2000-01 Semester 1 Week 7 Saturday (cont.) ‘So is this like the RAE that Miles was telling me about the other day?’ asks Tanja, who is fascinated now, despite herself. ‘Sort of,’ says Miles. ‘The RAE is another government … Continue reading →
2000-01 Semester 1 Week 7 Saturday (cont.) Tanja’s raised voice has attracted the attention of Lily again, and Miles, who is starting to look uneasily at Tanja. While Tanja is busy berating Ren (who is trying to send a … Continue reading →
2000-01 Semester 1 Week 7 Saturday (cont.) ‘Ren? Are you listening?’ says Tanja. Oh yes. Tanja’s question. Ignoring it hasn’t made it go away like he hoped it would. ‘Can you ever know yourself?’ says Ren to remind himself … Continue reading →
2000-01 Semester 1 Week 7 Saturday (cont.) ‘Ren,’ says Tanja, who clearly wants to change the subject to something more deserving of her attention, ‘what do you think of the idea that you can never know yourself?’ Ren sighs. … Continue reading →
2000-01 Semester 1 Week 7 Saturday The Lorenzos, plus Miles’ new girlfriend Tanja, and Jay, a scientist friend of Douglas’s from some other science department which Ren didn’t quite catch, are at The Head of Steam, a railway-themed pub … Continue reading →
2000-01 Semester 1 Week 7 Tuesday ‘It’s like you’re asking for trouble,’ says Lily. ‘Moi?’ says Ren. ‘I’m such a shy and retiring type. Why are you hanging back?’ ‘I’ll think I’ll let you go in first.’ ‘And you’ll … Continue reading →
2000-01 Semester 1 Week 6 Thursday Ren drops by Compton’s office for a chat. ‘I was thinking about our discussion about Robot, and how he misleads us when he says his concern is the department,’ Ren says. ‘We agree … Continue reading →
2000-01 Semester 1 Week 6 Wednesday Ren runs into Tristram in the corridor. ‘And how are you settling into the job, Ren?’ asks Tristram. ‘It’s rather hectic, but no great complaints so far, other than having to stay up … Continue reading →
After the seminar the Lorenzos decamp to the nearest coffee bar, where they sit next to Douglas’ colleague Garrett Slade. ‘The University can stuff this fucking titty teaching course into the Vice Chancellor’s combined vagina, anus and mouth, wherever he … Continue reading →
‘The Yamaluta symbolises the illusory nature of experience. How we should not trust what we see or are told. It enjoins us to look behind the apparent.’ ‘Good advice,’ says Ren. ‘I’m glad you wore that, otherwise I might have … Continue reading →
‘So Jakobsen treats Saussure’s dichotomous formulations dialectically, right?’ says Balderstone. ‘He insists on the close relationship between form and meaning within a state of dynamic synchrony.’ ‘What are “dichotomous formulations”?’ asks Miles. Ren briefly raises his sleepy head from the … Continue reading →
2000-01 Semester 1 Week 6 Tuesday Ren and Miles are having a coffee at the cafeteria when a haughty-looking man with a beaked face, who looks to be in his mid-to-late thirties, sits down next to them. ‘Hello Miles,’ … Continue reading →
2000-01 Semester 1 Week 5 Tuesday Later Ren goes to see Compton to find out if he has heard anything more about George’s condition. He hasn’t. ‘I notice,’ Ren says, ‘that Robot is always talking about doing what’s best … Continue reading →
2000-01 Semester 1 Week 5 Tuesday Lunch consists of unpleasant triangular sandwiches. The bread tastes like no bread he’s ever eaten before, not even cheap supermarket bread. Some sort of hardened industrial foam, perhaps, that’s been sprayed with a … Continue reading →
2000-01 Semester 1 Week 5 Tuesday Last in is Simon Pastygill, a young Senior Lecturer, a publishing success, and a rising analytic star. Or, as Ren thinks of him, a spotty and pale weed with a creepy, lopsided smile, … Continue reading →
