Tag Archives: Birmingham

Rousse reviews the retired and retro

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Dreamaticus

“What a coincidence, Struther Arnott was here just yesterday”, I commented to Brian Lang as he took a seat on the big green sofa in our sitting room. “I wonder what it is with retired principals of St Andrews University? … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged appliance, appliances, Belling, Belling Compact Super Four electric cooker, Birmingham, Brian Lang, British Library, coincidence, colleague, colleagues, cooker, father-in-law, furniture, hand, hands, house, kitchen, marker, mural, noise, pen, pens, Principal, retired, retro, sitting room, smile, St Andrews, St Andrews University, Struther Arnott, TPR, unit, units, Vice Chancellor, workmen | Leave a comment

Peep Show’s Super Hans seeks new recruits to his “Moonys” cult (Rousse)

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Dreamaticus

It was a huge journey from Prague overland, but I eventually made it back to the UK – even though I was minus my pale green fake fur coat, lost by a fat middle-aged woman at a ball in Austria. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Austria, autumn, Balham, ball, bed, beds, Bertie, Birmingham, bus, campus, car, centre, city, coat, concession, cotton, cult, dress, fake, fake fur, footwear, fur, gap, garden, gay, geoologist, ginger, green, High Street Kensington, Kensington, lesbian, lettering, mall, matt king, middle-aged, passenger, passengers, pay, Peep Show, Prague, recruit, recruits, red-haired, redhead, roof, Russell and Bromley, shoes, shop, shopping, station, summer, Super Hans, term, transit van, trip, tube, university, van, warehouse, woman, work | Leave a comment

An undesirable neighbour (Rousse)

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Dreamaticus

We moved back to Birmingham into a large Victorian house on a busy road. Our new next door neighbour wore a long dark beard and kept his hair tied up in a black turban. He told us that he was … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged attack, Birmingham, boat, boats, bread, business, canal, car, car park, cook, crane, cranes, dirt, father, filth, house, inherit, Korea, neighbour, neighbourhood, neighbours, office, parking, physical, potatoes, rental, road, roof, turban, undesirable, Victorian | Leave a comment

Doctor doctor, where did the PhD graduate sign on? (Rousse)

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Dreamaticus

The good news was that I passed my second PhD. I proudly boasted that I had beaten VE to the title of “Doctor Doctor”. However, I still needed to find a job, and in the meantime decide whether I would … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Birmingham, Bristol, doctor, doctoral, doctorate, dole, graduate, job, PhD, second, sign on, Stockton-on-Tees, thesis | Leave a comment

Miss Piggy’s plastic surgery and GCHQ’s latest discovery (Rousse)

Posted on December 22, 2012 by Dreamaticus

“Miss Piggy was the first animal to go under the knife”, said I, the renowned expert on plastic surgery for pets. The conversation continued as we hobbled along the country lane that ran alongside the M5. The tramp was good … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bell, Birmingham, catherdral, Cheltenham, conversation, cosmetic, cosmetic surgery, element, GCHQ, knife, M5, Miss Piggy, path, pet, pets, plastic, plastic surgery, scientist, scientists, surgery, tramp, twoer, woman, Worcester | Leave a comment

Rob Brydon and Sarah Millican top Rousse’s bill

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Dreamaticus

Our timing was perfect. The family that had bought our little house in Birmingham was away for Christmas, so we could just move straight back in. At first the neighbours were suspicious, but one by one we won them over. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Birmingham, Cheshire, Christmas, Edinburgh, family, friend, Friends, gig, gigs, house, neighbour, neighbours, Rob Brydon, Sarah Millican, Sunderland, suspicious, tea, timing, woman | Leave a comment

William Morris book design determines undergraduate reading habits (Rousse)

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Dreamaticus

Now that the degree results had been published it was time to prepare for the graduation ceremony on campus at the University of Birmingham. Of course, TPR would be in the audience as usual, and I invited my nephew P … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged arts and crafts, audience, bedroom, Birmingham, book, Borås, campus, ceremony, certificate, certificates, clothes, cover, degree, design, display, exemption, exemptions, fighter, graduands, graduation, Great Hall, guest, guests, hair, librarian, librarians, library, library school, library schools, neighbour, neighbours, nephew, niece, page, parents, primary, pub, publication, publications, random, Reading, results, school, stage, study, Swedish School of Library and Information Science, T shirt, TPR, undergraduate, University of Birmingham, unshaven, William Morris | Leave a comment

Rousse’s encounter with the England World Cup winners

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Dreamaticus

I had to travel from Birmingham to London to check out the venue for the following day’s conference. While the others piled into cars and minibuses, I wandered around the car park regretting that I had not arranged a lift. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Birmingham, campus, car, car park, cars, chocolate, commiteee, Edinburgh Folk Club, England, football, hero, heroes, hitchhiker, iPhone, lift, London, member, MG7, minibus, minibuses, PowerPoint, presentation, reports, shop, south, sweet, team, vehicle, winners, World Cup | Leave a comment

How to get (another) PhD (Rousse)

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Dreamaticus

The Birmingham University reunion switched venue to Aberystwyth. There I caught up with SC, HW and CP and others – supposedly to reminisce about our undergraduate days, but in practice to moan about the deficiencies of the modern-day husband. Also … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged assessment, Birmingham, Birmingham University, films, French, husband, husbands, language, literature, novels, pact, panic, PhD, strategy, undergraduate, University of Birmingham | Leave a comment

Gothic goings on (Belle)

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Dreamaticus

It was past midnight and I had no idea why the dog and I had been socialising in this part of town. Walking up Ludgate Hill we were suddenly plunged into complete darkness and I had to feel my way … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bat, battlements, Birmingham, black cat, castle, chorus, dog, duvet, London, Ludgate Hill, singing, South Bank, taxi, vase, window | Leave a comment