Ah, emails to alumni. 'What's your favourite Sheffield memory?' Not when you axed the department, so probably when the Careers Office rang to ask which prestigious employers had hired me on the basis of my Sheffield work, but then turned out not to have heard of the Smithsonian Institution.

First day of this went well. A reminder for #IsleofWight (and adjacent) people that this #surrealism show's on till 4 July, with a talk this coming Sunday

Day 1 of the @folkloresociety.bsky.social conference was really really good. I'd have been knackered anyway, having arrived in Aberdeen this morning on the overnight train from London, but I'm also fizzy tired with Good Stuff. More tomorrow!

Ohhh. He was a terrific Frank N Furter.

You must forgive me for not writing for so long, but I just wanted to be on my own for a couple of years or so.

Plus this arrived today

Well, lookee here.

Have nearly cut my conference paper to appropriate length. I'm now at the sweet spot where it's already incomprehensible but still too long. I could just summarise it as me shouting 'Dialectics, people!' for 20 minutes.

Folklorist wrestling emic considerations of 'tradition' and 'traditional song'

Paper has now become 'What I did on my holidays in a bad mood'.

That point in a conference paper draft where I'm quoting Michael Gorman's approval of rock'n'roll and his comment that 'Elvin, Elvin Priesley; he's nice'.

'Do you have one that is exotic AND satanic?'

The new Folk London is at the printers and will go out to readers next week. Featuring: * Duncan McTaggart on the joys of the London folk scene * Clive Woolf at 80: on playing with Gaughan – and a brush with death * Reviews, news, listings and more Preorder here: folklondon.co.uk/product/june...

Teiresias wields the scissors

@katrinanavickas.bsky.social been meaning to reach out and send solidarity but won't age verify for DMs here (social media platforms viewing my id can get in the sea) and don't want to use work emails. So I'm doing it here.

Today staff in the School of Creative Arts, including the Humanities department, were called to a redundancy consultation meeting. We were informed that 23 posts were to go by August this year, with further redundancies as the Humanities programmes are taught out over 2 years.

Went down a joyous Split Enz rabbit hole again (doesn't take much), so thank you @steviechick.bsky.social. The emotional memories are as idiosyncratic and distinctive as the music. Like washing my hair at my friend Jul's, but not being able to stop till I'd finished singing One Step Ahead to myself.

The author 'recalls his life in America and Europe from 1890 to his death in 1976'. That's quite a claim for an autobiography.

Working day ends well by accidentally coming across some classic Congolese yodelling.

So, this coincides with local 'literary festival' making first announcement of guests. Not as many Tory MPs as last year, but just as many celebrity chefs. At this point I'd settle for a celeb guest saying their qualification for attendance was having got drunk with their ghostwriter.

I think a preliminary requirement for some of these commentators would be to learn what 'citation' actually means.

And we'll have a session from Slush Machine Fire in a couple of weeks...

Going to set up an early music vocal septet - The Magnificat Seven

This afternoon's concert by @ifagiolini.bsky.social was stunning. Of the Verdis, I definitely prefer Monty to Giuseppe

It wasn't particularly a surprise, as he'd been in poor health for a while, but I'm extremely saddened to learn of the death of Ian Russell. He was a supportive, humane and rather brilliant scholar. Raise a glass and sing a song in his memory.

Very excited about a Monteverdi performance this afternoon. Confusingly, though, the 1610 Vespers starts at 16:00. I think there'll be chaos.

I'm excited and proud that the new Journal of American Folklore will feature a short 'perspective on crisis' piece by the excellent Matthew Cheeseman and myself, based on our work with the Folklore Without Borders network. That first 'and', which should be 'by', makes our ambition sound odd, though!

A particularly anxious student has now received official confirmation of their pass, and has sent me a very sweet thank-you email. I'd been worried that they were too wracked to have been enjoying the course, but it seems not. I'm pleased.

I’ve spent too much of today tackling a domestic plumbing situation*. I’m gauging my descent from hysteria by stages of normalisation: blagging a book off a friend; pre-ordering the forthcoming @wakefieldpress.bsky.social Jean Ray only 2 months ahead of publication; putting my jewellery back.

London types! You want Black Holes? The awesome @jonasenander.bsky.social's got 'em. He's an ace champion of popular science communication, and this looks excellent

I went to the private view of this on Friday night. I have known and loved Patrick Hourihan's work for a long time, and this is every bit as wonderful as I expected. If you're within striking distance, go, go, go. You will be astonished. hlsi.org.uk/whats-on/dar... #surrealism

Quote with a GIF of a powerful woman

Herts' decision to axe pretty much all its humanities UG courses feels a new low, even for UK HE. But the History issue cuts deep. I did my PhD in that dept, and one of its most impressive features was cultivation of a combined research culture across /all/ student levels.

On Friday afternoon before the Bank Holiday, colleagues in the Humanities department were called to a meeting on Tuesday. They were informed that the University Portfolio Review had decided that English Language, English Literature, Philosophy, History & Creative Writing UG degrees would close

This is wanton self-destructive savagery.

Local polling station was like Nuremberg with zimmer frames.

I can scarcely breathe with excitement about this.

'I have been reading Appian on the Roman Civil Wars... Spartacus is revealed as the most splendid fellow in the whole of ancient history. Great general (no Garibaldi), noble character, real representative of the ancient proletariat.' Happy birthday Karl Marx

#IoW #Folk types - I'm doing a short set (5-6 songs) in the Waverley folk night at Carisbrooke tomorrow, Wed, from 7pm. They are billing me as a 'traditional folkist'. I'm glad we got that cleared up.

Post your warning sign

Found this browsing a website shop today.

Post your warning sign

Nothing distracts me from working quicker than someone posting the Radiators in their pomp. (And yes, any picture of Phil Chevron will distract me).

Viz my previous post about cat books and cats

Reviewing two books about cats and folklore. In a sudden rush I got down the words 'Cats are bellends', but seem to have ground to a halt thereafter.

@oneeyegrey.bsky.social One for you?

Happy 85th Birthday to Ann Margret! She's a great dancer, but is she better than Billy Dainty? Only one way to find out!

'... a former dancer with the nearby Blackwell [morris dance] side, which ceased performing around 1867 when their fiddler was struck by lightning'

I don't often dream music, but last night's call-and-response choral stanza was great: [Leader] I would have you to think [All] Over Eccleshall's grave [Leader] I would have you to think [All, rall.] Over E-e-eclesha-a-all's graaaaave