Posting Problems, Again (Update: Fixed)

Once again, I’m having trouble posting pictures to the blog. I’ve had absolutely no connection to the internet at home for a whole week now due to Virgin Broadband completely ignoring us and replying to our emails with the identical canned reply twice now. We;ve had no access to the DSL service for the last 8 days now, and spotty connection for the 4 days before that. Best thing is that we’ve only been a customer with Virgin Broadband for 3 weeks as of today.

With my mobile phone broken and landline not working (landline also provided by Virgin Media), I can’t call technical support and the people at the Virgin Store on Buchanan Street couldn’t help me either. Calling from a mobile costs about £20 for an hour. I know this because that’s how much I spent calling tech support without ever getting through to them. lack of access to the internet is also inhibiting my primary tasks, such as studying and essay writing as I can’t do any research online and I don’t have the time to sit at the library until 2am every day (which is what I’ve had to do a lot of recently). Who do I have to bribe or scream at to get access to a service I’m paying for?

I’ll return to regular posting as soon as I can, but the posts will be slow in catching up, hopefully starting tonight and so on retroactively whenever I get the chance to be online. Internet finally fixed at home, I’ll get back to normal posting in a few days, just finishing off a few essays, the last two of the term.

Sir Gilbert Scott Building

As it’s Friday the 13th today, I figured I’d post a somewhat gloomy looking picture. The Main Building of the University of Glasgow, also known as the Sir Gilbert Scott Building, photo taken from the Round Reading Room, where I noticed a bit back I haven’t actually been to until now. The Main Building is named after the original architect who designed and built most of the Main Building.

[Poll #6: What is the UGLIEST BUILDING at Glasgow University?]
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© 2009 GlasgowUniPhoto.com

QMU By-Election

I did a collage a few weeks back of the SRC elections and the campaigning that took place on campus for it, and I decided to do the same for the QMU by-election campaigning. Election days are some of the most colourful days on campus, so it’s always increasingly difficult to choose just one photo to represent the day full.

I don’t have the results of the by-election, and I can’t find them anywhere on the QMU website, but congratulations to everyone who got elected.

[Poll #6: What is the UGLIEST BUILDING at Glasgow University?]
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© 2009 GlasgowUniPhoto.com

Remembrance Day

Walking down Kelvin Way today I noticed a sight you don’t see too often in Glasgow: the Union Jack (or Union Flag, whichever you want to call it). It took me a minute to connect the dots and figure out why this particular flag was being flown by the University. Then it hit me. It’s Remembrance day today (Veterans Day in the USA).

When I say that you don’t see many Union Flags in Glasgow, I mean I don’t think I’ve seen more than a few in the last year and a bit. Can you name any place in Glasgow where you’d be able to see the Union Flag? They seem to be everywhere in Edinburgh, but not Glasgow.

Before you ask, yes the photo has been edited. When I took the photo the weather was quite gloomy and autumn-like, which meant the picture was all dark and gloomy.

[Poll #6: What is the UGLIEST BUILDING at Glasgow University?]
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© 2009 GlasgowUniPhoto.com

Wellington Church at Night

The Wellington Church on University Avenue is one of the few buildings on the road that is not owned by Glasgow University. The parish church, located right next to the Round Reading Room, was built in 1883-4 and belongs to the Church of Scotland. Although Glasgow University does have its own chapel just across the street, Wellington Church does host both religious and secular university events.

Interesting little factoid: most churches of the era preferred a Gothic Revival style of architecture, just like the University’s main building. Had the Wellington Church done the same, it might not stand out too much on University Avenue, although it would have a spire which might rival the University Tower. I guess it’s good that they went with the neoclassical style favoured by United Presbyterian Church who the church was built for in the first place.

[Poll #6: What is the UGLIEST BUILDING at Glasgow University?]
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© 2009 GlasgowUniPhoto.com

Morning over Glasgow

One of my favourite things to feature on this photo blog are aspects of the University which most people don’t see, either by choice, restriction or lack of knowledge of its existence. I assume most students don’t wander around the various buildings on campus looking for interesting finds, or just to see what the other departments and buildings are holding within them.

The above is a sight which many students won’t see merely because of the circumstances under which this sight is possible. I took the photo at 7.57am from the 10th floor of the University Library. Not too many people around the library at that time, although there were some, hard at work.

The photo looks towards the city centre, and the towers you see in the photo are on Park Circus, just on the other side of the Kelvingrove Park from the University. One day I have to get a shot from the same floor of the libray of the sun setting.

[Poll #6: What is the UGLIEST BUILDING at Glasgow University?]
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© 2009 GlasgowUniPhoto.com

E is for… Education [ABC Sundae]

The Faculty of Education is the youngest faculty at Glasgow University, formed when the University merged with St Andrew’s College of Education in 1999. In 2003, the building in the photo above, the St Andrew’s Building was opened to house the Faculty of Education. The St Andrew’s Building is located just to the east of Gilmorehill, over the River Kelvin in the Woodlands area of Glasgow. (See Map) Within the umbrella of the Faculty of Education you can find the Department of Curriculum Studies, Department of Educational Studies, and the Department of Religious Education and the Department of Adult & Continuing Education. If you want more, the Faculty of Education website is at http://www.gla.ac.uk/education.

Although the building looks a bit gloomy in the photo right now, the large glass front of the building is typically lit up in the evenings during the week (Picture taken on a Saturday evening), in several different colours. I need to trek there one evening with a tripod, and get a day time shot too at some point.

The big sign prominent in the photo is a new addition, which is potentially unfortunate timing-wise as there is talk of a reshuffle of the nine faculties which exist today. The new plan, proposed by the new principal Anton Muscatelli, would combine the nine faculties into 4 Schools or Colleges. The Faculty of Education would cease to exist, becoming a part of the newly formed School of Law, Business, Social Sciences and Education (LBSSE). I can’t find the original article right now, but I will talk more about this when I hear more.

The eagle-eyed among you will notice that although ABC Sundae is a fortnightly theme day, it’s been three weeks since the letter D. In the Halloween rush I posted the wrong photo last Sunday. I’ll swap that one and this one around in a few days. Oops!

ABC Sundae is a fortnightly theme day, occurring every other Sunday, one letter of the alphabet at a time. Click here for more ABC Sundae.

[Poll #6: What is the UGLIEST BUILDING at Glasgow University?]
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© 2009 GlasgowUniPhoto.com