Leonora

I always look forward to your Londonist Time Machine posts - thank you for brightening my inbox!

Would a VPN not work?

Catching up with today's Early Music Show from @hannahcfrench.bsky.social while chopping up quinces, which seems a suitably 16th century pastime.

Local fox posing for his autumnal portrait.

Aer on a G String?

To be fair, Herschel called the planet 'Georgium Sidus', although that sounds a bit like a nasty disease you might contract after uranus has been discovered.

While the perpetrators of Gaza’s genocide pose as its saviours, survivors return home – to a wasteland | Nesrine Malik Western leaders attending the Sharm el-Sheikh summit have enabled and sponsored this slaughter. They are in no position to build a Palestinian future, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik

While the perpetrators of Gaza’s genocide pose as its saviours, survivors return home – to a wasteland | Nesrine Malik

Thumping ambition – and demolition: 10 high-rises that changed modern Britain Eyesores and scandalously unsafe? Or utopian housing for the working classes? Here are the stories and scandals behind some of the UK’s most revolutionary homes

My second-year uni accommodation is number five on this list! Not the most beautiful building in Cambridge, but I loved living there. My ground floor room was surrounded by garden (or the 'Deer Park' as it was known, despite its complete lack of deer). www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Yes, I noticed that the other day!

Wonderful to switch on the radio a few minutes ago and hear @musicasecreta.bsky.social singing as I was cooking tea.

I always think of clouds like that above the Thames as being a flotilla of sky-ships.

Autistic people could teach Donald Trump a thing or two about focus, facts and empathy | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett While not without its challenges, autism isn’t a curse to be cured of, as the likes of the President and RFK Jr want us to believe, says Guardian columnist Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

A brilliant piece about autism from Rhiannon Lucy Coslett, to counter all the negative coverage the condition is getting. As the mother of two autistic children (one only recently diagnosed), their wonderful autistic quirks are what I love most about them. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I'm not going to pretend I'm hugely familiar with his music, but I've sung his Viderunt Omnes (In fact there's a group of us who perform it nearly every December in Trafalgar Square as part of our carol singing) and Vox in Rama, and they're both wonderful.

Too true. I'm a translator (alongside being an author), and I've seen my income plummet over the past few years, largely as a result of AI. It's rare these days that I get to concerts, as I simply can't afford to risk spending money when I don't know where my next income is coming from. It's scary.

A real shame you missed it. It was absolutely spectacular. I had goosebumps for nearly the entire thing, and was close to tears at one point. I only had a cheap seat behind a pillar, but it was totally worth it.

I have just been to see @ifagiolini.bsky.social perform Monteverdi's Vespers, and it was complete and utter musical perfection.

In Thai candy floss is 'silk threads'.

Off to the march (ok, so it looks like an owl. But I had all of 5 minutes to make this, and I don’t suppose owls like him either).

An alumnus of my old college (where my sister - state educated, gay, left-wing and autistic, and very much not fitting the college's mould - became the first female organ scholar, back in 1989)!

Even my octogenarian mum, who's a lifelong Labour voter and who rates our local MP highly (as do I), is now saying she'll vote Green next time round.

Just catching up with this now. In Thai (my second language), quite a few animal names are in fact iconic - a cat is a แมว (maew), a cow is a วัว (wua), a sheep is a แกะ (geh - a little like 'get' without the 't'), a goat is a แพะ (peh - 'pet' without the 't') etc.

That sounds wonderfully intriguing for you! Happy Birthday for next week (assuming it's your birthday you're celebrating)!

By this afternoon, when I passed by Lambeth Bridge, it was packed with the terrifying sight of hundreds of far-right protesters draped in England flags. Horrific to see such a thing anywhere, let alone so close to my doorstep.

I just saw them in the flesh when I was out running earlier. The sheer numbers were truly terrifying (had I realised that they would be so near my house I would have planned my own mini counter-demonstration. As it was, I just mumbled a pathetic 'I hate racists' as they went past).

Sign the open letter: Women against the far right The far right is using women's safety as a weapon to spread racism and division. They are not defenders of women—they exploit violence against women and children to push hate. Together we can stand wi...

Signed
actionnetwork.org/petitions/e8...

Urge the PM: Defend our Communities from Hate We’re gathering messages for the Prime Minister to show him Britain stands for unity, fairness and safe communities. Add yours today.

Add your message and we will deliver it to Number 10 to show the strength of feeling in our communities. ✍️

secure.hopenothate.org.uk/page/177398/...

Eurovision embodies a culture of unity, defiance & joy.

To platform Israel, a state carrying out genocide in Gaza, killing 64,000+ people & silencing journalists on that stage, is obscene.

The BBC must join Irish state broadcaster others in saying: no genocide in Eurovision.

@byekitty.bsky.social Have you seen this? Apparently they need a couple more altos.

This should be brilliant. Of all the choir workshops I've attended, Patrick's stand out as being among the very best, and the music is to die for.