Phil Banting

Once you've bought your antimatter, you're left with the problem of what to keep it in

Brill, baby, brill

Cheylesmore and Stivichall (have lived in both places)

It's always been a special joy to meet someone IRL that I first connected with through social media

Chart showing daily average 11,007 steps over the last year

Yesssss... the daily average has been over 10,000 steps for over 2 years now

Through Twitter I got far more connected with my local area than I ever had before. Lots of new things were happening at the time (and still are) and social media played a big part in it all

Must be at least 100, but spread over 3 browsers, one of which has 4 windows

Get @worldbollardassoc.bsky.social on the job

I once had a work colleague who could impersonate a trimphone. He was the only person who thought it was a useful skill

A whole generation has grown up that doesn't know what a slide rule pass is

"Grotect Gritain's gorders"

I spent several hours today in the very fine town where my mother lives, and was going to say that I didn't see a single brown face but then I did spot one in the distance - then two more at the railway station. Still somewhat lagging behind Handsworth in terms of integration

The elegant frontage of Market Harborough railway station

Been visiting my mother, and for the first time I’ve done it by train. It’s a fiddly journey, but a generous interpretation of “on time” enabled me to make a tight connection and save half an hour - and I can avoid the horrors of the M6 and rush hour on the way home

On a train. The countryside would look beautiful if the windows were clean enough to see it properly

The liveliest parts of Birmingham are often those with the fewest white faces. My (white) son lives in one of them, and loves it.

They were once part of Europe, but very sensibly decided to leave

I need to rethink my lifestyle

Today’s amazing discovery: I’ve just found out that my pyjama trousers have pockets. Maybe one day I’ll learn something that’s actually useful

UNREAD There in a stack Of irresistible potential Mainly unread But don't ask "Why do you still buy When so many words are not touched by your eyes" Because before the spine is cracked Without my fingers touching pages, the ideas leak and spread around the room Seep through the ears And into the synapses while I sleep Listen carefully You'll hear the hum Of future thoughts becoming present

For those accused of having too many books Robinince.com #poetry #poem

I remember Brian Redhead, but not the Friends of the M6

Another one for the bucket list (though I wouldn't personally choose to use the ring road)

The flags are very high up though (beyond the reach of my own 2-section ladder) and I'm told that the people who took them down last time got a lot of abuse and threats for doing so

Phone rings in Lambeth Palace...
"Hello, Archbishop of Canterbury here"
"Can I speak to the head of the household?"

It wasn't like this in my day. We had a desk each

Flags went up in Stirchley a few days ago & were taken down by local residents the same evening.

The men returned with a cherry picker and coned off parts of the road with police accompanying them as they put up new flags along the High Street.

Residents who object have been met with verbal abuse.

Yes, the council own the lampposts. At one time they allowed political parties to hang posters on them at election time, but we had to pay a deposit and remove the posters within a set time. My guess is that this not a matter of criminal law, though: for the council, not for the police, to deal with

Great to hear it's still going. I took a friend to buy a machine there over 20 years ago. She used it to sew blackout linings in our bedroom curtains - much appreciated!

First time on the ring road was always a rite of passage, especially for learner drivers

No

I remember it being released, but never got to see it. Nor Star Wars, which came out when I was a student. It was so ridiculously over-hyped that I resolved never to see it