The Observer has a new supplement, aimed at women. I feel excluded, and can’t see the logic of it. If I go to WH Smith, it’s pretty obvious what constituency is being targeted by magazines with titles such as Woman, She, Woman’s Own etc. Equally, you know what you are letting yourself in for if… Continue reading Observer Woman
To Milton Keynes for a meeting at the Open University, on the early train from Preston. I didn’t have a reserved seat, so found the first available one, and sat down. Just before we left, a big commotion announces the arrival of a lady in one of those very high-tech wheelchairs, her companion, her two… Continue reading Brief Encounters
BBC NEWS | Politics | Letter reveals Kelly’s approvalRuth Kelly, or to give her her full title, the beleaguered Ruth Kelly, is the foremost Catholic in the government. She was appointed as Education Secretary despite having no expertise or background in the area. Her main claim to fame is her prominent membership of the loony… Continue reading On Mother Kelly’s Doorstep
Australian woman all shook up over Elvis song – Yahoo! News UK Ah – the power of cheap music…Personally, I’m with the woman on this. Can you have a verdict of justified wounding?
This story confirms what all academics already knew. It’s particularly difficult in the humanities, and acute in my area, English Literature. I recently marked a series of essays on Jane Eyre by first year undergraduates. Hardly any of them bothered to consult any of the numerous secondary critical materials they could have accessed, relying instead… Continue reading Students don’t read…
BBC NEWS | Health | Adverts ‘increase youth drinking’ The department of the bleeding obvious has come back strongly after the Christmas break. Apparently, advertising works. What’s more, it works better on young susceptible people. You’d never have guessed, would you?
BBC NEWS | England | Manchester | Pilot dumps drunk man on island This is excellent. It would be worth being four hours late to have seen this guy get what he deserved. Hurrah for that pilot!
This Christmas, BT have clogged the airwaves with their commercial for their fantastic new service which translates your text message into a voicemail. You text “see you later” and a robotic voice says “see you later” to the recipient. Now, am I missing something here? Since virtually everyone has an answer machine on their phone,… Continue reading It’s good to talk
Our local paper reveals today that there has been a spate of thefts of Volkswagen wing mirrors by a gang they are imaginatively dubbing the VW mirror gang. It doesn’t have quite the ring of The Black Hand gang, or the Jesse James gang, does it? The thing is, my VW wing mirror was nicked… Continue reading All done with mirrors
Jeff Weintraub: “Life Reeked with Joy” Thanks to Norm for the link to this. The celebration of howlers is a regular feature of the educational end of term calendar. What’s great about this is that the writer has constructed a chronological narrative out of it. I sent this to a colleague, who fired back a… Continue reading “Life Reeked with Joy”