancestors. All in all the following manners are still considered basic forms of behaviour in the UK, which I find quite remarkable

-Queueing: The Brits are ranked as the best queuers in the world; they queue better than penguins or lemmings! People are expected to form orderly queues, whenever required, and wait for their turn patiently, as queue jumping will be frowned upon and considered rude and irresponsible.

-Holding the door open: Men and women both hold the door open for each other. It depends on who goes through the door first, and it's a great manner of showing respect for others.

-Driving in the UK is a stress free experience, although driving on the left side of the road, is largely argued, simply because the rest of the world doesn’t! But, one respects the ultimate pride of the Brits who continue to drive on the left side of the road, use the Pound Sterling instead of the Euro and never consider a better place to be than their beloved Britannia!
Whilst driving in the UK, I especially like how people wait patiently for others, flash their headlights for them to pass and how they raise their hand to say thank you. Simple things like that, makes the UK a great place to enjoy driving in, compared to Jordan, for example! In Jordan, unfortunately, driving is based on the “survival of the fittest” paradigm! If you can define fitness in words like; impatient, intolerable of others, and sadly, irresponsible

-Apologizing: "This is Britain, where people apologize to lamp-posts after bumping into them"...true! "I am so awfully sorry that", "I am afraid this", are some of the classic phrases used by the British. More is the use of the double negatives in speech, ie, " I don't disagree with you", " I would never want not to see you"...so considerate!

3) The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)



Probably the greatest institution in Britain, make that the world! These three letters; so powerful, so precise, they represent Britain with yet a new notion of greatness. Since I was little, the BBC has always been a favourite in our household. My dad hardly missed the daily news round-up broadcast by its world service radio.
The BBC, being the British institution that belonged to the world, is the definition of responsible and informative media. The most interesting thing about the British television is the role it plays in people’s daily lives, no wonder people used to refer to the BBC using the nickname “The Auntie” Well, after all “Auntie knows best!”

The British documentaries are the best. The Brits have a non-surpassable talent in documenting everything! They can do a program about socks, and it will still keep you at the edge of your seat! They somehow perfect storytelling in a way that amuses and informs.

The new service provided by the BBC; the iplayer is yet another great milestone in its prosperous history, you can use this service online to access your favourite program throughout the week, in case you missed any. These people at the BBC always make sure that the British public will only eat, breathe and watch BBC!


4) The National Health Service (NHS)



Yet another British Institution, one that makes the British really proud of their nationality. Despite the big muddle surrounding it, as being inefficient; corrupt; bankrupt; struggling to cope; swamped with foreign doctors and nurses; lagging behind other health systems and that the boost in funds provided under Labour has made no difference-no good news for the British tax-payer-but, after all, it’s a free national service, and it’s there for all the British 24/7.

According to the World Health Organization, the UK enjoys a total expenditure of $ 2,560 on health per capita, the US spends $ 6,090 per capita, while France spends $ 3,040. In the Middle East it's a different story: Jordan spends $ 502 per capita, while the wealthy UAE spends a mere $ 503 per capita on health. In the UK, life expectancy at birth for m/f is estimated at 77/81, for France it is 77/84, for the US 75/80, for Jordan (shocking!) 69/73 and for UAE 76/79. In Jordan, there are (26) per 1000 births dying under 5. For the UK, the number is (6), for France it is (5), for US it is (8), and for UAE it is estimated at (9) per 1000 births.It seems that the NHS is doing well after all! Not up to the expectations of many British perfectionists, but they can still lay rest the worries of having adequate health care available to them when they're old, vulnerable, skint, "white", "coloured", non-employed, stabbed, successful, losers,... it does not really matter. What matters is, that they happen to be in Britain, and they happen to be in need!

5)The Respect of Hierarchy

What’s fascinating about the British is their great respect for hierarchy: every one seems to know where he/she stands in society; ultimately identifying with their roles, their boundaries and responsibilities.
Hierarchy is very important to the stability of the British society. In fact, it’s important to the stability of any society. Everyone seems to be at ease with own bosses, leaders and authoritical figures. The state governs day-to-day lives of people, with or without direct interaction, and every British citizen is in fact responding consequently to the organizational control of the state with full consent.

6)The Monarchy

All Brits take pride in their monarchy, and especially in their Queen (Elizabeth II). If you have seen The Royal Family at Work, you would have learned a great deal about how every thing in Britain revolves around one person only; and that is the Queen. The queen is holy; majestic; not in a clichéd manner, but in every true sense of the word. The program shows every one waiting hand and foot on their dear queen; even the PM was shivering and trembling whilst delivering his speech in front of her majesty. Had it not been Queen Elizabeth; the regnant ruler of Britain, and 16 other commonwealth countries, things might have been easier for Mr. Brown.


7) The Union Jack



I think the Union Jack is a source of pride for the British, it symbolizes the unity of two nations: England and Scotland- overcoming years of blood and war that shaped the history of the two neighbours.

8) The "Multicultural" Society
Although a highly controversial issue; especially when it comes to internal politics in Britain. A carefully touched upon term mainly when political correctness is concerned. Nevertheless, I think Multicultural Britain should be celebrated; where people from different cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds coexist in harmony, without any apparent tensions; things that might have triggered civil war somewhere else in the world.

9) The Army and War Machine
My memory can't serve me to suggest a single time, when actually Britain wasn't at war at some point in its history. Winston Churchill; arguably a British war hero, once said: " Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver. The greater the general, the more he contributes in maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter."

10) British Boy Bands
Britain: Home to the greatest Boy Bands of all times: The Beatles, Queen, Rolling Stones, ColdPlay, Westlife, BoyZone, Take That,... to name but a few!

Monday 5 November 2007

Weather and Birds!


I like the tranquility of the Scottish landscape…but you need to pick the right weather to happily enjoy it- which is really rare!! As Sir David Frost once said: “There are two seasons in Britain; winter… and July!!” which is absolutely true!! Oh, bless him, he must have said that before moving to Al-Jazeerah to warm-up his soul and his wallet!! Talk about good old Englishmen and “generous” Qataris!!





While the birds are really beautiful in this country, the secret I think is good diet! I bet that thousands and thousands of loaves of bread are thrown to these birds each year. Someone once suggested- a governmental official actually, that they might as well use dead bodies (God forbid) to feed the birdies! Since they have got too many birds in here! Well, Britain is an island (which is shrinking according to global warming advocates, but that’s another story!) and since land values hit roof top here, people struggle to find empty lots to bury their loved ones, and it costs as little as ₤1000, that’s if you were lucky enough to get buried at all! That’s why many dead people get cremated simply because it’s cheaper! Of course, this thought is morally and religiously absurd, and can send shivers down the spine of any human being. But that’s just how things work in british life! It always starts as an idea, a crazy one, possibly, may be a newspaper survey, conducted by a certain think-tank, then it is passed on as a law by which all must abide! Well, sometimes you blow a big sigh of relief and just thank God for Jordan!!

Saturday 3 November 2007

First Impression





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It was night time when I first arrived in Glasgow; cutting through Junction (19) of the (M8) motorway towards the down town, and the first thing I noticed was the Old Royal Infirmary building, standing up as history testament to more than 200 years of Glasgow history.


“This city is really old!" was the first thought on my mind, being used to mono-chrome colored city of Amman, with it’s distinguished white stone buildings.
I could see how the streets were articulated round the existing buildings, with huge respect and consideration. The “old and the new” were blended together in beautiful harmony around every corner of the city, where the “new” is shiny and flawless, and the “old” is presiding with dominant sublime!