The Plashing Vole

Are you a student at an 'alternative provider'? You could be forgiven if you're not sure - the terminology is deliberately obscu...

Over on my local MP's Twitter feed, you can see him boasting about the frankly astonishing uplift in employment in the constituency. ...

I'm getting increasingly bored by the glut of super-hero films: the studios are now run by men in their late 40s trying to recreate the ...

Amongst the many literary sub-genres I keep an eye on with a view to one day doing some work is the dystopian novel, particularly the Young ...

As befits the start of a new academic year, the past couple of weeks have been full of highs and lows. Management have taken decisions so br...

My last post was titled 'Democracy - but only for your enemies', and discussed the curious fashion amongst politicians of bombing vi...

I'm watching the British media coverage of the Hong Kong democracy protests with some fascination. I'm supportive of the protesters:...

A couple of notable anniversaries today: the birthday of William Faulkner (b. 1897) and the death of Edward Said (2003). I sometimes think...

How is everyone today? Relieved that the progressive union of the UK has been saved? Or depressed that the progressive instincts of the Scot...

As I've said on this blog before, I'm not sure about Scottish independence, and many of my reasons for it are based on post-colonial...

Today's text is Scotch on the Rocks , a 1971 novel by Douglas Hurd (later Conservative MP and Foreign Secretary) and Andrew Osmond, with...

In the course of my post about seeing Kate Bush a few days ago, I made a disparaging comment about Elvis Presley (why is there no Middle-Ear...

Literally none of you have begged me for enlightenment about the Scottish Independence Referendum. In the face of this overwhelming public d...