Jonathan Ervine
@jonathanervine
Senior lecturer in French at Bangor University. Author of 'Humour in Contemporary France' and publications about comedy, cinema and sport in France. From Scotland and powered by porridge.
The Tour de France may have finished at the weekend, but I'm prolonging it by continuing to read some fascinating books about its history and iconic moments.
Forget Danny Murphy's cat Bob, France Télévisions coverage of Tour de France is outdoing BBC World Cup coverage for randomness. At end of stage 15 in Jura, a presenter asked spectators how they thought area's renowned cheeses would describe themselves on Tinder.
Football's World Cup is finished? I'll just have to watch the Tour de France instead this week...
Enjoying 'The Great Bike Race', Geoffrey Nicholson's fascinating book about Tour de France. Full of fascinating insights, such as how Tour's first UK stage in 1974 was primarily driven by Bretons' desire to boost vegetable exports and promote then new Roscoff-Plymouth ferry.
Decent setting for reading a fantastic book about the last French winner of the Tour de France.
Yn Aberystwyth ar gyfer cynhadledd ymchwil y Coleg Cymraeg yn Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru lle rydw i'n cyflwyno papur am bêl-droed a hunaniaeth Geltaidd yn Llydaw. Wedi dod â hêt fawr achos mae hi'n mor boeth.
Delighted to be in Bristol for a conference about masculinities in France. I'll be speaking about sports journalism and misogyny. masculinityinthemetropole.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/conference-2...
Today I've been participating in a fascinating conference 'Toxic: masculinities and health/care'. www.irishhumanities.ie/news-events/...
Enjoyed going for a run around the Great Orme earlier this week. Legs still recovering.
Great to be in Paris last week. Did research about sport and media at the National Library, was interviewed about humour as part of a project about humour and wellbeing, and went to a talk about humour and language.
Next month I'll be talking about sports films that focus on male synchronised swimmers at an online symposium that's free to attend. Here's the info on the programme and how to register: www.eventbrite.ie/e/1986992030...
Younger son went to school in fancy dress for World Book Day today. I went to work (...working from home) wearing these football socks to celebrate contributing to several books about sport within the last year.
Good to hear the Minions have allowed Spanish ice skater to use their music and compete in the Winter Olympics dressed like them. They recently also agreed I can dress up as an overgrown Minion when I go running in winter with my yellow high-viz coat and head torch.
Recently visited RIBA North West in Liverpool to see fascinating exhibition 'Future Grounds: Stadium design in a changing world'. Attended event chaired by writer and football stadium expert Simon Inglis featuring panelists involved in building and renovating major stadiums.
Ten years ago this month, I saw Monaco draw 2-2 at home to Gazélec Ajaccio. A promising teenager called Kylian Mbappé was featured in the match programme but wasn't in the Monaco squad for the game.
Been teaching our cat some IT skills. She's a bit disappointed the laptop doesn't come with a mouse.
Working from home in the same room as our new cat hasn't been as challenging as I thought it might be. Don't always get first choice of chairs though.
New member of the family has decided they now own *my* chair. But we've bonded over a shared love of football.
A colleague once asked me if French people eat baguettes and camembert at the cinema instead of popcorn. They don't. But lecturers in French occasionally have coffee and a croissant while watching films at home.
Watching a match taking place at a venue where I did some research for my recent French Sports Films book. Despite what some think, going to a match doesn't usually count as research. France's National Museum of Sport is located within Nice's stadium.
Really enjoying this book by Raphael Honigstein about football and Englishness.
I asked a mime artist what he thought of my new book. Here's what he said...
