<staff kitchen> NAZGUL #1: I just... NAZGUL: #2: What? N#1: Like... Seriously? We're hunting HOBBITS now? N#2: I mean okay but clue was in the name N#1: True, but still WITCH KING <entering>: Hey N#1: Hey N#2: Hey <Witch King leaves with coffee> N#1: Maybe we should have said something N#2: Maybe

Whether people can work from home is not actually an issue politicians get to have a say on, it's entirely up to employers. So if a spokesperson for a political party starts spouting off about ending working from home, they're just being a tedious controversialist to get people talking about them.

I didn't need more reasons to love Olivia Colman, and yet.

Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work. "This bloody place!"

🌿

Always and forever the Divine Comedy's brilliant The Pop Singer's Fear of the Pollen Count.

The more specific point, and pertinent, is that you don't get to become a billionaire without having reconciled on some level that your comfort, leisure, lifestyle, desires, can and should be facilitated through the exploitation of others

The Alt National Park Service account calls itself the official "resistance" team of the US National Park Service. With 887k followers, is one of the biggest accounts on Bluesky. It is the 11 most followed account according to some trackers. This thread will dive into its activity. 🧵 1/x.

"What the Voice of the People is saying is: "Look at that frightful ass Spode swanking about in footer bags! Did you ever in your puff see such a perfect perisher?""

The altnps account is the 13th most followed account on Bluesky and has more followers than every single news outlet other than the NYT, NPR and Meidas Touch on here. They actively spread misinformation and exploit gullible old people for cash. Accounts this unethical do not deserve to exist.

An observation test for your inner 8-year-old. You’ll be doing well to spot 12 deliberate mistakes. From Treasure magazine, 1963 Official answers coming soon (Even if you don’t reply, could you please ‘like’ or share this one?)

I found a petition to ban smart glasses in public spaces that needs a bit of a boost, if anyone else feels strongly about this: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...

Watching tonight's 1981 #TOTP on catch-up and spotted that the chart run-down attributed 'Romeo and Juliet' to some band called Dire Straights...

And yet I had an email from IT yesterday warning us that the costs of standard IT equipment and lead times were expected to go up because AI was snaffling all the chips. What's the point of being able to access the plagiarism machine if we can't provide computers in the first place?

"My husband complains about the cold," the man said. "Can you teach me a spell to keep him warm?" "I can teach you to bind hair into a net to catch heat," the wizard said, "using arcane counting and a pair of fine wands." After a while, the man said "Isn't this knitting?" "This, too, it's magic."

Ozzy in the window

Oh my goodness, @freyamarske.bsky.social's Cinder House is SO GOOD.

We have a winner!

Pick up the nearest book. Turn to page 42, and post the second sentence. "Males have a copper-red head, black breast and tail, and pale silver body; the eye is red and the bill silver with a black base and tip." Obviously, the book is a bird guide, but can anyone work out what bird this is?

Worrye not about 'being productive,' for thou art not a product. Thou art a star daunsinge yn a hopeful skye. A signal blinking across centuryes and worldes. Thou art a song performid just once and perfectlye.

I feel I should bang the drum for this post, which hasn't received the love it deserves. It helps to know that Jenrick's constituency is Newark.

I dunno which industry he’s talking about but it applies to Higher Education. The scale of redundancy plans & hiring freezes is clearly creating situations in which those who remain are at higher risk of burnout. It’s a serious health & safety issue That most employers are not taking seriously

This is an excellent thread and definitely worth noting by those of us struggling to pull ourselves out of the mental depths.

Meanwhile, over on Mastodon: mastodon.social/@mhoye/11586...

AND, 1st time *ever*, as we have a decent supply of them small-patch printed, we put our Doctor Who (4th Doctor Tom Baker) scarf lanyards 10% off! Overseas folks: I put 2 in the package for price of 1 since shipping is so high. Link torchandarrow.etsy.com/listing/8227... Shop torchandarrow.etsy.com

Filled this out, it's a really quick and easy survey to tell Discord no AI.

Good morning here is your emergency sloth

Electric Road right of way update: Campaigners are now looking for people aged 55+ who used the Bulstake Path or the Electric Road before 2000, (ideally before 1980), even if they no longer live in Oxford, in order to establish evidence of regular use of the paths for at least 20 years before 2000.

The Spanish version is “the left liberates, the right oppresses” and once I learned that, both screws and politics made more sense

Let's talk about generative AI, contaminated information, and rhubarb. Once upon a time, Europe was at war. Food was scarce, and the government of the quote-unquote United Kingdom looked for alternatives. 1/

Right. I have at least ONE THING to look forward to in the second half of this year (I heard @everinamaxwell.bsky.social mention this last year at Eastercon and I was sold even then): torpublishinggroup.com/call-me-trai...

My niece in Stonehaven, near Aberdeen, has made a snow dalek that's featured in the Aberdeen Press and Journal. #proudaunt

Elegant

Any friends who haven't downloaded/imported your LJ posts to another site might want to read this and consider taking action asap.

I had a dream about a musical called "Faculty Meeting" and weirdly it was good? The first number is about someone objecting to approving the minutes without unanimous consent but not offering a correction. This is how we meet The Parliamentarian, our narrator.

Instagram showed me a suggested post from someone who runs a "burnout bootcamp". Which seems like a terrible way to try to deal with burnout to me.

This is true and I was the only one on set excited about it (and playing the song on my phone to blank stares)

Just watched the new Knives Out and I think it's really important you know that the scene in the Seminary's Gym is filmed in the same place Rick Astley filmed the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up. I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.

It made me cry a little

The more AI infests gaming and everyday tech, the more I think of that line from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy about how the marketing division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation was defined as "a bunch of mindless jerks who were first against the wall when the revolution came."

oooooooh bloody HELL www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

It's a lovely 6th Day of Christmas at my true love's house, and you are six horrible geese

My goodness, 1990 was a bad year for music #TOTP

Absolutely nobody asked for this BUT English Anglican cathedrals that have burned down, fallen over, and sank into the swamp: a thread.

Did you know that different painkillers work best on different sources of pain? Inflammation: Ibuprofen Fever: Paracetamol Billionaires: Guillotine Hope that helps!

Linking antisemitic murders to the war on Gaza is really dangerous. It legitimises them when they are terrorist attacks. Likewise, linking "resistance" to Israel's actions to terrorism is really dangerous. Israel and Jewish people are not synonymous.

This is Millie. She just learned how to sled. Hopes you brought a second land frisbee, because she will not be taking turns. 13/10 (TT: millietheredlab)

A knight has been spotted in Summertown. (We have the best readers). A Clarion correspondent wrote in to report the sighting, saying “He was having a little difficulty with the pelican crossing when I caught up with him. Pressing the button is tricky when you’re wearing metal gauntlets."

—I’ve been asked to baptise the King of Spain’s daughter —Infanta? —No, holy water as usual. Weird thing to ask honestly