Alexander R. Phillips
@arphillips
Assistant professor of English at Ashoka University, read: rogue Germanist in India. Author: "Ecology and German Realism." Literature, ecocriticism, environmental humanities, C19. I cycle, I make beer, I think about books for money.
#UKtoGermany2026, Km. 264: Stonehenge and environs. Don't just admire the stones, wander the area, explore the barrows, stop by Woodhenge and Durrington Walls. Knowing that the greater area has been a special place for most of the Holocene makes one feel small.
Had a wonderful two weeks in Cambridge. Now it's time to ride to Germany. #UKtoGermany2026, km. 0.
#UKCycleTour2026 is done. 2521km total. First order of business will be a shower.
#UKCycleTour2026, Km 2351: Nottingham. An obsession with the Robin Hood legend when I was five might have been an early milestone in the formation of my class consciousness.
#UKCycleTour2026: While you were in a heatwave, I was cold and wet in the Scottish Highlands. But for that the pictures are all the more dramatic.
#UKCycleTour2026, km 1297-1409: a rewarding day #cycling the Scottish Highlands.
#UKCycleTour2026, km 1017: Coastal Northumbria. This is nice.
#UKCycleTour2026: Somerleyton, last of my Sebald "Rings of Saturn" stops. The next tour of the manor isn't until Tuesday, so I can't report on the quails. Hope they're doing better than in August 1992.
#UKCycleTour2026, km 256: Lowestoft. More Sebald "Rings of Saturn" tourism. Sebald slathers on the melancholy, and pointing out that some of these places are more pleasant than he makes out is cheap. But can report that Lowestoft in 2026 accords with his description in the novel.
#UKCycleTour2026, km 199: More Sebald Rings of Saturn, the bridge over the Blyth. Sebald connects this bridge to the history of European destabilization of China in the 19th century. The contemporary footbridge replaced the one built for the railway that maybe was meant for the Chinese emperor.
#UKCycletour2026, km 188, der Sog der Leere. More WG Sebald "Rings of Saturn" tourism to #Dunwich. Dunwich was an important medieval trading port up to 1286, when a catastrophic storm closed the harbor. Over centuries the city was washed to sea by erosion.
#UKCycleTour2026, km. 155: The WG Sebald "Rings of Saturn" portion begins with Orford. The National Trust runs a ferry over twice a week, but timing didn't work for me. Sebald paid a guy off to take him, but the island is a sensitive bird habitat, so I'll content myself with this view.
Mapping out my #UKCycleTour2026. First leg will hit up some of the spots from W.G. Sebald's "Rings of Saturn:" Orfordness, Dunwich, the Saints, the bridge over the river Blyth, and Somerleyton. #cycling #litwiss
Now in rotation: Bhuta's Belgian Blonde. The T-58 yeast gives it a wonderful spice. #Homebrewing
The cats were definitely interested, and apparently mine aren't the first?
Can I make it dry-eyed through this movie about a cat in danger? Let's find out.
Now in rotation: Showboat IPA, so named for a very show-offy three-legged cat I met once. #Homebrewing #BilliBräu
In addition to starting with vinyl, I'm Rebuilding my CD collection. Now listening to these recordings of Mahler 5&6. My mother let me have them last fall. It wasn't just these symphonies or recordings, but these specific objects that shaped my musical tastes in my early teens. Glad to have them.
A present to myself. I'm making good on my renewed commitment to physical media. Max Richter is spinning. A human being sold me this record.
