@mushroomjenja.bsky.social Plenty of other trees around but no other fungi, just this giant

@bluejo.bsky.social unexpected mention of Petrach in today's Tour de France commentary - apparently he was the first to climb Mount Ventoux. Or the first to record it at least.

@talking-upscotland.bsky.social any comparative figures for Scotland?

@aptshadow.bsky.social scientific backing for your comment at @cymerafestival.co.uk yesterday that the most heavily promoted forms of current AI are, IIRC, little better than spicy autocorrect.

We have partnered with Tor UK to bring you a GIVEAWAY for a paperback copy of Service Model by @aptshadow.bsky.social! To enter: Follow us and @aptshadow.bsky.social & repost this post only. Rules: UK & N. Ireland entries only due to shipping restrictions. Ends: Thursday 29th May

@marthawells.com French has le mot juste

@seananmcguire.bsky.social I only just finished Every Heart A Doorway in the wee sma' hours of this morning and now, on an organised walk this morning, I encounter this beauty. RLS knew a doorway for sure - Tusitala, the teller of tales.

@carolinelucas.bsky.social A sentence from Graham Greene's 'Travels With My Aunt' (1969) that made me wonder how much has changed in Brighton and when: "The lights ran out to sea along the Palace Pier and the edge of the water was white with phosphorescence."

@maryrobinettekowal.com I've just finished chapter 51 of The Relentless Moon - which is great btw - so it's incredibly surreal to check the latest news from the BBC and find this!

@whatsonedinburgh.bsky.social @edinburghminute.bsky.social @edinreporter.bsky.social two days left to see Wasps at @traversetheatre.bsky.social starring Yolanda Mitchell in a phenomenal performance. Don't miss it.

@traversetheatre.bsky.social @whatsonedinburgh.bsky.social two days left to see the riotous black comedy 'Dookin Oot'. If "All art is about sex and death" then here's the package. Personally I lean to love and life and that's very much here too. Marvellous. www.traverse.co.uk/whats-on/eve...

@mushroomjenja.bsky.social artuk.org/discover/sto...

Now, who might appreciate this? ... @maryrobinettekowal.com www.abebooks.co.uk/books/rarebo...

@older.bsky.social live tracking of Scottish road gritters, with some stonking names, including Blizzard of Oz and Sleetwood Mac www.traffic.gov.scot/gritter-trac...

@peatworrier.bsky.social Happy New Year to you. AI assisted legal proceedings... what could go wrong...

1 January 1926 | A Polish Jew, Leon Weintraub, was born in Łódź. In #Auschwitz from August 1944. He was transferred to Groß-Rosen, Flossenbürg & Natzweiler-Struthof. He was liberated on 23 April 1945 near Donaueschingen. He became a doctor. Today he turns 99. Happy birthday!

youtube.com/shorts/NnbLo... This is hilarious and horrifying. Fatuously fake AI images generated from, fairly positive, touristy hokum about Edinburgh that don't feature a single recognisable image of the city (but do incorporate Glasgow University!). Who would do that? Why?!

Vaccines work

What would a privatised NHS look like? Read this thread.

1/5 A groundbreaking Amnesty report published today concludes Israeli authorities are committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. www.amnesty.org.uk/genocide-rep...

Read Pat Wrede's Talking to Dragons, inspired by a mention from Louis McMaster Bujold. Recommended for younger readers and anyone who can enjoy a good fairytale adventure.

Like this?

For our first post on Bluesky, we thought we'd take a wee twirl around the Sun Stone, an early medieval standing cross carved in the lost Viking-Age kingdom of the Strathclyde Britons and found in our 1,500-year-old churchyard in Govan, located in Glasgow, Scotland.

@brainrob.bsky.social this looks ideal, though I haven't tried it yet

This is glorious; particularly as I'm listening to Billy Connolly's Windswept and Interesting, narrated by Billy himself. I regret though that the extract from McCaig's A Man in Assynt which closes the program is missing what for me is a vital phrase - the final sentence in the following extract:

@indyfromspace.bsky.social I think you'll like it

@adapalmer.bsky.social I hadn't seen this before, but it could be the theme tune for your posts here. youtube.com/watch?v=4pPz... *if we ignore the sci-fi, manga, sagas...

Tom Vasel and Mike Dilisio from The Dice Tower playing Reiner Knizia's Rebirth from @mightyboards.bsky.social at #EssenSpiel2024 #Spiel23 #boardgames

@adapalmer.bsky.social Many thanks for the recommendations. Others on order, but looking forward to reading these.

@benaaronovitch.bsky.social I thought 'geni locorum' was one of yours. You stand accused of doing research!