Thinking ahead - things I have to do over the coming month

Book review - I've got a book to review "Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley" by Jeffrey Spivak and a BAAS conference paper to write about the graphic novel and film "The Surrogates" (the graphic novel is by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele and spawned a prequel "Flesh and Bone"; the film version "Surrogates" starred Bruce Willis and his usual array of wig-ness).

This is mostly a post to encourage me to get both done --- I'll keep you posted on meeting my deadlines for each!

Things to note: Elections, BAAS and Friends

Election: god I want to hit things already. Look, the country is NOT broken, NI increases will NOT mean lost jobs, and the LIberal Democrats could promise the moon on a stick - they're STILL NOT going to be in power (at the very best, and it all depends on the vagaries of our voting system, they will have some roll to play to prop up whichever ailing government elected by a minority gets in). Am heartily sick of the slanging matches. I'll be voting Labour, okay. We have a good local MP who is responsive and fair - Nick Palmer - and I would like him back representing us come the day after the election. We're a straight Labour v Conservative seat at the national elections and there are a lot of small parties standing: not good. So I'm not going to faff about 'protest voting'. There are plenty of things I'm not wild about in terms of current policy, but ancestors died for my right to vote and I will use it as I see fit.

BAAS: away in Norwich for the next few days. This means I miss the next episode of Burn Notice on Fiver, the next Red John episode of The Mentalist on Five, AND 'The Beast Below' (aka the next great episode of the Moff-era of Doctor Who). Boo bloody hiss and thank heavens for catch-up TV. However, on the upside I hopefully will enjoy socialising with colleagues and listening to some fancy academic speak for 4 days. Woo!

Friends in need: I owe Helen L for her lovely gift of a new iPod cover, I owe George and Sonia a LONG overdue box of goodies, and I owe my precious friend Chrissie my endless affection for keeping in touch despite things being tough.

I'll get on the case on my return, honest.

Love ya guys.

BAAS - done it

At last, I can breathe and get on with other things. Having chewed on reading around and absorbing my chosen topic for the last 7 months, I've finally gotten my script together for my 2010 BAAS paper. Hurrah.

Now I can work on becoming familiar enough with it to not read it too much like a script.

Will Kaufman at The Big Session

I've been raving about Will Kaufman for several years now. Will's actually an academic at University of Central Lancashire but has a very talented sideline/associate project promoting and talking about the folk music of Woody Guthrie. He's been corralled into performing at several BAAS conferences - sometimes planned, sometimes more impromptu - and he's always incredibly entertaining.

Anyway, imagine my surprise and delight when Cloud texts me yesterday to say he's been watching Will perform at The Big Session festival in Leicester!

So if you get chance to catch him performing, take the chance as he's very good and indeed.

BAAS - including the 'Snow-moment'

Mixed feelings really post-BAAS (as ever), not least returning to the fray of work.

BAAS is always delightful (good to see friends and contacts that I only see at the annual conference) but it was tempered by seeing the lovely C - who was organising the conference - run ragged by grumbly academics. She did a fantastic job of keeping all the plates spinning (not literally) but I really just wanted to hug her by the end (which I did - and gave her some chocolate buttons: her request!) The panel of papers I chaired on Ben-Hur went well and I managed to not totally disgrace myself when taking up a last-minute chairing of a session on contemporary US fiction. Friends and colleagues gave excellent papers, including one who gave an incredibly accessible but nevertheless erudite paper on Emerson and Shakespeare. The banquet went well and the jazz band were highly enjoyable (we also had some live jazz on the first night which made for a very entertaining backdrop).

But the highlight of the conference - aside seeing friends and their families - was the arrival of Jon Snow, newscaster.

As he is connected to Oxford Brookes Uni, Snow has contacts with one of the BAAS elite who had been selected to deliver one of the plenary lectures. Instead of just a single voice then, we had a double act of first her briefer academic lecture followed by Snow's eloquent, witty and utterly partisan political take on some of the issues she raised, drawing on his extensive experience and observation of the USA.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable pairing which the audience seemed to lap up (a celebrity in our midst!). And, as mentioned, what was especially enjoyable was hearing Snow 'off-the-political-fence' so to speak: let's say he wasn't a Bush fan).

Even more pleasurable was that instead of legging it away from the conference straight after, he mucked in by travelling on one of the double-decker buses hired to take us all up to Nottingham Castle's art gallery for a wine reception. It was here that he continued to charm and chat to many of the attending academics -- including me.

Shucks. I have to admit he is a delightfully charming man: tall, distinguished and engaging. Fair made me giddy!

So, now it is back at work. If I can keep my head down and moderately out of trouble for the remainder of the term I will be very happy.