Judging. #cat #cats #caturday #CatsOfBluesky

Good morning

'The Line of the Plough.' (1919) John Arnesby Brown's painting was the first picture he made in the spring following the end of WW1. It suggests the start of the cycle of life and new beginnings after the shattered landscapes he witnessed in France and Belgium during the war.

I'm so pleased we went to the town fireworks display last night for the first time in 25 years, which was beautiful. I didn't expect the "bonfire" to be such a metaphor for our times, though!

Two of this household went out running this morning, but this one had other, lazier plans. #cat #cats #caturday #CatsOfBluesky

This could be the last #StroopwafelFriday for a while, as my usual source has dried up 😢

On Sunday we are pleased to welcome back Dr Vincent Oeters (2nd November, IN PERSON), who will give a talk titled "More than a harpist's song: a musical scene in the tomb of Tatia at Saqqara" (1/6) #egyptology #ancientEgypt #saqqara #archaeology #ancientHistory

Ellie hanging out with her new spooky friend. #cat #cats #caturday #CatsOfBluesky

I volunteered at parkrun for the first time in five and a half years! 😮 #parkrun

After a long pause, I've just done another England Covid & NHS update as we head into the autumn/winter season. TLDR: we're in a significant Covid wave now, the NHS is stretched, get boosted if you're eligible. christinapagel.substack.com/p/england-is...

Every time I see this I think, "Gottle of Geer". (It's not just me, is it?)

She is a cat that worries (all the time), but she wasn't as worried as she looks in this photo. If I'd captured the soundtrack, it would have been loud purring. #cat #cats #caturday #CatsOfBluesky

A brilliant, and surprisingly joyful, gig by Belly at the Electric Ballroom in Camden last night. They were the first band that felt like my own discovery, and I never thought I'd get to see them play live - let alone a second time. #Belly #TanyaDonelly

Amazing impressionistic sky over this evening's run.

"Excuse me, sir! I see you have food, I also like food." #cat #cats #caturday #CatsOfBluesky #ProofOfCat

Lift-off! (Exactly not like me, this morning.) #squirrel

1/11 Why is Elon Musk pushing for civil war in the US and Europe? This thread breaks down how Musk is using his platform, wealth, and influence to amplify far-right movements, incite political violence, and undermine democracy—across continents

Ellie striding into Caturday! #cat #cats #caturday #CatsOfBluesky

Moonlight by the Sea.' (1907) Harald Sohlberg worked with a simplified palette, frequently white, blue, red or green, which helped capture something of the Nordic light. He insisted each painting have one ‘dominant’ colour, which he would exaggerate with emotive effect.1

Tried to get a photo of Ellie for Caturday, but she said 😛 #caturday

A theoretical cocktail idea (partly inspired by real events): the "angry bastard" - chilli vodka, an espresso, and a wasp 🐝

This is a terrible, accidental photo taken earlier while I was hand-feeding our cat some Dreamies - but I quite like it as an action shot. The explosion of whiskers! The little fangs! #caturday #CatsOfBluesky

For our September meeting (7th September, IN PERSON), we are delighted to welcome Professor Aidan Dodson, who will give a talk on "The Libyan Pharaohs" (1/5)

Vibe coding in dog form.

BREAKING: after six years, our cat finally decided to try sitting on my lap!

This is great, as ever. When AI "lies" or "fawns", it is not because it is trying to please you. It's because that's the semantic search space the prompt has sent it to.

Oh, hi! #cat #caturday #CatsOfBluesky

Whatever that god-awful "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier" song is by The Killers.

Ellie peering around a curtain, wondering if it's safe out there. #cat #caturday #CatsOfBluesky

This palette was found in the Main Deposit at Hierakonpolis, near where the more famous Narmer Palette was found. Both date to around the time that Egypt was first unified, c. 3100 BCE, when the art style had not yet standardised into the more familiar canon of Pharaonic Egypt. 🧵1/9 #Egyptology

Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.

Started a new book. It seems timely ... but we've had it for ages so I hope it's not too out of date!

Back to parkrun, this morning! It was only my second parkrun since March 2020, and in the meantime our 'home' parkrun has moved, been renamed and has a new route. It's a really tough course now! #parkrun #running

Five things to remember about war:

“Historically, no one lived past age 35” "I’ve heard *so* many versions of this claim, including recently from a menopause doctor (implying menopause is not “natural” because noone lived long enough to go through it). Every time someone states this “fact,” a demographer loses a piece of their soul"

For no good reason, I've suddenly got the little tune the Atari 800XL used to play as a sound test stuck in my head. Thanks brain!

Happy gotcha day Ellie - we've now had six years with this crazy, fluffy, affectionate nutjob. Despite appearances to the contrary, she's relaxed a lot over those years. I'm not sure she ever slept properly for months when we first got her, but she's got pretty good at it these days!

This morning's arrivals in the post. Surely this must be quite a unique combination - a kind of "what3words" for a person.

Ellie "helping", recently. #caturday

Stroopwafel Friday!

"I've got a brand new content harvester"

Explore prints by David Hockney, René Magritte & more, on loan from the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Plus works by Sonia Delaunay, Bridget Riley, Barbara Hepworth, Graham Crowley, and more from Ipswich’s own collection. Learn more at ipswich.cimuseums.org.uk/colour-shape...

Everything you need to know about the trans Supreme Court case: What it said, what it didn't, and what happens next iandunt.substack.com/p/everything...

Soubhiye, from Lebanese Arabic, is the enjoyment of a quiet moment of peace before everyone else is awake. Gökotta is a Swedish term for waking up early to enjoy the birdsong. For the rest of us, there is hurkle-durkling, from Scots: lingering in bed long after it’s time to get up.

Ellie's been a slightly sickly mog this weekend, but thankfully she seems to be on the mend now. #caturday

Pancake day (again)! 😋

If you would like to hear all about the recent discovery of the tomb of pharaoh Thutmose II, we will be hosting Dr Piers Litherland, the UK field director, at our May meeting in Witham (11th May, IN PERSON) (1/4) #ancientEgypt #egyptology #ancientHistory #archaeology #ThutmoseII #westernWadis

An easy 10k run in the sunshine, this morning, looking for art and squirrels (squirrels not pictured). #running #StreetArt #ipswich #suffolk

Covid jab++, another upgrade.