As I get older – which I gather many other people are also doing – I become ever more interested in popular and, even more so, unpopular folk traditions. Tomorrow is a belter of a day in the folk weirdness calendar: May Day. It’s like a clarion call for every nut job in the landContinue reading “Queer as false memory syndrome”
Tag Archives: British
Scarfolk: beautiful (and very funny) images of a bewitched 70s Middle England dystopia
Occasionally something pops into my view on twitter that’s worth a read and very occasionally I make a real discovery – or rather various illustrious twitterati have. I came across Scarfolk last night via a recommendation from Caitlin Moran‘s twitter feed, started exploring it and, well, it is just a delight: Scarfolk website. The conceitContinue reading “Scarfolk: beautiful (and very funny) images of a bewitched 70s Middle England dystopia”
A place where demographics are politics
Expect plenty about N. Ireland identity issues in 2013, as Derry/Londonderry is the new UK City of Culture this year. William Crawley from my neck of the woods has made an interesting programme for Radio 4 on the rise of a specifically Northern Irish identity (vs solely British or solely Irish) in the 2011 census.Continue reading “A place where demographics are politics”
How We Took Control Over Our Stiff Upper Lips
Ian Hislop’s Stiff Upper Lip – An Emotional History of Britain I never tire of watching Peter Cook‘s WW2 officer announcing to valiant subordinate Jonathan Miller in Beyond The Fringe: Perkins, I want you to lay down your life. We need a futile gesture at this stage … Miller as Perkins accepts his fate withContinue reading “How We Took Control Over Our Stiff Upper Lips”
Olympic Britain: Substance 2012
So I’ve waved goodbye to this phenomenon that breezed into my life, swept me off my feet for two weeks and now leaves me pining at the airport, watching the vapour trail. No, I’m not having an affair with a wayward airline pilot, I meant the Olympics. (I hear the Olympic village usually turns intoContinue reading “Olympic Britain: Substance 2012”
The Glorious Land: TomTom Club On Tour
So, I’ve negotiated the straits between Scylla and Charybdis and my sat nav is raring to go. On the off-chance a random client strays by mistake onto my onanistic blog, this is a public service announcement (without guitars). I’ve been on a break for the last few weeks, yesterday was my first proper day backContinue reading “The Glorious Land: TomTom Club On Tour”
Olympics 2012: Good Time For Fieldwork Outside South-East
A bit of self-promotion here, but hopefully a useful tip too. It’s to flag that, this summer, there’s a particularly strong reason to base your qualitative fieldwork in the Midlands or North, rather than the South-East region. And get me to do it, obviously. Many of us will have received another Transport for London emailContinue reading “Olympics 2012: Good Time For Fieldwork Outside South-East”
“Sign On” Of The Tynes
A sign of the high unemployment times we find ourselves in, from the terraces of St. James’s Park. Newcastle Utd, at the time of writing, are beating Liverpool and the Geordie faithful are starting to indulge in some taunting of the travelling Liverpool support. Their choice of taunt is the old pastiche of Liverpool’s ‘You’llContinue reading ““Sign On” Of The Tynes”
Motivating performance: Dan Pink and some thoughts on “bonus culture”
The debate about earnings, bonuses and fairness rumbles on and isn’t going to end soon. With the financial squeeze most of us are feeling, it is inevitable we look at the City in particular and wonder why they are still paying themselves so much, after all we now know about their endemic failures. Yet thereContinue reading “Motivating performance: Dan Pink and some thoughts on “bonus culture””
“Countries” and the UK: who do we think we are?
I was of course thrilled, as an Ulsterman, at Rory McIlroy‘s first major title win last night. Brilliant for what many Northern Ireland football fans call “Our Wee Country”. I’m always amused and intrigued by the semantic fog we disseminate, though, when we refer to parts of the UK as “countries”. It is common usageContinue reading ““Countries” and the UK: who do we think we are?”
Strangers on the Shore 