small, single corridor shopping centre in Stevenage Old Town. Called the 'Magnet centre' after the family that owned the land. odd nik-nak and dress shops... ...and in the mid-90s briefly, hidden at the back, the town's first comic shop. we discovered it as teens. it was like finding heaven /1

ashley fairbanks@ziibiing.com · yesterday

tell me about your town’s weird mall

This is very, very good - fascinating and fun to read in Jonn's usual engaging style.

Jonn Elledge@jonnelledge.bsky.social · 16h ago

FOR ONE DAY ONLY: A History of the World in 47 Borders is 99p on Kindle and thus, also, elsewhere. Is this a good thing? Shouldn't two years of my life cost more than that? Who can say! Get it while it's cheap! www.amazon.co.uk/History-Worl...

There was rain. I took off my glasses and looked, there were some tiny pinpricks of moisture.

I know I'm late to this but I'm absolutely loving #Trying on Apple TV. Lovely script and performances and it's made me laugh and cry in equal measure.

Yes lockdown was really tough for kids. Lots of those kids are teenagers now so maybe as a thank you our establishments could stop deliberately making even more things worse for them due to a weird systemic hatred of our own youth

Mrs H asked if I still play #Stray (this probably applies to other games too) and my answer was that I'm a bit stuck because I've reached a challenge where I know what I have to do but I'm not quick enough to actually do it so I need to ask a teenager for help.

Guy who went on holiday to Toontown and made it his whole personality:

oh my god!!!! there's an actual answer!!!! Google Maps does hide Brighton!!!!!!! bsky.app/profile/robi...

Robin Wilde@robinwilde.me · 7d ago

I actually know the answer to this and it's slightly insane. Google pulls from Wikipedia to determine if a place is a city, town, neighbourhood, whatever. Brighton's first line describes it as a "seaside resort" so Google Maps thinks it's a neighbourhood and doesn't display it in the "city" font.

Overnight, a masked bandit broke into our kitchen. Armed with opposable thumbs, he proceeded to sample everything on offer. I’d just visited the farmers market, so the menu was extensive. I can now share a highly specific peer-reviewed list of what this particular raider did & did not enjoy. 🧵

Raccoon's Evil Smile: 'Good, Good'

Alt: Raccoon's Evil Smile: 'Good, Good'

static.klipy.com

For those who were following along, this thread is more or less complete now. Enjoy!

Dreadnought Holiday@dreadships.bsky.social · 2w ago

It's the last weekend in July, and that means only one thing... Shall we go to the village show?

I feel like the way of dealing with such behaviour is to look these people right in the eye and say, very gently, "You think your right to park matters more than homes these children?" Then when they reply just repeat it with slightly different emphasis.

Hundreds slam proposals to turn car park into children's home in Bromley

Plans to build a children’s home on a car park in Bromley have been slammed by nearby residents who call the current parking situation “a…

newsshopper.co.uk

Well, one thing led to another, and now we're looking after a juvenile sparrow.

Do you feel you're paying too much for your mobile phone? It's something that comes up on Money Saving Expert a lot, and something that people don't seem to really understand. I'm not here to advertise a particular tariff but it's something where you need to shop around.

Oh my word.

John Bull@garius.bsky.social · 3w ago

Tonight's viewing. Watch the first 30 seconds for one of the greatest narrated intros to a TV documentary of all time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBEw...

Mixed tacos from Casazul in the Open Market. Can't decide between the pibil or the mole as my favourite but they were all excellent. Really good service too 🍜

This is a very lovely thing, with just three days to go before it vanishes from iPlayer. Filmed in 2000 which is, I regret to say, just a couple of years before I last visited Edinburgh. It's a beautiful city and I must go back.

Rev Peter W Nimmo@peternimmo.bsky.social · 3w ago

Ian Richardson returns to Edinburgh, with a tribute to the city's great mountain www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Scan your local news today. How many stories are about something climate change is making worse...without saying so? I counted 8 of those in my feed today, vs just 1 that named climate change directly. Why does this matter? Research shows that making this connection changes how people see it.

Annual leave! We're having a bloody lovely time. Finished work early on Tuesday and went for lunch at Erawan Thai restaurant in #Lewes with a beer from Symposium next door. Probably the best Pad Thai I've ever had, and really good value. Really happy they're open at lunchtime again.

Strange but true.

Chris Terry-Enescu@cjterry.bsky.social · 4w ago

It's basically the whole East coast stretching from Grimsby down to Kent. Man is not meant to look upon the North sea. Doing so drives him racist. See also: the Dutch.

This was about 25 years ago but I remember feeling like this when I got a Christmas card from the local Indian takeaway.

fesshole 🧻@fesshole.bsky.social · 4w ago

Have been ordering chippy for lunch every Monday for months. On a diet so didn't order two weeks in a row. Owner of the chippy came to my house to make sure I was alright. Made me feel like a right fat bastard.

Watching Still Crazy, because I feel like spending time with an old friend. It's just such a lovely film, and deserves to be far better known. No idea if you can stream it, go buy a DVD.

The pics are NSFW but the article text is fascinating - and a horrible reminder of how far backwards we've gone in the UK.

Playboy@playboy.com · last mo.

As a beautiful woman at the forefront of a socio-sexual rights struggle, Tula approached Playboy and asked to pose for the magazine—again. We signed on. In September 1991, she became the first out transgender woman to appear in these pages in her own pictorial.

This is interesting about the costs of food in restaurants. £36 for a main course - rip off! Yeah, except the restaurant only makes 44p profit on it. Things are expensive. People need paying. www.theguardian.com/food/2026/ju...

How much? The hidden costs of restaurant dishes

Two chefs lift the lid on the expensive business of creating menus they love

theguardian.com

NIMBYs in a nutshell.

WillP@wiilp.bsky.social · last mo.

It's extremely expensive to dig up a concrete carpark and move all the drains and build a steel frame to put up solar. That cost has to be added to supermarket food bills For the same money we get a lot more solar by building solar farms on fields. Faster decarbonisation. NIMBYs don't like that.

I've entered a weird parallel universe where it's 27°C in the house and my whole head and body are saying "great, this is really cool and comfortable, have you thought about putting a jumper on?"

Oh right. So this is why Tesco has been sold out of yoghurt since the weekend. I thought people were just making a lot of smoothies.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · last mo.

From yoghurt to luxury sails: how to shade your home from supercharged UK heatwaves

Somehow it feels appropriate to use these today.

so were they just lying about having written the kier starmer christmas special?

I know, I know, cars are not the answer, especially in cities - but Renault are way ahead of the other legacy manufacturers, especially with their sensibly-sized cars.

Brent Toderian@brenttoderian.bsky.social · 2mo ago

“The world is not going to be saved by big electric SUVs,” says Renault’s chief design officer…”The world is going to be saved by small electric cars. We need them to become as popular as other cars.” More small electric cars, but also fewer cars overall, driven much less thanks to more choices.