philbixby.bsky.social

Many years ago I realised I was a control freak and hence would be a crap employer, so have remained self-employed sole trader since. I'm happy to confirm my views on crap employers should any client wish to questionnaire me.

Net zero is the answer to Middle East energy crisis, says Business Secretary

His comments came after the conflict in the Middle East sent the European gas price up 80pc and oil prices nearly 20pc as Iranian strikes on production facilities in the Gulf spooked markets.
buff.ly/K4XKbIf

[We see a close up of a young white male, tanned, white teeth, coiffed hair clearly an influencer on social media. It is an image such as you see when social media posts are shown on the news. In the corner of the screen is named a location: DUBAI. He is staring slightly off-camera for several silent panels of the comic strip. His eyes move slightly. He is having a thought.] From off-screen a newsreader’s commentary comes: NEWSREADER: Extraordinary images here of an expat in Dubai [The influencer’s eybrows raise slightly] …Having their first ever geopolitical thought. [CUT TO a BBC news scene. The BBC newsreader CLIVE MYRIE is talking to an interviewee next to the screen showing the social media influencer’s face. The interviewee’s name is David Jones]. CLIVE MYRIE: To explain the significance of this moment we’re joined by David Jones, our Expat Thoughts correspondent DAVID JONES: Clive, this is momentous It was caught on film at the end of an Instagram post titled: ‘Dubai Is Brilliant’. [Pointing at the screen, the influencer’s expression still the same] You can clearly see in the eyebrows here, the dawning realisation that there *might* be something in the world beyond his dickhead self. It marks a *huge* departure from all the Dubai Expat’s previous thoughts. CLIVE MYRIE: Which are…? DAVID JONES: You've Got To Get Yourself Out Here Mate, Everything Is So Clean, I Don't Have To Pay Taxes, I Am Incurious As To Why I Do Not Have To Pay Taxes, and Spa. CLIVE MYRIE: And might we see an expansion of these new Thoughts in coming days? DAVID JONES: I think we can expect to see: “I Deserve To Be Airlifted By A Country I Pay No Tax To” CLIVE MYRIE: Mmm. [Ends]

A black and white photograph taken on an old footbridge over a river, with elegant iron balustrading but a huge bolted, plated (presumably very essential) joint in the structure just beyond.

You don't have to be beautiful

B&W photography on film
📷 Nikon F4
🎞️ Ilford Delta Pro 100
#believeinfilm
#fridayfavourites
#ilfordphoto

This is nothing. Just send Mahmood out again to announce some more anti-refugee policies and you can easily find your way to fifth place.

A black and white photograph showing a broad stone trough built beneath a dry stone wall, with the wall gently reflected in the still water

There is a gentler place

B&W photography on film
📷 Nikon F4
🎞️ Ilford Delta Pro 400
#believeinfilm
#fridayfavourites
#ilfordphoto

Proximity restores health. As reported in The Lancet, walking 7,000 steps a day—about one hour—reduces major risks: cancer, cardiovascular disease, dementia, depression, and diabetes. Walkable proximity turns life into prevention, compressing morbidity and extending well-being.
(🙏 & HT A. Flahault)

How Much I Dislike the Daily Mail    I would rather  eat Quavers that are six weeks stale,  blow dry the man bun of Gareth Bale,  listen to the songs of Jimmy Nail,  than read one page of the Daily Mail.    If I was bored  in a waiting room in Perivale,  on a twelve-hour trip on Network Rail,  halfway through a circumnavigational sail,  I would not read the Daily Mail.    I would happily read  the autobiography of Dan Quayle,  1001 Things You Can Do With Kale,  selected scripts from Emmerdale, if it meant I didn’t have to read the Daily Mail.    Far better to  stand outside in a storm of hail,  scratch a blackboard with a fingernail,  be swallowed by a humpback whale,  than have to read the Daily Mail.    If I was blind   and it was the only thing in Braille,  I still would not read the Daily Mail.    Brian Bilston 

Today’s poem is called ‘How Much I Dislike the Daily Mail’.

Blog! YoCo cohousing group member Tim Larner took part in ChaCo's recent evening with Diggers & Dreamers' Chris Coates, and marvels in the breadth and variety of intentional communities... www.yoco.uk/blog/the-his...

It’s a running joke in academia that Matt Goodwin is bad at maths.

This sort of thing is why: the combined Labour/Green vote could have split in any way possible and Goodwin would have finished 2nd or 3rd. He did not lose because progressives coordinated. He lost *in spite of them not doing so*.

Save me

In honour of the Sunday Telegraph's editor and offical maddest columnist, we have created the Allister Heath headline generator...
stirring-fox-7e1fab.netlify.app

Brilliant. The sort of day-rescuing joy that Twitter used to bring us all before Musk fucked it up

The Life-Sized City - Taipei, Taiwan — YoCo Our sixth overseas visit of this winter was to Taipei in Taiwan – a city with a history of political change, which has left its citizens with an independence of mind and an enthusiasm for democratic p...

Blog! Yesterday evening's YoCo (York Central Co-Owned) visit to Taipei via The Life-Sized City documentary series prompted some thoughtful discussion about citizenship and young people. Read about it here - www.yoco.uk/blog/the-lif...

Monstrosities Mon Amour: Swindon with Helen Barrett Podcast Episode · Monstrosities Mon Amour · 27 December 2024 · 32m

Marc Riley played Status Quo's Down Down yesterday, and it reminded me of this wonderful conversation with @helenbarrett.bsky.social on one of the first Monstrosities Mon Amour. Also contains Swindon. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/m...

A black and white photograph of an old stone wall, shot straight on with shadow across the lower-right half. The stone in shadow looks smooth; the stone in the sun looks highly textured (despite all being the same).

The difference a bit o' sun makes

Currently part of the www.fronteer.co.uk exhibition "Stone" along with a lovely mix of all sorts of media. Sheffield has good galleries - worth a daytrip!

B&W photography on film
📷 Nikon FA
🎞️ Ilford Delta Pro 400
#believeinfilm
#fridayfavourites
#ilfordphoto

Is this even satire?

I did briefly look at our garden pond and think briefly "how flat! How frozen! Wonder if a couple of saucepans would bother the frogs" but I'm guessing the training is likewise more rigorous and my age is against me, frankly

Entertaining, fascinating and informative

Final reminder for Monday evening's Zoom visit to Taipei and discussion of what it teaches about making our city fit our lives. Hosted by YoCo (York Central Co-Owned) but relevant for anyone anywhere interested in what "good" city-making looks like. Tickets are free from www.yoco.uk/events/the-l...

Or
The shitpostman always shitposts twice

Maybe just eating the wrong stuff. Y'know - garbage in, garbage out...

If Starmer 2.0 means nothing else, perhaps it can mean this…

In Victorian times that would have been an honourable profession

Not bad but...

... are they hoovered on an annual basis? Hmm?

Plus they each have to drink a bottle of wine before launching

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls - it's that time of year again, and I've just hoovered the #yorkopenstudios directory dispenser ready for deployment!

An advertisement for underfloor heating

Kind of harks back to that Joachim Phoenix line in Buffalo Soldiers - "they say war is hell... ...but peace is just... boring"

Okay, this is quite outstanding from Bedford Council.