If only ā¦
Ex-British Army. Mountain bike. Nature. Animal welfare before food. Forestry maintenance. Modern Jazz. A bit of š¹. Adrift in the outskirts of philosophical coherence. Literature. Aspiring socialist. š š šŗš¦ šŖšŗ šµšø (šTrumpāļø)
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If only ā¦
I served 12 years in the British infantry. 4 very difficult, tragic tours of Northern Ireland. I expect absolutely zero recognition for that. In return I donāt want to see members of Labour (above all) or the any other party flag-shagging for votes. What a disappointment, Yvette Cooper. #Sellssoul.
Gifted a LāOrĆ©al gentlemanās beard grease + brush recently. Was sceptical but itās a really treat. š„ø
Is āin and of itselfā worth the bother as a predicate. āIn itselfā suffices. No?
I run. That has to be a clue that I know Iām not! :)
š¤Æ
The Profound Meaning of Platoās "Allegory of the Cave" An account of its connection to ancient myths, and the ultimate narrative archetype we know as the Heroās Journey. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nHj... #Plato #Socrates #cave #knowledge #philosophy #philsky
My old job. Retired already 2 years!
whoāll light fires despite the drought and heatwave of this summer but they were cool about it and undid their work. I understood their excitement of having a den. :)
In a way Iām not altogether retired. I outsource what I did solo to locally approved small cooperatives for forestry maintenance over 20 hectares. But I cycle the trails to check. We had kids recently building a log cabin. They werenāt doing damage, using only fallen trees. But they attract others
#jazzsky #jazz Two masters of #bebop. Seattle born Rouse, Monkās tenor of choice; Philadelphiaās Red Rodney was Birdās trumpet of choice. They teamed up to record an absolute crackerjack of an album. Very few top jazz musicians ever really got to grips with #bop. music.apple.com/fr/album/soc...
The rich have won. I donāt see how it gets pulled back from here. They probably won a long time ago.
Takes a moment.
Bit early but next weekās #jazz focus will either be on John Surman or some of the non-jazz, non-classical stuff that I like. There isnāt much of it. But, eg. the original #StarTrek theme which was based on the standard āOut of Nowhereā, is in there. More anon perhaps. #jazzsky
Is this true Cathey? Did he really mock a person with a disability?
#OldAndNewDreams on Black Saint. #Jazzsky Chairman Mao. #Jazz music.apple.com/fr/album/cha...
Was for me too in England. In France (although retired now) I am work. The forest. :) Enjoy your commute.
Congratulations to @zackpolanski.bsky.social on your stunning victory. Your campaign took on the rich and powerful, stood up for the dignity of all marginalised communities, and gave people hope! Real change is coming. I look forward to working with you to bring about a fairer, kinder world.
Good luck Zack.
The BBCās #politicslive carries the news of @zackpolanski.bsky.socialās election of Green Party leader and then a discussion among the Labour, Conservative, and LibDem MPs and a Conservative commentator as to why this doesnāt matter very much. Dispiriting.
My god. Almost unthinkable to think so little has changed since the early part of the last century.
When I lived in the UK, so before 2008, I never watched television (working or mountain biking). Via YouTube Iāve discovered great stuff #QI #StephenFry #SandiToksvig
šØ Nataliya Bagatskaya šš (b.1967) šŗš¦ āA Summer Night. Ukraine, 2025āš¢ #Ukraine
Iād deny it to them out of sheer spite.
Rumours circulating about Trumpās health. Even if heās still alive. Donāt you die on me (before serving time).
Could I see the abattoir slaughter bit instead?
After Enlightenment, Dysfunction. Ages.
www.tiktok.com/t/ZT6GvjPcr/ How in the HELL does any government lawfully deport 600 unaccompanied minors? Who does that? Who the fuck are we? What are we? What have we become?
Now playing Old And New Dreams - Playing friendica.world/display/84b6... #nowplaying #vinyl #jazz #freejazz #oldandnewdreams
music.apple.com/fr/album/tog... #Jazzsky #Africa #Folk A shortlived group. Munich-based #ECMrecords set up this gig so thanks to Manfred Eicher (āPlayingā which Iāve already cited on here is the second of two ECM #OldAndNewDreams recordings).
That could so easily be Cruz who once condescended to #SkyNews USA correspondent Mark Stone that he knew the British journalist had an agenda. #Uvalde
It is astonishing how badly suited Keir Starmer is to the current moment. Just astonishing
Nobody in the history of civilisation has set themselves up for a greater fall than #Trump. āThrough desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh āandā intermeddleth with all wisdomā. Proverbs 18:1; see also 16:18. KJB
Dreadful.
āFormer Trump aide say heās made peace in Ukraine less likelyā. #SkyNews. What were you expecting for goodnessā sake! The manās a bloody servile idiot.
What does it even mean to be āa supporter of flagsā? How about this one šµšø ? Knucklehead! news.sky.com/story/politi...
#photography #iphonephotography
Note to self. Film idea: a sort of Day Of The Jackal thing #Trump.
There are a couple of free workshops where I live that give tutorials. You take your laptop along and get 1:1 tuition. I canāt believe that such schemes are rare.
Maybe it was an off day but he was a miserable sod. But I remember back in the 1970s, I was still school and went to see Mike Garrick Trio at Portsmouth Uni. He told me to āpiss offā when I asked him! And he wasnāt hustling. Charming
I saw Lou Donaldson in West Berlin. Either 1986 or 87. I asked for his autograph. He said grumpily āOnly if you buy a recordā.
Commendable. I wonder if thereās wiggle room.
music.apple.com/fr/album/hap... Dewey Redman, ts; Don Cherry, tpt; Charlie Haden, bass; Ed Blackwell, drums. This is effectively the Ornette Coleman Quartet with the Texan tenor Redman replacing OC. Group ethos: African folk fused with modern jazz . #JazzSky #OldAndNewDreams
Important new research from Steve Menary on the increase in relationships between betting companies and leading cricket teams, tournaments & players post-Covid. Have a read below ā¬ļøā¬ļø
TIP: If, like me, you wear deck shoes everyday, when the laces snap leave them in situ before going to the cobblers. Unless of course you can replace them yourself (very difficult). Leaving the old in helps with relacing. My cobbler scolded me for taking the old laces out!
Like horse racing. Excessive use of the whip being the least of the animalās problems. But weāre assured they āloveā it š”
Fractures. Head trauma. Internal bleeding. Greyhound racing breaks bones & lives ā then discards them.
What an indictment, and a hangover from Thatcherism. Why werenāt lessons learned?
Hence the irony. Iām not a card-carrying socialist. But Iāve come to see over the last 20 years or so that thereās been absolutely no increase in the social goods; health, education, housing. Nobody has dared to improve them for fear of ā¦. for fear of what exactly? A label?
the comfortable electorate was concerned. Suddenly this small ācā conservatism was blasted from the water by cries of āelitismā, feeding straight into populist anxieties. In many ways, some or other sort of liberalism triggered an inarticulate populist backlash. We paying for that today.
cated along the lines of āmore of the sameā. My tutor-to-be, the late Peter Lipton, dubbed this position ācautionaryā inductivism, though in another context (as opposed to revolutionary inductivism = time for a change given the same data). And this resulted in an attack on a sitting duck, as far as
The worry is, I think, both in the UK and the USA, that voting for some vague or inchoate form of liberalism SAVED one from swinging further left. Corbynās career was all but ended by this kind neo-lib buffer zone between conservatism writ large and the āloonyā left. But the neo-lib line was pred-
I could wrap up my last few comments, repost them back to Germany in 1933. Itād be tantamount to saying āWeāll at least Iām not a Jewā. But this sense of state surveillance is becoming urgent. Iāve had a few āgo homeā confrontations recently. I despair. How could so much hatred be mustered by so few
about what I write on social media.
the socio-economic challenges ahead. I fear a real wave of nationalism behind Jordan Bardella and scrutiny of social media applications will weigh heavily. Iām not a French citizen. I simply have permanent residency status. And luckily I know people in the right places. But I am starting to worry
astonishes me is how well the UK is thought of by your everyday French person. So many tap me on the back demanding āFrexitā. France is heading into a period of economic crisis due to erupt mid-September. Iām on the side of les gilets jaunes (V2.0).My partner and I are lucky insofar as we may beyond
That shouldnāt deter us. Iām sorry to say that UK has no pull on my heartstrings. This has been (surprisingly) compounded by the present government. I retch at their eagerness to please the uninformed part of the electorate. Iāve never been a flag waver. I feel secure enough with my identity. What
What Liam Cunningham said in Barcelona. For goodnessā sake #JusticeForGaza šµšø. #StopTheGenocide.
#USVeterans ā so many hardened and scarred physically and psychologically ā this traitor is getting a better deal than you. Never forget how Trump mocked you in general and Sen. John McCain in particular. This doesnāt and will never happen in Europe without an uprising of the people.
Despite itās almost unique, sloganesque association with jazz, very few modernists play āIt Donāt Mean A Thingā¦ā #jazzsky
I wonder how much or how closely our social media profiles and contents, perhaps especially #Bluesky, are monitored when determining, eg. visa suitability.
#ReformUK policy for #energy. Buy now, we all pay fatally slightly later. #ClimateChange #Ecology
#YORvHAM Is that Liam Dawsonās finest ever century? He came in with Hampshire in all sorts of bother. But he masterminded the recovery with support from 17yo Ben Mayes and Scott Currie to put us in pole position at the halfway stage #MetroNankODC #ODCsemifinal #Scarborough.
āNothing is more important than stopping fascism, because fascism will stop us all.ā - Fred Hampton
Impressive :)
ā Donāt go breaking my heart ā I couldnāt if I tried ā Donāt go breaking my heart ā Iāve just explained to you that there are strong modal constraints upon me doing that, for goodness sake! š¶
:)
Just to clarify. Gig started at 9pm. Iād be there at 7pm. Quasimodoās Jazz Club. Iād watch Eddie Blackwell put his drum kit together. After 3 nights Dewey noticed me and my enthusiasm. So he reserved that table, right in front of the bandstand, for me & the band. I felt like royalty. Berlin. Wow.
Polite suggestion. He has all the aura thatās going :)
#Caturday Pacha.
Next week Iām doing Ornette Colemanās successor group, if I can put it like that. Memories of my time in Berlin, mid-1980s, flood back. #JazzSky. āOld & New Dreamsā. I was privileged to sit at a table reserved for me by Dewey Redman and chat extensively with them. Redman/Cherry/Haden/Blackwell.
But how ā¦ ā¦ ?
Iām on Squeakyās side here. :)
A beer on the balcony. Contemplating how retirement has panned out. No complaints. I fear for our youth and also for many of my own age cohorts for whom life is difficult. It seems a constant battle against serious illness. Again canāt complain. There are human horror stories all around me.
La CorrĆØze. Central Franāce. Same latitude as Bordeaux. Rural. Farming. Economically poor. Iām about 200km from the sea. I miss the sea. But there is near limitless forest canopy here. I admire your ātechnÄā, a Greek term which meant deep practical knowledge in a certain domain.
Wonderful subject, photos and looks a fĆ®ne pint. I love in France. No regrets but I miss a good pint of real ale. Fantastic Bluesky account youāve got going.
#JazzSky To conclude #PrezWeek; hereās Lester Young playing āMean To Meā. One aside: itās testament to Prez that the Lennie Tristano āschoolā took over his repertoire. Lee Konitz even transcribed Prezā solo on āLady Be Goodā and made the head (Tenor Lee). m.youtube.com/watch?v=T_NU...
Among my fairly recent regrets is buying a Canon EOS DSLR, 18-55mm. A few years ago. Realising that my iPhone camera was at least itās equal; so buying a Tamron 18-200mm. Highly limited for my hopes to photograph wildlife. Itās effective range is less than 40m. #photography. And itās worthless ā¬ā¬ā¬
Having a pint or Wherry next to a Wherry !!!
Been reading a lot of fairly heavy stuff. Decided to take a break with a cold beer and a highlights package of QI (A).
#photography #iPhonephotography CafƩ.
Are those two distinct tasks - collecting and mulching - distinguished by different ribbon decorations!
If heād managed to settle down, get a place of his own; maybe find a bride; I think then heād have insisted. Nobody wants to receive mail addressed Mr & Mrs. F. Monster.
#Caturday #catsky Bleep, 2019.
Fine work and kindness.
For the price of a Parker Knoll recliner, something of bucket list item, I could get a reasonable #emtb, more of a necessity in them these here hills!
Has she ushered them forth from this place!
Bastards.
Good night, dear friends. Itās 00:30 in Ukraine. I hope tonight will be peaceful. In Kyiv, rescue workers saved a cat from the rubble after a russian missile strike. Because in Ukraine, every life matters.
I wonder if there are lost Dickie Davies Odes, covering ITV World of Sport wrestling? Odes to the feats of Jackie Pallo, Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks, the masked Kendo Nagasaki, Johnny Saint, et al. :)
Almost a painting.
Birling Gap again, this time in August 2023
A quirky view from Kings Cross concourse with the Lomo LCA and some Eastman 5222 #believeinfilm #filmphotography
In town. Speakers on behalf of #JusticeForGaza #Palestine attract a small crowd of people coming and going from the market. šµšø
Trump playing soldiers because he never was one.
Itās Saturday. Off into town with a splash of LāOrĆ©al beard grease.
Have you attempted basic first aid!
Love this.
Canāt grumble. Would like to have seen a MacCulloch in there :)