Trending topics flattened the discourse on Twitter, turned it into a political cage match, and drove the creatives away. But sure, just go down the same path expecting a different result.

Bluesky@bsky.app · 6h ago

We’re rolling out improvements to trending topics right now! If you don’t already have it, you will in the next day or so. The new system catches more topics, identifies more posts within that topic, and serves them up faster, so you can feel more in tune with what everyone's talking about.

My most common typo is leaving a whole word out of a sentence.

Sorry dude but no one ever asked you to play devil’s advocate, In any context, Under any circumstances, And certainly not now.

When Twitter was growing and at its best most users couldn't have told you who the CEO was.

I needed a little mood lift so I made Tacos for dinner.

Hakuba Valley has split their pricing for domestic and international visitors. And there's no repeat customer discount anymore for non-residents. So my season pass will be 48,900 yen more expensive.

I'm not about to suggest that an electric paper shredder is an essential item for your home office. But, it is deeply satisfying to use one.

I'm so tired of the way people drive in Adelaide. It's like people are bored with being in a safe city that is stress free and easy to navigate so they cut corners, engage in pointless drag races, push in, and generally create drama out of nothing.

The thing about the "Bluesky is a haven for liberals" discourse is it's so myopically US-centric. Twitter flourished because it was global. In its hey day it was always 75%+ non-US users. Bluesky isn't failing because it's too liberal. It's failing because it's not global.

I miss polls. Polls on Twitter were fun.

Gregorio Allegri's Miserere is on the radio and I am instantly transported back to the chapel at King's College London. I can smell the candles. And feel the peaceful warmth of that space.

Diegetic music is when we see music performed in a film, rather than just playing in the background. So the performance of the music is part of the drama. One of my all time favourite examples of diegetic music is this scene from Spike Lee's Mo' Better Blues.

Mo' Better Blues | Denzel Washington & Wesley Snipes Perform "Mo' Better Blues"

YouTube video by Universal Pictures

youtu.be

Youth sports teams with kids whose ancestry maps the world. Dinner tables with friends from all kinds of backgrounds. A line of fans waiting to go into a concert who look they flew in from all over the globe but actually arrived on local transport. To me that's what multiculturalism looks like.

No Japanese lesson today because it's my once every five weeks meetup with some writers I did the Granta Memoir Workshop with. I found doing that intense writing workshop session in English then switching to Japanese was frying my brain. Will do a supplementary lesson on Wednesday to keep pace.

Arrived back in Adelaide and it's 13.7C... ...inside the house.

The scent of the north easterly wind feels like home. And yet two days is about all I can take. Sydney is changing. And unlike previous decades the city seems to be getting better. I had fun. Might come back one day. For another visit.

People should be taxed based on how much noise they make in public.

Went to the symphony tonight. England v Germany. Elgar v Strauss. It was a game of two halves. Elgar started well. Cello as a solo instrument is always an attention getter. But Strauss had more game. More passion. Harps, Organ, even a pair of Alpenhorns. In the end just too strong.

First time going to the Symphony since my mother passed away. I think I'm ready for it.

“Most of us assocate art with beauty. We usually expect to experience pleasure when encountering art.” No. No we don’t.

Crying once I sit down in seat 1A after being subjected to racism earlier is the perfect summary of my life here.

That thing were older guys walk through shops and malls in front of their wives. Two or three steps in front. I see it all the time. And I don't remember it being a thing.

The trailer for the new version of The Thomas Crown Affair has dropped. And the predictable online ranting has already begun. In particular I've seen people taking aim at Adria Arjona, because she "can't compare" to Dunaway or Russo, which is obviously code for "how dare they cast a Latin American."

RIP Glen Hansard

Glen Hansard - Maybe not Tonight

YouTube video by Long Man

youtu.be

A gleaming full moon sat by my shoulder tonight as I made my way home.

How weight loss drugs are changing architecture and interior design

This Is Your Home on GLP-1s

As weight-loss drugs reshape American life, they’re also sparking a surprising behind-the-scenes transformation of our homes, from med-station bathrooms to ghost-town kitchens

architecturaldigest.com

7 years since I left Tokyo.

150 days to Christmas.

This is the review of The Odyssey I wish I could've written. It's by Emily Wilson who wrote the translation that Nolan relied on while making the film. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Emily Wilson · An Uncomplicated Man

As they say at the awards shows, I was humbled to learn that Christopher Nolan has read at least the first line of my...

lrb.co.uk

Australia had a test of a new national emergency system. My instinctive reaction to the phone alarm was to brace for an earthquake.