Skimming Stones: An Epilogue, 2010
December 31, 2010
An end-of-year epilogue for 2010, a sad year deserving of some reflection amid music and colour. … More Skimming Stones: An Epilogue, 2010
Private Education: Universities, Fees, and Futures
December 29, 2010
With student protests, planned anarchy, university sit-ins, the attack on the Royal cavalcade, we have attempted revolution on our streets once again. Here, it becomes necessary to divide the issues from the vitriolic protests that were carried out in response. … More Private Education: Universities, Fees, and Futures
Public Hypocrites and Private Anger: Tom May’s Death
December 21, 2010
Hypocrisy often challenges us because it is flagrantly public. So what of Andrew Marvell’s satire on Tom May, who switched his allegiances to Parliament? … More Public Hypocrites and Private Anger: Tom May’s Death
Measuring Privacy: An Horatian Ode
December 19, 2010
Andrew Marvell’s ‘Horatian Ode’ provides a fascinating story in the aftermath of one of the most ‘climacteric’ episodes in English history. What if it was a private poem, and not written for circulation? … More Measuring Privacy: An Horatian Ode
Marvell in Manuscript and Print
December 2, 2010
Today I am presenting ‘Marvell in Manuscript and Print, 1649-1665’ at the English Postgraduate Forum in Leicester. Thoughts here on storytelling and expanding frontiers. … More Marvell in Manuscript and Print
Private Party: Catching Rays on Giant (Alphaville), Berlin, 2010
November 23, 2010
Alphaville’s 20th anniversary celebration in Berlin in 2004 marked the best week of my life. Meeting the Alphaville family, seeing the band live for the first time, the adrenalin rush at meeting my idols: these created a unique kind of euphoria that will be difficult to find again. Six years later came a one-night return to Berlin for the launch party of the new album, Catching Rays on Giant. … More Private Party: Catching Rays on Giant (Alphaville), Berlin, 2010
Private Pursuits: The Difficulty of Writing
November 15, 2010
It has taken me around three years to write 50,000 words towards my doctoral thesis. Thanks to a November fad, NaNoWriMo, aspiring writers will be soon be achieving that in just weeks. … More Private Pursuits: The Difficulty of Writing
The Fifth Element: Leicester
October 9, 2010
This week marked the start of university number five: Leicester. … More The Fifth Element: Leicester
“Through My Eyes Only”: Aegis Quest
July 14, 2010
Created by Alan Boyd, a victorious Knightmare contestant, Aegis Quest is a live-action RPG game in which advisors guide a quester through a dungeon full of puzzles, traps and riddles in an interactive dungeon environment. … More “Through My Eyes Only”: Aegis Quest
Presenting Privacy: Marvell and London
July 11, 2010
Both professionally and personally, privacy has been a daunting and fascinating topic over the past two weeks. A paper entitled ‘Denying Authorship: Marvell, Maniban and the Quest for Privacy’ was given in Geneva, followed by ‘Marvell in Manuscript and Print: Public and Private Experiences, 1649-1660’ at the University of Hull. … More Presenting Privacy: Marvell and London
Writing Privacy 