Aethon Austen

They’ve grown up on a diet of people spraying their lives across public platforms, whether it’s YouTube bloggers, Snapchat or even the love island mobs. They seem to want to exchange almost anything for monetisation and possibly fame, hopefully to lead to monetisation.

Oh man, we had low “sofas” that you didn’t ask the provenance of stains on. The plastic chairs for “training” meetings were pretty rough. But an upright dinner chair is just passive aggressive architecture. Good luck with the job, I salute your tenacity.

And that concrete floor is unmerciful on the feet and back. Working retail I never needed a pedometer and adored the rubbish chairs in the rest room!

Hi Robin! Good to see the man himself. I don’t need a pint of Guinness to work that out, just a billy bragg album.

You, sir, have a world of joy and exploration ahead of you. I would be happy to introduce you to it whenever you’re up for travel (we have mutuals). There is something magical about a performer or orchestra in a room with an audience.

Last night or any concert? Getting tickets for the last night can be incredibly challenging unless you buy the corporate package (yeah that exists). The main concert series is fantastic. Didn’t attend this year for health reasons but have been going for a while otherwise.

It's their feelings that matter to them, and if the truth contradicts that, the feelings win out.

People have come to believe their feelings are more important than reality.

And that? That is TERRIFYING.

And the idea of you doing in our time is amazing. A good name to carry on such a landmark show.

Ah, understood. Thank you.

This is what UK media and politicians are doing with the false immigration crisis and it’s awful. Stops too many people asking the right questions. Thank you for explaining the sociological aspect.

But why is the stock photo of a person looking at what appears to be a urine pregnancy test? Post Partum depression? As a non subscriber I can’t read the full paper.

Erm. No. Because Europe has realised that only certain types of progress is actually progress, not just a techbros dream. Progress should be measured not by unsustainable growth but by the overall satisfaction of the population.

Middle of the South Downs national park too. Lovely.

Found out today that I’m not eligible for a COVID shot this year. Don’t meet criteria and previously got them due to my employment but *shrugs* I’m not there anymore.

Boots pharmacy will do you one. 100 quid. Ouch. Still may well, depending on how it looks. Keep others safe as well as me.

I have not. That’s ideal for today’s rainy sewing listening

Absolutely. I’d forgotten about that one. Thank you!

With the retirement of Mr Bragg from In our time I hope that the BBC hasn’t forgotten what’s engraved above the door. Inform and educate. Not just pander to the noise for eyeballs.

There is still excellent programming but you have to go looking and they too often cancel the good stuff.

Saw an example of greenwashing today in the supermarket. Abrasive washing up sponges stacked loose in a “brown” cardboard box as though they were better for the environment as they had no plastic wrapper.

Still producing microplastics and considerably more expensive than the same in a pack of 4.

Carl Sagan's Profound 'Pale Blue Dot' Speech Set to a Beautifully Calming Classical Soundtrack Become Human took the iconic "Pale Blue Dot" speech by Carl Sagan, removed some of the noise, and set it to a calming classical soundtrack.

Carl Sagan’s Profound ‘Pale Blue Dot’ Speech Set to a Beautifully Calming Classical Soundtrack laughingsquid.com/carl-sagan-p...

A wicker man burns at a Beltane pagan festival. The flames rip up the left side of the figure as caped figures dance in the glow. A crowd looks on.

Surely it’s the wrong time of year. Normally it’s Beltane to include the sacrifice?

A young, blond white woman sitting in a wheelchair smiles into the camera. Behind her is the capsule of a Blue Origin suborbital spacecraft

I want to tell you about a friend of mine real quick. I've mentioned her on here before, but you don't know any details yet, and she's about to make history in a very real sense.

Meet Michi Benthaus:

I am far too often told that climate change is wrecking the human supporting biosphere and that I need to do many things to slow it down or humans not yet born will suffer.

Yet the corporate investors who actually can have an impact are doing nothing.

I’m exhausted. Why bother.

If you happen to find yourself in Surrey, UK at any point I highly recommend Hatchlands Park. The most remarkable collection of pianos including Chopin, Elgar, Mozart (reportedly) Napoleon, Vaughn Williams. The list was astonishing.

And Michael Collins I see. Not sure if he won but is certainly a remarkable performer now. Beautiful tone.

Thank you. If they had any lorry tarp (the heavy duty waterproof fabric that some outdoor gear (north face duffels etc) is made of then that’s also cool. But it does often need a machine with a solid needle and a walking foot to work.

Cotton canvas (bags, jackets, trouser reinforcement), clothing grade cotton, cordura, felted wool. With that you could make or repair almost anything.

Wait until they’ve tried Dhal Bhat. That’ll blow their tiny minds.

You could try @oldenoughtosay.bsky.social She’s ace and knows lots about all sorts.

In a certain large organisation where we have people running around outside a lot, we have to check and use wet bulb temperatures. The training was eye opening about how dangerous they can be! In the west we can mostly mitigate, if you don’t have the ability to cool, you’re fried. Awful.

Food bank donation at the very least needed.