When I found myself agreeing with what a high court judge said about daytime TV – and in particular Jeremy Kyle- I thought it was probably yet another indication, along with the gammy knee, of advancing years. Turns out it’s worse than the judge thought- and he called it bear-baiting. This account is actually quite… Continue reading Sitting in Judgment
Good to know we are protected from attacks of the killer chillies…
Thanks to Anonymous for the tip. Here’s Taylor Mali with good advice for the folks at jobs.ac.uk
I was sent some publicity material by the academic jobs website jobs.ac.uk. One of the items is a calendar, on which is printed a series of patronising “tips”- sample tip for writing CVs: “Don’t use meaningless introductions”. Doh! THAT’s why I never got that vice-chancellor’s job!My favourites, though have to be the number 1 and… Continue reading Really Top Tips
Serious stuff – but very clear. Difficult to argue with the man Ben Goldacre calls Dawkipoos…
To the Royal Exchange on Friday, for the award of the first Edge Hill Short Story prize organised by my friend and colleague Ailsa Cox, and presented by AL Kennedy. It was a very pleasant evening – wine was consumed, canapés eaten, shoulders rubbed with the famous. The prize was awarded to Mothers and Sons… Continue reading Edge Hill Prize
I wrote a book chapter about Penelope Fitzgerald’s Offshore, and have been working my way through her oeuvre ever since. On a recent trip to Aldeburgh, what could be more appropriate than to pick up in the delightful bookshop there, Fitzgerald’s novel of one woman’s attempt to run a bookshop in a fictional coastal east… Continue reading The Bookshop
This is great news. I’m very pleased to be in a position to remove the blog button from the sidebar. Amidst the rejoicing though, let’s not forget that many civilians and journalists have been brutally executed by groups similar to the one that took Johnston, and that five Britons remain hostage in Iraq.
Just got round to reading this novel. You may recall that, over at Patternings, Ann Darnton’s experience of the novel was considerably spoiled by a reference to Beatles and Rolling Stones covers of Chuck Berry, at a time when they hadn’t released them. Now here’s a funny thing- I was bracing myself for that bit,… Continue reading On Chesil Beach
Here’s Shalom Lappin’s explanation of why he resigned from the UCU.Via Normblog