Having spent two days trying to get a plane that works, and reading all this airport discourse, I'm increasingly sure the best option is to just never fly.

I felt this in Tokyo, only I thought I was just tired after dealing with flight delay stuff all day, until people around me started commenting about it.

Hands up whose plane has functional toilets and thus isn't stuck in Tokyo for an indeterminate amount of time. *lowers hands*

I have so many random bits of plumbing

100% my attitude to farming and all ancillary activities.

I stumbled across an amazing sento (public bath), and then discovered it's a listed building. And there's a (associated?) hipster remote working office next door where I managed to break pretty much all the rules trying to buy a coffee.

My nephew would always get wound up if you voted for Pterodactyl/Plesiosaurus/Dimetrodon, but I think the real answer is triceratops, with a honourable mention for diplodocus.

Increasingly suspect that island life might be the best life.

I can't remember if I've done this before or just imagined it, but everyone I know seems to be planning a Japan trip at the moment so I've been thinking about what advice to give them.

Update: my correspondent reports the 12th April

New Yorker Radio Hour: "I don't think there's really much doubt that, in our lifetime at least, AI is going to bring changes as significant as the industrial revolution 200 years ago". Maybe I don't understand the qualification, but really? I'll take the under.

Yesterday I saw an Instagram of a tourist saying "what is this haunting evocative music?... Oh it's the sweet potato seller". Funnily enough, I used to use the yakimo seller's song in a multisensory experience as a part of a session on sensory history.

This Friday and Saturday (UK time) we'll be hosting a public symposium on "Global Samurai" at SOAS University of London, as part of the programme of the British Museum exhibition "Samurai" Event page, including programme and registration information: www.britishmuseum.org/events/globa...

My article with @carto-graph.bsky.social on Japanese private railways is out. Rule of thumb, only privatise railways as much as you privatise parking. worksinprogress.co/issue/why-ja...

Heathrow T5 was specifically designed *not* to be efficient in terms of passenger throughput: you're not the customer, you're the product. There's a reason you have to trek northwards past all the shops before you can go down the escalators to then trek southwards past all the shops.

I'm no expert on the efficient flow of people, but Heathrow Terminal 5 appears to have been designed as a part of a dare.

Train got cancelled, so they sent us to another train, which had no driver and so got cancelled, so I'm now on a train with three trains worth of passengers. No idea how many drivers.

One of the key things I tell my students is that writing is where half the magic takes place.

Oh glorious day, etc etc.

Leg spin bowling is still the best bowling.

Me: cricket takes up a lot of the weekend, I should really be more selective this summer Also me: The Wales over 50 teams you say? Sounds interesting*. College alumni game? Interesting. Midweek games with the staff team, yup yup yup. * I'm not even 50.

I listened to Tyler Cowen's recent interview about AI and education, and ultimately came to the conclusion that I do not believe that TC believes all of the things he says.

I'm slightly disappointed to realise that I'm probably going to be away for the arrival of the first cuckoo of the year.

The <everyone's using it> line is such a massive tell.

Third lecture on the 1860s. Is the Shogunate collapsing in a heap, or am I collapsing in a heap? Unclear.

I've long used the Abe Trump hand crushing handshake, and the Abe Xi awkward handshake in lectures on East Asian diplomacy. I guess this is another gif to add to the collection.

I'm on a 28 day streak in Connections. My longest ever is 31 days. 😳

"might see you down the pub later"

In a moment of weakness I signed off on the kids making eggs benedict for mother's day. "The kids". Never again.

It's slightly funny, as someone who last really followed it in the 90s, to catch the edge of football discourse. Spurs suck, and Arsenal win by playing boring, you say? Sounds about right.

Conversation about LLM use in higher education this morning involved the suggestion we need to be direct and open with students about the issues, and specifically our own use of AI. I agree, but it was clear "I don't use LLMs & I'm not remotely tempted to" was not the presumed position.

Cosigned However, reading the wiki page on terms usedfor money, I think someone's been having fun with the UK section. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slang_t...

The @questingvole.bsky.social interview about this book made it sound awesome; I instasnap purchased a copy.

My best effort was "you're all probably too young to remember the '97 election" to a bunch of uni students who were born comfortably in the 00s.

Me, but with cricket bats.

I say this every year, but: The uni students I'm teaching are thoughtful, intelligent, will make everything they encounter better. With a new addition for 2026: They deeply hate AI.

It sounds melodramatic, but it occurred to me the other day that even under a fairly optimistic trajectory, the USA is going to remain seriously dysfunctional for a substantial fraction of the rest of my life.

Thinking a bit more about students and LLMs. We've had calculators for decades, yet a) we still teach maths, and crucially b) a good quantitative sense is really advantageous. Even if LLMs revolutionise the production of text, I'm willing to bet writing is still going to be a useful skill.

Today in ARB: @irapley.bsky.social reviews “The Ryukyu islands” by Gregory Smits @uchicagopress.bsky.social & “The Legacy of The Ryukyu Kingdom” by Takara Kurayoshi (JPIC) asianreviewofbooks.com/the-ryukyu-i...

T20 cricket is just astonishing. And going out to India in the semi final, with a creditable but never quite challenging effort is the most bang on par performance imaginable.

Would 100% let beavers colonise the stream running down the side of our fields.

In our family have the potato & gravy problem. You've got a roast potato left at the end of a meal so you pour a little gravy for it. Then after the potato is finished, there's some gravy left. So you need another potato to mop up the gravy... So too, the 8 year old has found, books and bookshelves

Trying to learn how to hit over the top. Definitely not my natural game. And I very nearly needed a new phone.

AI in everything update: pretty sure I don't need a £300 toothbrush, I don't need a toothbrush with software updates, and you know what, I think my current toothbrush is protected against cyberattacks already, tyvm.

Chris Bryant, in Isabel Hardman's @thespectator1828.bsky.social email. The queen may have taken the car, but I once recall the ticket inspector on my way home buzzing because she'd had *Hugh Grant* a few hours earlier on the train up the Rhondda to visit Bryant.

Still thinking about AI in Higher Ed. @adamtooze.bsky.social talked about the impact of JStor on his research (before my time), and coincidentally I just read this description of a prior quantum leap. (Small World by David Lodge).

Gooseberries. A lot depends on whether we're comparing good examples of each fruit, typical examples, or bad ones. But still, gooseberries.

Cricket coaching is proving a nice way to end the week. The current list of things I need to work on: Front foot Back foot Balance, Judging length Judging line Top hand grip Bottom hand Waiting Shot selection Getting there!

Being any form of skeptic on LLM is leading to some increasingly awkward interactions in surprising places.

Meiji Revolution sighting.