Matthew Parrott

Birds in stained glass, freestanding #art or wall sculptures, rarely window panels. My birds are celebrations, explanations, rants and sometimes tears; but like the birds that inspire them, they are all beautiful dancers-with-light…

[Scene is a 1960s suburban sitting room, with a grand piano in it. The religious songwriter ESTELLE WHITE is sat at the piano, with a rotary phone sat on top of the lid. She is on the phone to her music publisher, someone I've made up called JERRY] 1 ESTELLE WHITE: OK Jerry I’ve got another banger for you 2 ESTELLE WHITE: Listen to this! [She slams the receiver on the top of the piano]. 3 ESTELLE WHITE [hammering on the piano]: AUTUMN DAYS WHEN THE GRASS IS JEWELLED AND THE SILK INSIDE A CHESTNUT SHELL! JET PLANES MEETING IN THE AIR TO BE REFUELLED, ALL THESE - JERRY [voice from the phone handset]: Eh? 4 JERRY: What was that last bit, Estelle? ESTELLE WHITE: “Jet planes meeting in the air to be refuelled”… 5 JERRY: Is that a thing you often see in autumn? ESTELLE WHITE [Smoking from a long cigarette holder]: All the time, Jerry. Aaaaall the time.... 6 JERRY: Nothing to do with it being the only thing that rhymes with ‘jewelled’? ESTELLE WHITE: No! 7 ESTELLE WHITE: It’s one of the high-speed, high-altitude feats of military aviation one often sees in autumn time. 8 JERRY: What about leaves and squirrels and - ESTELLE WHITE: Now listen, Jerry. 9 ESTELLE WHITE: Do you want a crap hymn about conkers… 10 ESTELLE WHITE: Or do you want an all-time earworm banger that everyone who hears it will sing in their heads, every single time they see a fallen leaf, until the day they die? 11 JERRY: OK… sorry… carry on… 12 ESTELLE WHITE: FROS-TY WINDOWS ON HARR-IER JUMPJETS AND THE SMELL OF NUCLEAR SUB-MAR-INES… JERRY: How about acorns? [ends]

Autumn days when the grass is jewelled

My grandad was a fire officer who attended the fire at the site, and more recently my mum rented a horse field just outside the village where we regularly had to pull bits of blasted metal out of the ground

my friends and i constantly quoting this post to each other whenever we feel bad about productivity

STEWART: “Comedy doesn’t change the world, but it’s a bellwether— we’re the banana peel in the coal mine… authoritarians are the threat to comedy, music, art, thought… progress.”

Nailed it.

RSPB Events Come along to one of our events to enjoy quality time in the natural world and see conservation in action. Nature is in crisis. Together we can save it.

A brand NEW event I'm trialing at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen this autumn. If you'd like to discover a different side of this awesome reserve, why not come along. #NorfolkBirding #Birds

events.rspb.org.uk/events/13167...

Flat illustration from 2022 of owls perched on a branch at night against a dark blue sky. The owls decrease in size as they get close stacked in front, while also growing bright orange. The effect resembles a flame. The owls, back to front (large to small) are Great Gray, Great Horned, Long-eared, Screech, and Saw-whet.

A U.S. Army psychologist who dealt with the war criminals tried at Nuremberg defined "evil" as "the absence of empathy."

It says a lot about today's right who regularly disparages empathy.

Hey, fellow humans.

Just a gentle reminder that horrible things and malicious acts exist alongside miracles, art, and acts of kindness. It's good to keep the whole picture loosely in mind, but to focus your camera mostly on what strengthens you and allows you to play your best part in this story.

I love British street art.

Line drawing of a two story institutional building with a sign in front, "Welcome to the BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT. It has been 3 days since we discovered something existentially horrifying about abugs that make you question your whole reality."

The new XKCD has to be a reference to the ant paper where ants just casually lay eggs of a different species, yes? Maybe? There are so many weird bugs its hard to know.

So much better thanks for sharing!

a snippet of a mini-comic, at top - straight line stretches from point A to B. Immediately below, same dot at A, then becomes a curving, meandering line that winds through the page and ends at a point with rays and a question mark emanating from it. Text reads: "Nothing can do this for you - that robs you of experience and conflates answers with learning. Rather, it's all the decisions you make along the way, the mistakes, struggles, and surprises! These pathways you create - this is learning.

Pages from a mini comic

Pages from a mini comic

Pages from a mini comic

My drawn statement on Ai as standalone from my now finished minicomic as syllabus for new liberal studies class! As promised this is shareable, printable - all from my site, feel free to make use of it, cite me & let me know how it’s received. Share away all here! spinweaveandcut.com/fall-2025-sy...

Excellent work

Yes, you CAN go on like this. Because if you don't, "like this" is the end of your story.

Don't wait for things to be better. DO better. BE better. MAKE better.

An image of a robot with a "NO" circle around it and the text "AI IS FOR LOSERS! REJECT FASCISM! THINK FOR YOURSELF! I CAN MAKE ART THAT'S UGLY AND BAD ALL BY MYSELF, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"

Using this piece by @reallygoodwizard.bsky.social in my introductory lectures for my design students.

I'm selling my Swarovski NL Pure 8x42 binoculars if anyone is interested. Excellent condition, hardly been used outdoors. Full details on the page linked below, will post (UK only) at cost if required. Any reposts much appreciated, thanks. #UKBirding #BirdingGear

lros.org.uk/for-sale-wan...

Imagine how cool the kitchen roll has to be to clear up that mysterious spillage

It's a very beautiful game, the puzzles and controls are quite simple, but the challenge is to keep your herd safe whilst navigating a treacherous journey - on our family's second playthrough now

Screenshot from the Herdling game, a young shepherd guides a herd of large horned sheep across a snow covered hillside, large rocks loom in the distance

Screenshot from the Herdling game, a young shepherd guides a herd of large horned sheep across a rock-strewn meadow, autumn leaves fly on the wind and a rocky cliff can be seen in the distance

Completely in love with Herdling by @okomotive.ch in which you rescue an increasing number of furry beasts to lead them home.

Beautiful scenery and music, enjoyable puzzles and genuinely distraught when one of my herd was eaten by a massive owl

Remarkable how many cuts of meat sound like veteran news anchors facing multiple accusations of workplace harassment:
Chuck Brisket
Rib Silverside
Rump Foreshank
Plate Centreloin
Flank Saddleback

Jon asks why the GOP's "one is too many" logic applies only to immigrants and not mass shootings

Pub Med gov Advanced Parachuting for charity: is it worth the money? A 5-year audit of parachute injuries in Tayside and the cost to the NHS C T Lee et al. Injury. 1999 May. Show details L Full text links 66 Cite Abstract All parachute injuries from two local parachute centres over a 5-year period were analysed. Of 174 patients with injuries of varying severity, 94% were first-time charity-parachutists. The injury rate in charity-parachutists was 11% at an average cost of 3751 Pounds per casualty. Sixty-three percent of casualties who were charity-parachutists required hospital admission, representing a serious injury rate of 7%, at an average cost of 5781 Pounds per patient. The amount raised per person for charity was 30 Pounds. Each pound raised for charity cost the NHS 13.75 Pounds in return. Parachuting for charity costs more money than it raises, carries a high risk of serious personal injury and places a significant burden on health resources.

Parachute jumps for charity cost more to the NHS than they raise on average according to a 1999 study

photo, colour, of a swallowtail butterfly at NWT Hickling Broad and Marshes, Norfolk. The butterfly is yellow with bold black markings and outlines, backlit so it looks like a stained glass window. There are two red spot markings on it's hind wings, and it is perched on a reed stem.

photo, colour, of a purple hairstreak butterfly at Hickling Broad and Marshes, Norfolk. The butterfly has wings of a faded purple colour with darker edges and a pale blue body with orange antennae. The butterfly lives in the canopy of oak trees, here it is perched on a lush green oak leaf, the cup of an acorn is emerging behind it.

Another superb visit to NWT Hickling Broad, this time with a trip on the boat to explore the reedbeds and visit the tower where purple hairstreaks perch at eye level. Several swallowtails plus bittern, spoonbill, cuckoo, marsh harrier and hobby.

#norfolkbirding @savebutterflies.bsky.social

Had at least 3 purple hairstreaks at the tower at Hickling today, but also realised I've only seen one silver-Y this year too

The British pediatrician D. W. Winnicott once wrote, “There’s no such thing as a baby. There is a baby and someone.”

Thread 🧵

A very mistaken list of the last 12 presidents of the United States and their years in office produced by the Ph.D level scholar known as ChatGPT-5. Includes John F. Katwady, president 1991-1968; George W. bush, president 220Z-1999), and Bill Christen, president 1999-2001

I've seen this on Bluesky and had to try it myself. The image below was the response to the prompt: "Show me a diagram of the US presidents since Herbert Hoover, with their names and years in office under their photos" Bravo, OpenAI, bravo.

Hulk Hogan, lying inexplicably sideways in his open coffin, being visited by a chihuahua dog, who looks distraught. The people behind the coffin do too

I'm sorry, but this may be the funniest Facebook AI slop I have ever seen. Bury me sideways in my coffin, brother. Let my dog see

photo, colour, the red arrows RAF display team jets, painted red and white and trailing red, white and blue smoke

photo, colour, a wing-walker display team with two women balancing on the upper wings of a pair of biplanes that look like they are hurtling towards each other in mid-air.

An outstanding day at Old Buckenham Airshow, my son's first air display with all the favourite Red Arrows, wing-walkers, Lancaster and Spitfire.

Big thanks to the organisers and car park team!

Hen Harrier chicks fledge with RSPB support after suspicious loss of parent birds RSPB press release (24 July 2025) Chicks fledge with RSPB support after suspicious loss of parent Hen Harriers.  In May 2025, over a period of eight days, four breeding male Hen Harriers suspi…

Four adult breeding Hen Harriers 'vanished' from nest sites in Cumbria & Lancashire in May 2025 - silence from police, valiant conservation efforts from RSPB staff & volunteers.

RSPB press release & some questions from me 🔽

#RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/07/24/h...