Roland Boer's Blog, page 93

Worst referee report ever

I've had some bad referee reports over time, but this one is a gem:

Veiled misgivings are a technique of yellow journalism; they ought not be permitted in scholarly work.

The author’s condescension toward intellectual commentary causes me dismay. Is it not fundamental to scholarship that one attempts to find in exceptional texts coherence and profound consistency not readily apparent to “us”? Is that not why we study and is that not how we learn? The sentiment the author expresses here is the odde

Death of the Author?

How is it that some writers can be so interesting and engaging on the page, and yet suck the air out of a room when they open their mouths to speak?[image error]

Telltale slips of the typing finger

I have been reading Roland Barthes (at last) and was taken with his question concerning typing slips we make consistently. Of course, Freud mentions that such slips are not mere mistakes, but tell us something about ourselves.

So which ones do I make regularly?

* 'saute' for 'salute'

* 'Bile' for 'Bible'

* 'move sin' for 'moves in' - or anything similar like 'gather sin' for ...

* 'Shaghai' for 'Shanghai'

Does anyone have some favourite slips of the typing finger (I might collate them and publish them

Book Cover for 'Political Grace'

Westminster John Knox - the press publishing Political Grace: The Revolutionary Theology of John Calvin - have just come up with cover for the book. I'm tickled red.



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The Economic 'Crisis', Zero-Growth, and Green Economics

Over the weekend now coming to an end a group of us have been peddling in the foothills (with the odd mountain thrown in) of the Hunter Valley. Within the first 15 km of the first day we had our heart-busting climb, over Sugarloaf Mountain from one river valley to the other. After dropping like stones to the valley below, we rode over rolling hills on quiet roads until we arrived at the pub in East Gresford – where the beds were cheap, clean, and without a bug to found. With the afternoon to rel

Off on a bicycle to Dungog

A group of us are off for a weekend of cycling in the foothills of the Hunter Valley.


There's the odd mountain climb. Or a stream to cross.


And an old pub with really cheap beds - probably with bugs and ghosts.



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Political Grace: First Review

The book isn't due out until July, but Jim West has already got his hands on the printer's manuscript and written up a review. I should say that in a complete lack of modesty I am thoroughly flattered. I even thought about going out to kiss and hug all the neighbours ...[image error]

Eco-slags

It is difficult to distinguish an eco-snag, an eco-slut, or indeed their mediation, the eco-slag. It boils down to the variations on zoophilia: one feels that all animals are cute (zoophilia), the second wishes to sleep with them (zooerasty) and third likes to exchange saliva with them via slobbery kisses, licks and loud sucking noises (zoolingus).[image error]

The best thing Churchill ever did

An old Scot once grumbled to me as we waited for a cup of tea, ‘The best thing Churchill ever did was persuade the Japanese to attack Pearl Harbour’.[image error]

World Naked Bicycle Ride (and my own effort)

Not everyone will know that Saturday was a great day in the annual religious calendar - World Naked Bike Day. Around the globe, cyclists shed their clothes and took to the road with it all hanging out.

The slogan for the ride is 'as bare as you dare'. And the point is that cyclists are 'naked' when it comes to cars, pollution, and safety. But there's also a decent element of anti-capitalist protest, rainbow colours and peace symbols painted on naked bums and backs.

Here in Nudecastle we had our