It's summertime, which in a university library means that there are far fewer students around, and therefore far less enquiry work. So I've had my team checking whether all the books are in the library, and then helping me work out which of them we need to replace with new editions. Of course, when you get in new books, you have to find something ( Read more... )

There seemed to be quite a few people in London on Friday who didn't know about the bus strike. Then again, on my walks to and from work, I did see the occasional bus. But the one I got closest to had all its lights off and was empty. Dashing to an area of especially high demand? Probably not driving around to remind people what they were missing ( Read more... )

I won't be joining in the media criticism of the BBC over its coverage of the jubilee last weekend, as I didn't watch it. Indeed, I wonder why the people who have complained were watching it, and what they expected. It was a sizeable number of boats sailing down the Thames. Not intrinsically exciting (I don't believe there was a race element). I ( Read more... )

I'm roughly halfway through a six-hour train journey, and it seems like a good idea to make maximum use of my internet access. As I'm on the way to one holiday, my thoughts turn to my previous one ( Read more... )

In the first two weeks of the year I managed to attend five cultural events. I'm not sure it is possible to maintain this sort of record, for both logistical and financial reasons. Indeed, I haven't been to either theatre or cinema since, although I have read two books. However, it did make me feel that the year had got off to a good start for ( Read more... )

Good luck to everyone for the new year. I hope that it has been treating you well, especially those of you who have been having a rough time recently ( Read more... )

I've been considering the posts that I had thought of making before going on holiday. Even though Theresa May is in the news again, I am sure that even those interested have heard more than enough about her cat, and I talk too often as it is about the ways in which editorial stances affect coverage of stories, so instead, let's look back to the ( Read more... )

I have been on holiday in India, with minimal access to the internet, or indeed anything much beyond my immediate surroundings. This morning's news bulletin suggested that the long-running news stories remain largely the same as those of two weeks ago (or, in the case of the Greek economy, much longer), so I don't seem to have missed out on much of ( Read more... )

What was your reaction when the Olympic Games were awarded to London six years ago? I'll be honest and say that I had been hoping for a Paris win - the French would have had to do all the work, and it would have taken only slightly longer to get to the venues. There was a lot of media coverage along those lines, as well as about the negative ( Read more... )

A brave film. Both for Ryan Reynolds, who had to spend most of the seventeen day shoot in a coffin, and for the production company, the latter bravery being exemplified by the opening few minutes of the film, which take place before the main character has found a light source ( Read more... )