While I was in Canberra last weekend, I took the opportunity to spend my research day working in the Manuscripts Reading Room of the National Library of Australia. A day of "one step forward, two steps back"; but I wouldn't have made even the small progress I did manage if I hadn't gone there. It's amazing what isn't catalogued: I found an ( Read more... )

In my continuing quest to explore traditional Cornish delicacies, I attempted to bake saffron bread today, to take to our International Lunch at work. Saffron buns were the norm in the small town where M. grew up, not too far west of the Cornwall/Devon border, but variations on the saffron + bread or cake theme are common local specialities across ( Read more... )

Back from a lovely weekend in Hobart, Tasmania. A beautiful, serene, friendly city, and a great place for a rejuvenating break. It reminded M. a bit of Plymouth (although presumably, without Plymouth's pockets of urban grunge, and the notorious post-nightclub brawls between naval officers and local youth). M. was there for a full week, giving a ( Read more... )

Finished two wonderful new books: The Hare with the Amber Eyes, by Edmund de Waal, and Inheritance by Nicholas Shakespeare. Both are about the different kinds of legacies, material and spiritual, that might accrue from family or biography. Individual and collective memories also impart, or impose, their own legacies and both books deal in part with ( Read more... )

This post is a series of notes designed mainly for my own record, but others with an interest in the Arts and Crafts movement may be interested.

This past weekend, M. and I went to an open day organised by the Robin Boyd Foundation, celebrating the work of the Arts and Crafts architect Harold Desbrowe-Annear. The day was organised as a self- ( Read more... )

Last Friday, I went on a quest to find Wuxia films on DVD.

I've decided that this is quite possibly my favourite contemporary film genre. The best action, the most breathtaking cinematography, the most detailed set designs, the best-looking lead actors. Basically, all of what makes film "filmic".

There's a great rental place not far from campus ( Read more... )

OK, I'm in.

Books I am currently reading: The Legacy, by Kirsten Tranter. Coming-of-age / mysterious disappearance / unreliable memory / university friendships. Strongly reminiscent of other contemporary novels I've enjoyed with similar themes -- Andrea Goldsmith's Reunion, Donna Tartt's The Secret History. But perhaps not as good? Time will tell ( Read more... )

I mentioned I was heading to see the new David Byrne concert documentary "Ride, Rise, Roar" the other evening, so here is a quick review. Beat Magazine's review of the film is also worth reading ( Read more... )

Going through files at work, I discovered these notes made at the HERDSA 2010 conference in Melbourne last year. I remember reading through the conference programme, and noticing that so many of the paper titles followed similar patterns.

Here are some of the most common:

The Academy and the Zeitgeist"The [X]-ification of [Nation] [Sector]: ( Read more... )

Very, very excited to discover today that my favourite imprint, Persephone (which re-publishes forgotten classics by women writers), has an online presence in the form of the Persephone PostFor lovers of the Omega workshops, books, textile design, English landscapes, urban history ( Read more... )