iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Age yourself with your childhood crush

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Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Bayeux tapestry was fantastic, and the decoration of independence a wee bonus. Soho lunch afterwards. Now zzzzz.

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Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Tonight’s film. Seen once before, over streaming, nearly twenty years ago and loved it. Breach with Chris Cooper, about the FBI mole. Good old Cinema Paradiso DVD rental delivers the goods.

Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I panicked, but it’s in the paper thankfully. Missing from the App though.

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Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Brilliant news Richie. Congrats.

Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I’d been a fan since Black Metal and was a bit star struck but they were so generous with their time, did a brilliant interview and sent me home with a bagful of merch and made sure I had a guest list pass at Manchester Apollo when the tour came through town. RIP RIP and “Aaaaarrrrgggh” 🤘🏼

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Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Cronos from Venom has passed away. As a 16 or 17 yr old I published (that's behind generous) a Metal and Punk ‘zine and went all the way to Newcastle to interview Venom and spent the day with them in the studio whilst they were recording Possessed. They were lovely and funny Geordies 1/2

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Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Good times with Gavin and Niall at Yellow Arches in Sheffield last night.

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Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Where I received my alternative education. Such a strange and exciting place to discover as a teenager.

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Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Off up to Sheffield, where I lived for ten years, for two mate’s birthday party. Grabbed some goodies from the shelves to play.

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Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Hey James. I really love Ballads. It’s still the unmistakable Coltrane quartet but a very slow, gentle playing of several standards. Warm, emotional and lovely. I’d also add My Favourite Things. I reckon you can hear the break from old Coltrane to new when he flies away in the second solo.

Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Thanks Jay. I’d photographed it to give it a whirl so thankyou for the correction.

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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

NASA picture of the day today is a real 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿beauty! This is a composite image of the ~5000yo Callanish Stones on the Isle of Lewis. The amazing Giuseppe Petricca has only gone and photographed the Sun at noon there, every few days, for a whole year. #Dedication 🔭🧪👌 ℹ️: science.nasa.gov/image-articl...

The imposing Callanish Stones stand talk with their shadows spanning out across the glass. It's a super clear sky, but looks cold. Above the central stone is a strange figure-of-8 shape of dots. This is the location of the Sun, at noon, on various different days across the year.

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Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

On holiday. Had to give these a go. They’re like Nik Naks. Still not convinced but I’ve eaten them all.

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Ned Raggett @nedraggett.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

A while back, someone made a claim that ZZ Top was the closest that America ever got to motorik in a classic 70s sense, that eternal drive down the freeway. I have no problem in equating Frank Beard with Klaus Dinger in that regard.

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Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

It’s cooled down quite a bit and had a good swim. 6 laps, one mile, 45 mins. Beers after, then made a smoked salmon pâté. Get me.

The men’s pond at Hampstead Heath. The jetty, water and trees in the distance.

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Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Some light Summer reading.

Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

No they wouldn’t. So tragic and horrible.

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Celeste Labedz @celestelabedz.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

I wouldn't call myself a cartoonist, but I had the vision and just needed it to be on paper to the best of my ability.

A hand drawn eight panel cartoon. First two panels are a colander sitting frowning on a shelf. Then the colander is frowning straining pasta, then three more panels of frowning sitting on a shelf. Then a big panel where it's projecting a bunch of crescent eclipse shapes and smiling with speech bubbles around saying "Wow! Look! Amazing! Beautiful!" And then one final panel where it's sitting on a shelf smiling.

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Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

I had an eclipse swim in the pond. Magic!

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I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re still standing.

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Flippin’ eck. That’s appalling.

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The church gateposts and some of the walls of Derwent hall and surrounding cottages were still standing then. I’m not sure if they still are.

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During one of the heavy drought years in the early 90’s we lugged the camera across the mud and took photos of the gateposts (in the pic you shared) from the same place as his grandad all those years earlier.

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Thea Euryphaessa @theaeuryphaessa.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

I have a couple of pals in Sheffield who’s grandparents were residents of Derwent village. Another pal’s Grandad was a photographer for the Star and took many of the Derwent photos and left his medium format camera to his grandson…

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Reposted by Ben Tye

I felt this passage in my bones.

Sooner or later, if you are on any classic 'spiritual schedule', some event, person, death, idea, or relationship will enter your life that you simply cannot deal with, using your present skill set, your acquired knowledge, or your strong willpower. Spiritually speaking, you will be, you must be, led to the edge of your own private resources. At that point you will stumble over a necessary stumbling stone, as Isaiah calls it; or to state it in our language here, you will and you must 'lose' at something. This is the only way that Life-Fate-God-Grace-Mystery can get you to change, let go of your egocentric preoccupations, and go on the further and larger journey. I wish I could say this was not true, but it is darn near absolute in the spiritual literature of the world.

— Richard Rohr, Falling Upward

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Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

I just wanted to say how much I enjoy your BlueSky posts Simon. Thankyou for sharing.

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Rose Ruane @regretteruane.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Mrs Dalloway said she would eat the “sharing” bag herself

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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Exceptionally low water levels on the Danube have exposed parts of the foundations of the ancient Constantine Bridge, giving archaeologists a rare opportunity ‌to document what they describe as one of the Roman Empire's most impressive engineering achievements. www.reuters.com/business/env...

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Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

I’m equally ambivalent and yet a fan of these peanut wotsits and keep on buying a pack when I see them. I think I first had them in Spain.

Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Yes, this, and even for reasonably sized business owners/leaders. Like, “I’m running this business as best I can, to pay everyone a decent living, deliver a great service to clients and to turn a profit” and theres this massive cognitive disconnect between “us” and “them”.

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Andy Lewis @andylewis.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Bill Oddie. Yes, he was a Goodie, how I first encountered him as a kid. But he's also the man behind this wonderfully atmospheric beat ballad I stumbled upon on 7" in 1990. For fans of Bowie's first album on Dream, or Scott Walker, or Dusty Springfield's Where Am I Going. youtu.be/SfSG8dP4Yzo?...

youtu.be

Bill Oddie - I Can't Get Through - Parlophone : R 5433 DJ (45s)

YouTube video by John Manship

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Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

2k swim this afternoon. Nice bit of cloud cover and a much, much quieter pond.

Ben Tye @bentye.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Thankyou for all the great column pieces Simon. This one in particular speaks to the qualities required to write well. I look forward to your features for years to come.