Mark Taylor-Batty

This is incredibly grim

My 14-year old lad insists that there needs to be a Wild Opera vinyl release, and has designed the deluxe edition tracklisting. Just in case you needed a nudge @timbowness.bsky.social and @stevenwilsonhq.bsky.social

Methuen Drama Engage series Call for Proposals with book jackets

“Reliably excellent.” – The Year's Work in Critical & Cultural Theory

Interested in contributing to the Methuen Drama Engage series, edited by Mark Taylor-Batty @cupofassam.bsky.social & Enoch Brater?

We’re welcoming proposals now. Details here: https://bit.ly/3T7T6tG

There were a lot of people hanging about in Shipley market square last night.

Prog rock trivia. It is now the same amount of time since the last Genesis studio album as there was between their first and that last studio album.

More time has elapsed between the release of the Beatles’ Anthology series and the new Anthology 4 this year, than between the Beatles disbanding and that first 3 Anthology releases.

Me (1985), my son (2025), same @marillion.com t-shirt, same garden.

Watching Live Aid in iPlayer. I was 18 and it was the summer before going to university.

Looking back, even the old people look young. The oldest songs performed were only twenty years old or so at that time.

The coffee at the Greek Corner in Shipley is reliably good. Thought I’d try the baklava today. Fantastic, but at £6.50 it needs to be! (Yes, I checked).

Thinking back to the Oasis/Blur rivalry, and how it was paralleled to the Beatles/Stones in the media if the time. Despite their overt homages to the Beatles, Oasis played The Rolling Stones role in that parallel. They had none of the invention, eclecticism and progression, which Blur so clearly did

The British national anthem, God save the King/Queen* originally contained a verse about crushing the Scots. Don't sing it at Glastonbury.

*Delete as appropriate

The ‘tamed’ (‘apprivoisé’) here never does justice to that sense of comfort you find in the intimacy and proximity you construct with true friendship/love bonds. But adjoining emotional responsibility/accountability to that mutuality is key to Saint-Exupéry’s message.

Yesterday was the 125th anniversary of the birth of Antiine de Saint-Exupéry, author of Le Petit Prince, the first book I ever translated (as a gift to my then girlfriend). “You are forever responsible toward those you have tamed”.

You were crucial, focussed, informed, balanced and determined. Thanks for all your work.

Employment Tribunal rejects claims University and College Union discriminated against members on grounds of their gender critical beliefs The University and College Union has successfully defended claims against it in an Employment Tribunal from two UCU members who claim they had been discriminated against and harassed by the union beca...

www.ucu.org.uk/article/1404...

Romana II - Princess Astra
The Master - Consul Tremas
6th Doctor - Commander Maxil
12th Doctor - Lobus Caecilius
16th Doctor - Rose Tyler?

#regenerationadoptions

My home-made custard creams no longer look worthwhile.

I am in awe.

At #UCU2025 we passed motions to reaffirm our commitment to trans rights.

We’ll keep fighting for inclusive spaces, supportive policies and real solidarity.

#TransRightsAreHumanRights #UCU2025 #UnionPower

YouTube video by The Regrettes The Regrettes - Seashore [Official Music Video]

I dedicate this to female friends currently putting up with crap.

youtu.be/Iiqf2R462lo?...

Motion passed to raise a dispute with the education secretary over the goverment's failure to fund our sector

#UCU2025 congress has passed a motion to prepare to raise a formal dispute with the Education Secretary over the devastating funding crisis in higher education.

Our message is clear: if Labour won’t intervene, we will.

#UCU2025 #ProtectEducationNow #UnionPower #Post16Crisis #HigherEducation

Absolute scenes in Liverpool. Celebrations everywhere. Some kind of football thing. Not a language I speak, so can’t translate. Great vibe.

#UCU2025 Congress has voted to raise a trade dispute with the government.

@drjogrady.bsky.social On BBC Radio 4 this morning our general secretary @drjogrady.bsky.social lays out the stark reality of the crisis facing our sector

Will we ever CI to eye with employers on Conditional Indexation Quite a lot of thoughts about conditional indexation (CI) and the USS pension scheme in the run up to UCU HE Sector conference.

#UCU2025 as it is Sector Conference today, and we will be talking about USS and the ongoing sceptical exploration of CI here is something I wrote on this last year
medium.com/@sarahcjoss/...

I am standing. Please vote for me, Vicky & Jackie
🧵

Definitely checking this out. Probably not first date material.

Getting the train to the wrong side of the Pennines to the glorious port of Liverpool for the UCU congress. HE and FE need a solid set of resolutions in the current climate.

I had fun watching the practical presentations of the Avant Garde Theatre students of the University of Lincoln yesterday. From Dada to the Absurd, via Artaud and biomechanics. Thinking and articulating through practice is not easy. Great work.

Trump administration halts Harvard’s ability to enroll international students Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem posts copy of department’s letter to university on X

This is a clear cut coordination policy intended to force independent institutions into loyalty with the regime. It is obviously the behaviour of an authoritarian state and anyone who claims otherwise needs their fucking head examined www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

A day at the University of Lincoln to watch students’ creative practice.

Letter: We are not strangers Letter to the editor

“I woke up with a sense of dread…”

A moving, deeply personal account from an EU citizen in Cambridge on how Labour’s new rhetoric is shaking people’s sense of belonging.

Don’t miss this powerful open letter. 👇