Author: martinjamesphd
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Montrachet
In the weird and wonderful world of wine incongruous buying opportunities endlessly present themselves. For example, a friend of mine bought a Bollinger Grande Annee at a local corner shop where they mispriced it as a standard bottle of Bollinger. The price difference is about £70. I too have had my victories over “the man,”…
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Summer Trip Day #3 – Bridlington & Flamborough
First and only nice weather of a 5-day round trip, although I got sun burn so it probably wasn’t a good thing! 😦 Bridlington was nonetheless flattered by the warm blue skies, and as much as I don’t like children it harked back to my own childhood to see them enjoying the traditional seaside pleasure…
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Summer Trip Day #1 – Whitby
Torrential rain aside it was a great experience! Having never visited and heard so much, it was nice to explore come rain or shine. Great shops, fish and chips, cobbled streets and picture postcard Yorkshire vistas. Oh, there’s a medieval abbey too, an inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula so I’m told.
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BUIRA & the return of conference season
For numerous reasons including the most obvious (Covid-19), I have not attended an in-person external work event since 2018. This changed when I had a minor role as part of the delivery team for the British Universities Industrial Relations Association (“BUIRA”) conference at the end of June 2022. I cannot overstate how enjoyable it was…
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Liverpool
I was too busy at the time to post about my trip to the north-west, specifically Liverpool and Chester. I hadn’t visited the former for 20 years and have never visited the latter. The centre of Liverpool is changed almost beyond recognition, and I genuinely loved the juxtaposition of old and new (although UNESCO does…
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Red Hot Chili Peppers
It took me 20 years but I finally got round to seeing the Red Hot Chili Peppers, having got into their music during my sky dive days when they were blasted out at Langar airbase throughout hot summers. What else would you pick? It’s the quintessential sound of clear blue skies and Bermuda shorts. Loved…
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Munch was more than just a scream
I took a trip to London (24th – 26th June 2022) with the original objective being to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers (see: https://martinjamesphd.com/2022/07/17/red-hot-chili-peppers/). As I was already there I thought I would squeeze in some culture of a very different type: I went to see “Masterpieces of Bergen,” a Edvard Munch exhibition at…
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Le Grand Collection
Throughout summer 2022 my footwear collection has continued to expand. We all know about the brutal return of double digit inflation but as far as I can tell, bargains can still be found in certain product categories. Fortunately for me, footwear is one such example. Expansion has led to re-arrangement of my storage spaces. I…
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Spring & Early Summer
It has to be the best time of year because the days get longer, the garden springs back to life, there’s a bank holiday every few weeks and you get to wear a single layer every now and again due to the warmer weather. Partly in relation, you feel a natural pull outdoors and cannot…
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Office Life
In my new job I have been very lucky in my office allocation, occupying the effortlessly cool BBS Lodge. I’ve invested a modest sum adding a few bits to personalise the space. I’m really happy there, makes me look forward to going to work!
Dr Martin James 