Nick P
@nerpish.bsky.social
Mostly here to listen. Medieval literature, music, politics if I can bear it. Should be reading or writing a book instead.
That may be part of it, but at ITV you can make a judgement like ‘tens of thousands of avoidable deaths is more important than the latest unworkable policies from parties competing to be the most cruel to migrants’. Then you can act on that with in-depth reporting, which I know you can do well.
November 23, 2025 at 3:51 PM
That may be part of it, but at ITV you can make a judgement like ‘tens of thousands of avoidable deaths is more important than the latest unworkable policies from parties competing to be the most cruel to migrants’. Then you can act on that with in-depth reporting, which I know you can do well.
Very timely choice! There’s a lot of Auden to like; I think my favourite (today) is the poem starting ‘Lay your sleeping head, my love, / Human on my faithless arm’. Beautiful and heartbreaking.
November 19, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Very timely choice! There’s a lot of Auden to like; I think my favourite (today) is the poem starting ‘Lay your sleeping head, my love, / Human on my faithless arm’. Beautiful and heartbreaking.
‘If serious about governing’ doing a lot of work there!
November 3, 2025 at 2:11 PM
‘If serious about governing’ doing a lot of work there!
Don’t tell her that Beowulf arrives in a small boat!
October 14, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Don’t tell her that Beowulf arrives in a small boat!
Submit your REF return
October 12, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Submit your REF return
My first suggestions would be Pearl by Siân Hughes, and Telling Tales by Patience Agbabi. There is masses of great stuff to explore!
October 3, 2025 at 9:59 AM
My first suggestions would be Pearl by Siân Hughes, and Telling Tales by Patience Agbabi. There is masses of great stuff to explore!
So sorry to hear this; what a fantastic writer
September 27, 2025 at 8:10 AM
So sorry to hear this; what a fantastic writer
Steven Isserlis has told the story that his pianist grandfather, and father (aged 5), arrived in Vienna in 1922 and found a flat. The 102-year-old landlady didn’t want to take in a musician, because a previous musical tenant was noisy. Some guy called Beethoven.
September 18, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Steven Isserlis has told the story that his pianist grandfather, and father (aged 5), arrived in Vienna in 1922 and found a flat. The 102-year-old landlady didn’t want to take in a musician, because a previous musical tenant was noisy. Some guy called Beethoven.
Thanks – helpful advice
September 18, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Thanks – helpful advice
The round-up at the end would be called Finale Score
August 23, 2025 at 10:20 PM
The round-up at the end would be called Finale Score
I don’t use Spotify, but BBC Sounds has a complete reading of George Eliot’s Silas Marner; it’s excellent
August 14, 2025 at 10:17 AM
I don’t use Spotify, but BBC Sounds has a complete reading of George Eliot’s Silas Marner; it’s excellent
The margarita ice cream recipe is sensational, so I’d love to have a go at this! Not sure I’ve knowingly had Malibu since I was about 15 though…
August 13, 2025 at 6:59 PM
The margarita ice cream recipe is sensational, so I’d love to have a go at this! Not sure I’ve knowingly had Malibu since I was about 15 though…
Congratulations! Very styl(ite)ish 🤩
July 21, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Congratulations! Very styl(ite)ish 🤩
It’s basically nonsense, but pre-Conquest kings and historians liked to portray the English as a new chosen people. Good propaganda but dodgy even at the time. The line about common worship is deranged given the C16 and C17. Did he break into ‘And did those feet in ancient time…’ at the end?
July 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
It’s basically nonsense, but pre-Conquest kings and historians liked to portray the English as a new chosen people. Good propaganda but dodgy even at the time. The line about common worship is deranged given the C16 and C17. Did he break into ‘And did those feet in ancient time…’ at the end?
I think this time of year is called Examining!
July 8, 2025 at 10:32 AM
I think this time of year is called Examining!
When it rains in April and it’s wetter than March, and plants grow, the wind blows and the sun shines, birds sing etc, then pilgrims want go to Canterbury to find St Thomas’s tomb.
June 22, 2025 at 8:03 PM
When it rains in April and it’s wetter than March, and plants grow, the wind blows and the sun shines, birds sing etc, then pilgrims want go to Canterbury to find St Thomas’s tomb.
Apologies if this sounds high-minded (perhaps all skeets should automatically say that!) – I don’t have a tv but do listen to a lot of radio and read things on their website. I believe that a real public service broadcaster is crucial to our politics and culture, so I pay for a licence anyway
June 20, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Apologies if this sounds high-minded (perhaps all skeets should automatically say that!) – I don’t have a tv but do listen to a lot of radio and read things on their website. I believe that a real public service broadcaster is crucial to our politics and culture, so I pay for a licence anyway
We now have a mix of submitted work (3 papers) and in-person typed exams (for 4 papers) for final year. Relieved that the latter are there, but we need to think of a solution for the others, and work out how to encourage students to learn from/about AI but also gain skills for themselves
June 16, 2025 at 11:41 AM
We now have a mix of submitted work (3 papers) and in-person typed exams (for 4 papers) for final year. Relieved that the latter are there, but we need to think of a solution for the others, and work out how to encourage students to learn from/about AI but also gain skills for themselves
Great suggestions; mine is Mrs Dalloway. Also Coetzee’s Life and Times of Michael K
June 6, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Great suggestions; mine is Mrs Dalloway. Also Coetzee’s Life and Times of Michael K
As you say, it must be ‘standard’ operating procedure… ;-)
May 26, 2025 at 8:06 PM
As you say, it must be ‘standard’ operating procedure… ;-)
At a smaller level (like Old English a nædre to Modern English an adder) it’s called metanalysis or rebracketing. But that’s more a linguistic process than an error; there should be a more fun word for what you’re describing!
May 19, 2025 at 9:02 PM
At a smaller level (like Old English a nædre to Modern English an adder) it’s called metanalysis or rebracketing. But that’s more a linguistic process than an error; there should be a more fun word for what you’re describing!
I agree with this: it’s still not easy in Oxford (relatively few 1:1 tutorials now) but we are lucky that we get students to discuss their work in person, and we have gone back to mostly in-person timed exams taken on computers provided in the exam room. Very labour-intensive though!
May 7, 2025 at 7:00 PM
I agree with this: it’s still not easy in Oxford (relatively few 1:1 tutorials now) but we are lucky that we get students to discuss their work in person, and we have gone back to mostly in-person timed exams taken on computers provided in the exam room. Very labour-intensive though!
Yep – andouillette is like eating that nasty pooey drain smell; it’s awful. Once had it combined with a migraine and that did not go well!
April 24, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Yep – andouillette is like eating that nasty pooey drain smell; it’s awful. Once had it combined with a migraine and that did not go well!
Brahms can absolutely do that to you; slow movement of the horn trio always gets me. So glad you are talking about the power of music
March 24, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Brahms can absolutely do that to you; slow movement of the horn trio always gets me. So glad you are talking about the power of music