I must say, though, that my PoCo bombshell was somewhat muted; loads of my 1st years had read Wide Sargasso Sea.

Also, good meetup & discussion of different PhD demographics & their needs/approaches with @lizith and @SarahR_H this morning.

Good student engagement with Jane Eyre. Covered dreams, genre and postcolonial aspects. Reader, they loved it.

1/10 Falmer #uksnow

Although I swore never again, this workshop also relies on the tech working. Fingers crossed. Toes too.

Teaching a workshop on backing up your academic work today. Want someone to ask me about Unison, but think most will be happy w/ @crashplan

With its deadly drones, the US is fighting a coward's war | George Monbiot

http://gu.com/p/355d2

Mighty cold waiting for the train today! No snow sighted, though.

First batch of Orbit submissions going into copy-, and layout- editing stages! https://www.pynchon.net

Rod Liddle's attack on disability cannot be ignored | Frances Ryan

http://gu.com/p/355xb

"The horror is that ... we live in a world in which we can no longer imagine a better one" Adorno in @VersoBooks' "Towards a New Manifesto"

For the record, that was a joke and not true advocacy of violence. #twitterjoke

Khairul Aizat Kamarudzzaman: Building a Ubuntu Package for DNSCrypt-proxy http://blog.myfenris.net/?p=864

Influence of Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow on "Neon Genesis Evangelion"? Perhaps just paranoia ;) http://www.cydeweys.com/blog/2012/01/19/gravitys-evangelion/

Observation on '90s music culture: The Grid are just The KLF without the irony.

Finished my Jane Eyre re-read-through for teaching this week. Love teaching this text; post-colonialism, feminism, romantic to realist.

John R. W. Speller, Bourdieu and Literature http://www.apieceofmonologue.com/2012/01/speller-pierre-bourdieu-literature-free.html

William Gaddis: J R and The Recognitions http://www.apieceofmonologue.com/2012/01/william-gaddis-jr-recognitions.html

You can now use Arch Linux's pacman package manager on apt distros. The question is: why on earth would you want to? http://lifehacker.com/5880003/pacapt-brings-arch-linuxs-amazing-pacman-package-manager-to-other-linux-distributions-well-sort-of

Philanthropy is the enemy of justice | Robert Newman

http://gu.com/p/353qn

Bash the poor and wave the flag – how this Tory trick works | Jonathan Freedland

http://gu.com/p/354a2

This impotence over Stephen Hester and the bankers looks like a suicide strategy | Marina Hyde

http://gu.com/p/3545x

First draft of my Ph.D is done! http://bit.ly/wsjW3N #hurrah #PhD #PhDchat

Piece in @timeshighered on alt HE structures. Glad this message spreading; furthers my @GdnHigherEd w/ @jennifermjones http://bit.ly/j7aR2v

E Weitzman in “No Fun: Aporias of Pleasure in Adorno’s Aesthetic Theory” consistently miscites C. Lui as "Liu". That would really annoy me.

Michael Gove criticised for awarding public funds to organisation he advised http://gu.com/p/353h3/tw via @guardian

Scientists Organize Elsevier Boycott http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/qcGHAvhFO80/scientists-organize-elsevier-boycott

Petition demanding #RBS chief refuses his massive bonus http://38d.gs/rbsbonus @RBS_MediaTeam

Persepolis trial in Tunisia is postponed again http://gu.com/p/353m2/tw via @guardian

Now grappling with the tricky issue of pleasure in Adorno's aesthetics. "In the false world all ηδονη [pleasure] is false".

Sick of income inequality. Cap max salary, including bonus, at £60k. If that deters the rich, there are many unemployed who'll take it.

His bonus + salary alone would let us pay for over 1000 disabled people's care. Each of those a life. /end of rant

We "can't afford" to give seriously disabled ppl £40/wk (£2k/yr). RBS (public owned) chief gets £900k + £1m salary http://bit.ly/AchbiC

Some very good points on this @GdnHigherEd talk point re. iBooks. Closed stack, non-free and more. http://bit.ly/wBe2iI

"spEak You're bRanes" brilliant, as ever, on Dellingpole and Liddle. http://ifyoulikeitsomuchwhydontyougolivethere.com/2012/01/27/the-obvious-conclusion/

Biopolitical Experience: Foucault, Power and Positive Critique (2012) http://foucaultnews.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/biopolitical-experience-foucault-power-and-positive-critique-2012/

Google and Bing accused of directing users to illegal copies of music http://gu.com/p/3539y/tw via @guardian < and so it begins in the UK #sopa

Ace interview with Lee 'Scratch' Perry http://gu.com/p/353bf/tw via @guardian

The plus side of today is that I finished a book + associated journal review, read some Pynchon articles & wrote some thesis. Illness, pah.

Hmmm. Seriously flagging with illness now. Thinking of going straight home to bed. Sorry @GdnHigherEd, @theNHJ et al.

Interesting conversations on transgender pronouns and singular "they" going on between @GuardianJessica and others at the moment.

I know that's what I'll be doing.

It would immensely improve my research and mirth were the next Pynchon book to mention high/low culture index with the form "Duck, Donald".

Do the weather forecasters used by the Daily Mail actually exist? | George Monbiot http://gu.com/p/352qz/tw via @guardian

Sign out, sign in fixed it.

Anybody else getting "Error 400 bad request" on Gmail?

Going to attempt a brief appearance early on at the @GdnHigherEd HE tweetup tonight. Still feeling somewhat poorly, so won't be extensive.

Adorno terminology: αρχαί http://bit.ly/xOXuyD #Adorno #definition #greek

It's not too late to save the NHS from the barbarians | Seumas Milne

http://gu.com/p/35xmz

Forthcoming feminism in academia event at University of Nottingham http://feminismandausterity.wordpress.com/

Damn. Wasted morning. Hospital can't give the immune system therapy because I already have an infection.

"What movie posters have in common" http://bit.ly/xr78OO

I've read Pynchon's V. countless times, but the de-obfuscation in David Cowart's new book still seems revelatory. Good stuff. Recommended.

(For the record: I won't)

Received an email last night asking if I'd put links into my blog posts for money. Hmm. I wasn't the only one: http://bit.ly/yYrl5V

In hospital for my B-Cell depletion therapy. The race is on to get my day's work done before the sleepy drugs arrive.

My latest piece: Why arts events and academia make a winning partnership http://gu.com/p/35x8p/tw via @guardian

Apple Has Spent More Than $100 Million Suing Android Manufacturers http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/AkyMVItswL8/apple-has-spent-more-than-100-million-suing-android-manufacturers

First Fictions Festival at Sussex http://bit.ly/y3JTAc #Conferences #First_Fictions

Homeward bound from Brighton. Day of hospital joy tomorrow. #grumble

Pirate Bay moving to offer physical product downloads http://mdc.gd/Ao88Km

Taught de Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium Eater today in relation to this Will Self piece. Went well! http://mdc.gd/zg6ejn

Pynchon's California: Essay Collection http://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/node/44697

Foucault, Genealogy, Emergence: Re-Examining The Extra-Discursive (2011) http://foucaultnews.wordpress.com/2012/01/22/foucault-genealogy-emergence-re-examining-the-extra-discursive-2011/

Pretty sure I'm not well enough to teach today, really, but hey. #willstruggleon

Wow. Page #1 of David Cowart's new book mentions my new journal, Orbit. https://www.pynchon.net

Sketching out ideas for a new DFW article with @mountain_oflove live recordings playing in background.

I've gone to IPv6 http://bit.ly/ybMsfT #IPv6 #Technology

Protecting Your Assets: Backing up your Academic Work http://bit.ly/wofX6f #Backup #PhDchat #Technology

Recovering from illness by planning tomorrow's Lit class on prescriptivist vs descriptivist grammar. AKA. DFW's Consider the Lobster piece.

Thanks all for get well wishes!

Just to be clear, by "rough night", I don't mean a heavy drinking session, I mean being ill. #justrealisedhowthatsounded

Urgh. Have decided after an extremely rough night that am too ill for First Fictions day #3. Spend months planning then can't even go :(

Health reform in new crisis as MPs savage Andrew Lansley's plans

http://gu.com/p/34qqj

Thing about Ian Rankin I learned last night: he was going to do his Ph.D on Pynchon, but changed to Muriel Spark for funding!

Quick Fictions underway. Some excellent, some disturbing, some haunting, all quick! #firstfictions

Much like Thunderbirds, First Fictions is very much Go!

I suppose, though, that violates some sacrosanct principle by stating that some things just shouldn't be profitable, but should just be.

Willetts: look. Autonomy & tax breaks: fine. What we need for "quality" is obvious, though. Lots more state funding. More lecturers.

Off to a good start today with news of work where the worker pays. #despair

Off to @SussexUni to setup for @firstfictions!

"Sloppier than Fiction" http://xkcd.com/1006/

Could Ecuador be the most radical and exciting place on Earth? | Jayati Ghosh

http://gu.com/p/34pgq

Right. Off to sleep, then a frantic weekend of @firstfictions organization awaits! Exciting stuff!

Anyone goodish with sendmail config around? Screwed up my relaying and am a bit stuck...

Presumably this Apple Ed crap will require me to run Windows or Mac OS. Don't suppose any open standards, either. #amiright

Now onto final (yes, really final!) section of Ph.D thesis! I reckon it will take about 2500 more words. #phdchat

J. G. Ballard on the Disneyfication of Museums http://www.apieceofmonologue.com/2012/01/jg-ballard-museums-disney-past.html

Note to self: "ip route del default" on remote server will, of course, kill your ssh session. #facepalm

Fantastic interview with @Beathhigh and plug for @firstfictions on Radio 4 Front Row just now!

RE: Hi Adam, thanks for this; shortly after writing I was introduced to the delights of LSJ in both its electronic, a… http://disq.us/51b795

David Lynch on Music, Ideas and Brutality http://www.apieceofmonologue.com/2012/01/david-lynch-music-ideas-brutality.html

A Complete List of the Ancient Greek Terms in Adorno's Aesthetic Theory http://bit.ly/zr3Ukh #Adorno #greek #Lexicon

Tackling Open Source's Gender Issues http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/9eTWapjciYM/tackling-open-sources-gender-issues

Oh dear. The post on MS' new FS ("ReFS") has sparked some very tasteless Hans Reiser jokes on Slashdot.

Raspberry Pi $25 Linux Computer Now In Production (Video) http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/2-isbU4vWCM/raspberry-pi-25-linux-computer-now-in-production-video

John Hurt on Samuel Beckett and Krapp's Last Tape http://www.apieceofmonologue.com/2012/01/john-hurt-beckett-krapps-last-tape.html

If you were inclined to read only one part of Adorno's Aesthetic Theory, I suggest that part should be "Society".

Ian Rankin at First Fictions is almost sold out. If you want a ticket, now is the time. http://bit.ly/yhrxgB

. @lizgloyn I had to read it a few times but, sadly, I don't think it is. Could be wrong, but any sarcasm is not signalled very clearly...

"Pay-as-you-go lectures would give us real choice" http://gu.com/p/34jp8/tw via @guardian < this is such a bad idea it's untrue

Adorno terminology: ζῷον πολιτικόν http://bit.ly/zywqB3 #Adorno #definition #greek

YA novel readers clash with publishing establishment

http://gu.com/p/34ymx

Ed Miliband leading Labour to destruction, says union chief

http://gu.com/p/34m8k

Good lineup for 19 Jan @SussexUni debate on Culture & Heritage. http://bit.ly/rYz693 inc. P. Boxall (my supervisor!) #sussexconvo

Two thesis sections (~6k words I reckon) left to write. #phdchat #thefinalcountdown

House Kills SOPA http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/g1c3PAsUHNM/house-kills-sopa

Ian Rankin (@beathigh) wants tax incentives to help new authors http://gu.com/p/34ykj/tw via @guardian with a @firstfictions mention!

. @HallyMk1 true. Also, as the largest company in the world it seems clear to me that they also have the largest responsibility.

... and before I get flamed for that retweet: yes, I'm sure Android manufacturers are just as bad. That does not make it OK, in either case.

Batman http://xkcd.com/1004/

Gove. SIgh.

Misunderstanding the Question: ‘What is Enlightenment?’: Venturi, Habermas, and Foucault (2011) http://foucaultnews.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/misunderstanding-the-question-what-is-enlightenment-venturi-habermas-and-foucault-2011

Apparently, Scots, you'd be taking a "massive economic risk" by breaking away. Is that a greater risk than having Osborne as chancellor?

Sure, you can 'work'. Just don't expect a job at the end of it | Catherine Bennett http://gu.com/p/34yxc/tw via @guardian

Orton and Halliwell added a previously unknown play to the canon of Emlyn Williams, the unlikely "Fucked by Monty".

Joe Orton's Defaced Books at the Islington Museum http://bit.ly/zcsIZ3 #Exhibition #Joe_Orton

Is the Green party the only party of the Left left?

For those thinking of doing DFW + IJ, @Infinite_Winter may be of interest. cc. @tomwaitsripoff

#myResearch explores the interaction between the novels of Thomas Pynchon and the philosophy of Wittgenstein, Foucault & Adorno. #phdchat

Ed Balls, otherwise known as The Mole.

Got to say that William Orbit's remixes album is pretty good.

Politiche della verità. Michel Foucault e il neoliberalismo (2011) http://foucaultnews.wordpress.com/2012/01/13/politiche-della-verita-michel-foucault-e-il-neoliberalismo-2011/

Microsoft to Prevent Linux Booting on ARM Hardware? http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/d0od/~3/FTjBtsedzSM/

Adorno terminology: τοδε τι http://bit.ly/zIFTXE #Adorno #definition #greek

Adorno terminology: τέχνη http://bit.ly/Arvdop #Adorno #definition #greek

Didn't especially enjoy de Quincey's Confessions of an Opium Eater, although interesting to teach. Treating myself to DFW on the train today

Afraid that re-tweet is so so true.

Dean Atta: meet the iPhone poet

http://gu.com/p/34jad

Working title for that piece was "int universityThatTeachesCodingToAll = university + 1;", which I thought was pretty catchy...

It includes a fishing analogy and the phrase "Microsoft carp", so you'll want to read it.

My new post for @GdnHigherEd - teach programming to ALL for construction and critique http://bit.ly/ztTHEH #digitalliteracy

Had one of those bitty days where I've got a lot done, but feels dissatisfying because of fragmentation. Know the type?

I spy flying pigs. The Daily Mail has written something caring & right on welfare and disability. Good on @suey2y for all her work.

Seems I maligned Apple the other day; looks like that memo was a fake. http://bit.ly/wGURkT

Great parody ad & commentary on unrealistic standards of female beauty http://vimeo.com/34813864

Rage is building around my desk at the British Library. Somebody has his or her headphones on too loudly and we can hear it!

Adnorno terminology: θαυμαζειv http://bit.ly/xUjj4C #Adorno #definition #greek

Adorno terminology: κατ εξοχην http://bit.ly/xzner0 #Adorno #definition #greek

Adorno terminology: ἀγών (agon) http://bit.ly/wElQTu #Adorno #definition #greek

US Research Open Access In Peril http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/NUmcvwJmy4k/us-research-open-access-in-peril

This evening's work has reached a satisfactory conclusion as I am now submitting my journal article!

Our First Fictions conference in Brighton Magazine! Our First Fictions conference in Brighton Magazine! http://bit.ly/ymCgZ7 @firstfictions

Adorno terminology: εποχη [and lengthy textual note] http://bit.ly/wxOxB6 #Adorno #definition #greek

Man at station in classic commodity fetish argument. "A teabag costs 5p. Hot water 10p." Poor woman in stall: "you'll pay me 15p to live?"

Pynchon get s a mention in comparison to Melville in "Le Corps appareillé: Figures littéraires de l''immachination'", Pensées du corps 2011

It's not P.T. Anderson, but someone has started an Inherent Vice adaptation http://bit.ly/ww10dO #Pynchon

Forget my riveting posts on Adorno & Pynchon, the thing to read today is @suey2y on disgraceful disability reform http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/08/disabled-people-welfare-reform-sham

US performance artist Vermin Supreme runs for president. Free ponies for all and many teeth-based puns. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNVOTtn96aM&feature=youtu.be

Adorno terminology: ηδονη http://bit.ly/zZvmJt #Adorno #definition #greek

Pynchon Character Etymology: Étienne Cherdlu http://bit.ly/yk1fnh #etymology #Pynchon

David Foster Wallace's Annotated Books http://www.apieceofmonologue.com/2012/01/foster-wallace-delillo-books-annotated.html

Leaked memo says Apple provides backdoor to governments http://bit.ly/AeQUD8

Assemblage/apparatus: using Deleuze and Foucault (2011) http://foucaultnews.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/assemblageapparatus-using-deleuze-and-foucault-2011/

Adorno terminology: καιρος http://bit.ly/yIt9xk #Adorno #definition #greek

Adorno Greek Lexicon project http://bit.ly/yKFsyl #Adorno #Dictionary #greek

That Adorno θέσει post was supposed to be scheduled for later in the week. Anyway, for those who rted and are interested, more forthcoming.

Adorno terminology: θέσει http://bit.ly/AcaVtL #Adorno #definition #greek

. @dzhimbo In fact, polling shows that the best way to make the party electable is to rename it "The Conservative Party"

Ed Miliband insists "he has a "very clear plan" for the future." < yep, plans to homogenize party and adopt austerity narrative.

Charles Dickens has been ruined by the BBC | Howard Jacobson
http://gu.com/p/34em8 < what total and utter shite

“@ElizaTalks: RT @amy_odonnell: horrific - reports of thousands dead in massacre in #sudan http://bit.ly/AEiMjH” < @guardian: get on this

Watt: Samuel Beckett's Wartime Manuscripts http://www.apieceofmonologue.com/2012/01/manuscript-samuel-beckett-watt-doodles.html

So much great work done on disability campaigning by @suey2y. Seriously, follow her and do what you can to help.

"The Mayor is opposed to using independent healthcare professionals to provide advice on an‘individual’s condition’."

I don't like his policies, & it could be politically motivated, but B. Johnson has done something right on disability http://scr.bi/yXWtPj

Note to self. ἐποχή means different things in contemporary, as opposed to ancient, Greek. #facepalm

Adorno terminology: άλλο γένος http://bit.ly/ycJ8cN #Adorno #definition #greek

Remarkable similarity between early Foucault and late Adorno on madness and art.

Adorno terminology: χωρισμός / chorismos http://bit.ly/yv22eH #academia #Adorno #definition

Front page of Metro claims a woman has been "tamed" because she is pregnant. Nope, not settling down, "tamed". #2012 #feminism #pandagate

There are few things more annoying than getting to the station and realising you've left the heating on at home.

JRR Tolkien's Nobel prize chances dashed by 'poor prose'

http://gu.com/p/34f89

David Edgar: why should we fund the arts?

http://gu.com/p/34ey4

The Irish village that said 'no' to austerity http://gu.com/p/34fc9/tw via @guardian

If you're interested in the Scott centenary, these truly amazing folk songs are based on the diaries; Dulwich 13/01/12 http://www.thegooseisout.com/events.html#jakew

A Nietzschean reading of Foucauldian thinking: constructing a project of the self within an ontology of becoming (2011) http://foucaultnews.wordpress.com/2012/01/06/a-nietzschean-reading-of-foucauldian-thinking-constructing-a-project-of-the-self-within-an-ontology-of-becoming-2011/

Question for undergrads. Do you want to be taught by people who know the research, thinking and scholarship, or by the people who did it?

Re last tweet: grim

Tutors asked by OU to help students pay fees http://ind.pn/vi1FVu

Today I begin work on the final 10k chunk of my PhD. Fair bit of annotation on Adorno's Aesthetic Theory before it's done, but not long now!

Foucauldian Power and Schmittian Politics: The Craft of Constitution (2011) http://foucaultnews.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/foucauldian-power-and-schmittian-politics-the-craft-of-constitution-2011

Spent this evening beginning the first set of proofs for Orbit 1,1. Going well!

Feel a re-install of OS coming on (new SSD!), but now experimenting with remastersys for the first time, hoping for an easier transfer.

Roberto Bolaño on Lost Books http://www.apieceofmonologue.com/2012/01/roberto-bolano-lost-books-between.html

Critics review Don DeLillo's The Angel Esmeralda: Nine Stories http://www.apieceofmonologue.com/2012/01/don-delillo-angel-esmeralda-nine.html

Anyone running CM9 on SGS2? Opinions on general state of usability?

The only known inscribed Pynchon book with a presentation letter http://bit.ly/w2CGrf

How many notes would a virtuoso violinist pay for a Stradivarius? http://gu.com/p/34dgh/tw via @guardian

Middle-age: A User's Manual #lessambitiousbooks

Limited Mirth #lessambitiousbooks cc @yorgos_maragos

Review for Literature and History journal [X]

Comment of the day: "I understant itìs a beta version but the applications should work fine." No. No, you don't understand.

I'll be sticking to Android, thanks.

Am I missing something? To develop an iPhone app, I must own an iPhone. And a Mac. Sounds profitable.

Turns out this guy threatening me has a history and was banned from University of British Columbia campus http://j.mp/u9IQKT

I'm sure they'll take that VERY seriously.

"Clayton Burns PhD", whose incomprehensible, rambling blog comments I deleted, threatens to report me to my PhD supervisors & @GdnHigherEd