Staying in Milly-la-Forêt, Fontainebleau forest. We visited this amazing, playful collaborative piece of sort-of-dadaist wonder. Le Cyclops by Jean Tinguely, Niki de Saint Phalle and other collaborators from his "artistic family".
BrightAire
@brightaire.bsky.social
Outdoorser. Teacher. Educational Visits Champion. Tree-hugger. Bradfordian. Likes bikes and making stuff from sticks. Never satisfied. Chaotic good.
Just a few rules about this, I think: 1. Keep it safe. Young kids don't know the risks and can't manage them themselves. What if the adult gets injured? 2. Keep it enjoyable. So they'll come back, right? 3. Prioritise the kid's experience. The adult should be well inside their comfort zone. 1/2
HappyHiker@happyhiker.bsky.social · yesterday
Having a stop over in Sittingbourne before travelling to France. We visited Isle of Sheppey last night. It was sad to see how the place is. We saw the Maunsell Forts of Shifting and Red Sands, offshore, and the marshes at Leysdown - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maunsel...
Maunsell Forts - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Back from Spoonfest. An excellent folksy, fun time of making, music, food, drink, international friendship and active hope for a better world. Made some bang average spoons and this lovely (though I say it myself) copper ladle with scorched ash handle.
I tend to sit on the top deck for the unique perspective and, if you get the front seats, the pretence of flying an aircraft through the city streets. Now that I'm reminded that it's better value for money there's nothing more to persuade a Yorkshireman that the top deck is best.
Viz Comic@vizcomic.bsky.social · 7d agosubscriptions >>> shop.viz.co.uk/viz356bs
Show me a "bricklayer of 50 year's experience" and I'll show you a man who worked on the job just long enough to be the gaffer and then get younger men to do the hardest work. That or a man with a wrecked body and looking to quit before the job destroys him at 65.
Parody Nigel Farage@parodypm.bsky.social · last wk.Richard Tice would like us to go back to a time when there were seven times as many deaths on construction sites, so a few people make an even bigger profit.
Yep. These thick, racist thugs have no idea, nor care, about the immigration status of those they abuse. Call them what they are. Thick, racist thugs.
Nina@ninaneedsspace.bsky.social · last wk.I am BEGGING the BBC to stop calling them “anti-immigration” protesters, they’re racists. If they’re shouting racist abuse, and attacking people of colour, they’re racist. Call them what they are. Racists, stirred up by right-wing politicians and media. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
"Put up" & "nice hotels" are the sort of terms used for the cosy, short-term hospitality of friends & relatives & the functionally pleasant accommodation afforded by decent companies, for employees, working away from home. "Put up in nice hotels" is not the experience of migrants. #ChrisPhilp
When I've not been on my bike for a while, and fitness is lacking, I find it useful to think of "going for a walk with my bike". It helps me remember what I enjoy without the performance anxiety of speed or big miles (those things return in time). I'm lucky to have some nice spots to explore nearby.
If you think Wilson's review of The Odyssey is scathing you should hear my teenage lad's excoriating tirade. "No character development - one-dimesional characters" "What about the rest of his crew"? "Poor acting - no emotion" "Lack of action" (Eh?) He's not entirely wrong, but I quite liked it...
Rustic coat hooks. Cherry branch wood, from a felled tree in my garden. Painted with Marigold yellow, Barn red and Denim blue milk paint. Rubbed back, to distress, and oiled with walnut oil.
Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam or Alice in Chains.
James Austin@jamesdaustin.bsky.social · last wk.Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam or Alice in Chains
The problem, in the UK, is the prestige which voc. courses have. This is partly cultural & partly because voc. courses are too often done badly. Another posn. is that, in terms of career success, it doesn't much matter what courses rich kids take. Contacts & culture will trump quals in many cases.
Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · last wk.The other issue with vocational at 14 is implicit selection. Well off families will ensure their kids do academic courses. This happens at 16 anyway but at least we give everyone a chance to get a set of academic quals.
We're hung up on schools/colleges as being the only places where young people undertake useful learning. A big difficulty is the lack of high quality alternatives meaning schools are almost bound to do alternatives badly - episodic, piecemeal, short of substance and rigour.
Nancy@nancygedge.bsky.social · last wk.Will mainstream secondary schools be able to offer different quals to GCSE? And will they be able to offer quals that will allow learners with low academic attainment to succeed? And feel successful? www.tes.com/magazine/new...
Along with everything else I value Bill for his honesty about his mental health. He helped to make it OK for men to talk about it. I loved the Goodie's as a kid & especially identified with Bill's character. Later I found he loved nature. He was a brilliant champion. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Bill Oddie: The Goodies and Springwatch star dies at 85
His agent pays tribute to the "multi-talented" broadcaster, comedian and conservationist.
bbc.co.uk
Cycle lanes have little to do with the demands of cyclists & more to do with the demands & behaviours of drivers over the last 50 years. - More & bigger cars? Drivers - Faster & more powerful cars? Drivers - Park where you fancy? Drivers - Use public roads to indulge motorsport fantasies? Drivers
still last@lastnotlost.bsky.social · last wk."Why do cyclists demand safe cycle lanes then refuse to use them?" writes David Hunter of Woking to the #FarageGraph. Well, David, probably because Woking's only "cycle lanes" are a couple of shared-use pavements that give up a every junction and side road.
As an education worker my professional standards prohibit political bias but Nazisim lies outside politics. It's anti-politics, rejecting the possibility of consensus. An ideology of authoritarianism & hate but, increasingly, territory that some mainstream parties seem happy to inhabit. I reject it.
Musk endorses the pre-emptive execution of political opponents to his Nazi ideology.
Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social · last wk.Elon Musk, owner of X, has called the editor of the Economist "a traitor to the West, plain and simple" after her recent interview with him. He now argues that "anyone who opposes remigration is a traitor" Musk has been socialising violence since Aug25: "fight or die, that's what it comes down to"
Entirely possible, it seems, in the Netherlands. An elusive conundrum, without resolution in Bradford. See also "dirty" plates. Such drivers shouldn't be able to leave their driveways without the realistic expectation of a walk home, fine and storage costs.
Fietser@americanfietser.bsky.social · 2w agoA motorist in Amsterdam was pulled over for being a public noise nuisance with his car. Noise measurement tests were done and the car was found to be in violation. The driver had to continue his journey on foot and the car is not allowed on public infrastructure until the exhaust is properly muffled
This should be normal in lots of UK contexts. Our residential and public spaces should be reclaimed from the dominance of private cars.
Melissa & Chris Bruntlett@modacitylife.com · last wk.10,000 fewer on-street car parking spaces. That's the pledge from Amsterdam's new coalition government over the next four years. While many cities still argue whether change is possible, Amsterdam is reclaiming its public realm one tree, bench, bike rack, terrace, playground, and garden at a time.
Rievaulx Abbey and Terrace today. An austere Gothic medieval abbey, showing the ecclesiastical tastes of Cistercian monks, and an Ionic temple pastiche, demonstrating the partying tastes of the Georgian nouveau riche.
I've had burnout before and it goes against my grain to withdraw from activity and rest in this way but I know it's what's required to arrest a possible spiral. There's a time for everything.
BrightAire@brightaire.bsky.social · 2w agoIt's taken me about a week and a half of almost complete idleness (long lie-ins, afternoon naps, only very light exercise) to recover my energy from the last academic year. It makes me feel slothful but it's seemed necessary. #Knackered
Ruin a book by adding a word: The Gallows Pole Dancer
Sir Almaviva@ilcontealmaviva.bsky.social · 2w agoRuin a book adding a word: Finnegans Wake Alarm
It's taken me about a week and a half of almost complete idleness (long lie-ins, afternoon naps, only very light exercise) to recover my energy from the last academic year. It makes me feel slothful but it's seemed necessary. #Knackered
This is the thing. Regardless of causing actual danger, speeding causes a climate of fear and discomfort for pedestrians and other road users in spaces where they should feel at ease. "Merely safe" is such a low bar to set around public space. Streets should be enjoyable, easy places to be.
Congresswoman Valerie Foushee@foushee.house.gov · 2w agoPeople who drive far above the speed limit put every single person around them at risk. People should be able to walk, bike, or cross the street without fearing that a reckless driver could change their lives forever.
Finished scoop and eating spoon in cherry. The purple and yellow colour-scheme was inspired by the bittersweet nightshade growing on my wall. The colours aren't a match but the flowers reminded me how well purple and yellow go together.
Like the submarine pods he proposed to rescue the Wild Boars football team from the Tham Luang cave system? Musk has been full of it since at least 2018.
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2w agoElon Musk says Grok Imagine will make ‘historically accurate’ AI adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey
I love the irony of old factory floors being used to support recreation in the countryside and share it with my students on our journeys. I wonder what the access trespassers of the 1930s would have thought. It was escape from such factory floors, in part, that they were seeking.
Mick Houghton@mickh5.bsky.social · 2w agofrom the mills to the stars .....a walk up Ingleborough yesterday
Musk's historically accurate, AI generated, version of Homer's Odyssey. 😆 I'll tell you what, though, those ancient Greek ships could sail impressively close-hauled.
Matt Novak@paleofuture.bsky.social · 2w agoMy favorite part is when you see the rowers in the back