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john bone

@johnbone.bsky.social
419 followers 681 following 3K posts

contentedly retired academic (economics) diatonic accordion fumbler (www.youtube.com/@ekhezlaik/videos) shelfloads of #vinyl - not a collector though, just old. #COYI btw

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Reposted by john bone
Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Once I had the idea that Chris Mason is doing Starmer's daily horoscope, I could not unhave it. Have a listen with that thought in your head. In terms of pacing, writing, and tone, it could not be more perfect.
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Dr Anna Clark @drannaclark.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Greatest scientist between Newton & Einstein: James Clerk Maxwell, Scottish physicist, born #OTD 1831; formulated Theory of Electromagnetism, four equations which underpin modern information & communication technologies. Monument George Street Edinburgh | James Clerk Maxwell Foundation Edinburgh
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Ashmolean Museum, Oxford @ashmoleanmuseum.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Cheers to the approaching weekend! This fabulous cup is reminiscent of a medieval chalice. It is decorated with scrolling tendrils and foliage, and lapis lazuli, garnet, opal, amethyst, rock crystal, tourmaline, mother-of pearl and red coral!
A silver cup decorated with semi-precious stones around the rim and the base.A close up of a silver cup decorated with semi-precious stones around the rim.A close up of a silver cup decorated with semi-precious stones around the base.
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john bone @johnbone.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Bowie’s musical trajectory might have been rather different had Asher chosen otherwise…
15th July 1968.

Kenneth Pitt Management Ltd., 35, Curzon Street, London W.1.

Dear Sir,

As we told you on the phone, Apple Records is not interested in signing David Bowie. The reason is that we don't feel he is what we're looking for at the moment.

Thank you for your time.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Asher

Head of A&R for Apple Records.
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Stephen Curry @scurry.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Cuts and damage that have the de facto approval of the @royalsociety.org, which continues to honour Musk as a fellow despite his breaches of their code of conduct.
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Twlldun @twlldun.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
This is how politicians of the Labour right used to deal with the fash, btw
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Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
‘How Many Aunties?’, Black Hares Mount, Leeds, 1978, photo by Peter Mitchell.
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john bone @johnbone.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Interesting that Burnham’s argument for less aggressive whipping is that this would “raise the status of members of parliament [and] let them appear more authentic to their constituents”, given his commitment also to PR which is somewhat inimical to the single-member constituency system.
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Mateusz Fafinski @calthalas.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Sometime at the end of the second century a local aristocrat got buried close to what will become Berlin. He was laid to rest with a bronze relief showing the labors of Hercules and might have been a veteran of the Marcomannic Wars. Small world! Landesmuseum Brandenburg
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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
It’s worth checking if your local library service offers press reader. Mine does. So that’s today’s editions of pretty much most of what I ever need free.
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Dr. Peter Paul Rubens @peterpaulrubens.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Died (alas!) on this day in 1594, in Venice, the great Jacopo Robusti, commonly known as Tintoretto. Here, by himself, in 1587.
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Dee Lilley🔻 @deelilley.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
House at the sea, Paul Klee 1918
House at the sea, Paul Klee  1918
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Nick Lloyd @spaincivilwartours.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Stunning Iberian sculpture of a wolf head from El Pajarillo, Jaén, Andalucía, early 4th BCE. The ears pinned back and wrinkled muzzle suggest a threatening posture. It forms part of a large sculpture telling story of a hero who frees a youth from the wild animal. Museo de Jaén.
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john bone @johnbone.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Style-ish
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Richard Morris @ahistoryinart.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
This work was painted in the late 1940s when Theodore Major and his family lived in Wigan. After moving to Appley Bridge in 1950, he painted on board rather than canvas and relatively few works remain from the earlier period.
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History and Heritage Yorkshire @handhyorkshire.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
The Kearton Brothers (Richard & Cherry): Born in the tiny Swaledale village of Thwaite in the Yorkshire Dales, these farmers' sons are credited by Sir David Attenborough with inventing natural history photography. In 1895, they published British Birds' Nests, the world’s first
This photograph from the 1890s depicts British naturalist brothers Richard and Cherry Kearton using a creative, high-angle tripod setup to photograph a bird's nest.Cherry Kearton (standing on shoulders) was a pioneer of wildlife photography and documentary filmmaking, while his brother Richard often authored their books. They are credited with introducing the "hide" method for observing and photographing birds, significantly contributing to the development of wildlife photography. Image: The Keartons photographing a bird's nest, 1890s. Cherry is on Richard's shoulders. National Media Museum @ Flickr Commons
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john bone @johnbone.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Manifold blows a gasket.
theguardian.com
BP boardroom turmoil deepens as ousted chair hits back at ‘lies’ over conduct
Albert Manifold disputes reports about his behaviour and says he always tried to set example
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Roger Reynard @rogerday.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Nothing much. Just Hammet looking as sharp as one of his novels
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Gail Myerscough @gailmyerscough.co.uk · 26/05/2026
These took a while to design. I lost my dad eighteen months ago and Father's Day felt like a tough job this year. I got there by thinking about what he gave me. www.gailmyerscough.co.uk/fathers-day-...
Four Father's Day cards laid out in a repeating diagonal grid, each featuring a bold retro illustration on a deep teal background. Designs include a vinyl record player, a Polaroid camera, a bookshelf and a retro teapot with mug. Each card reads "Dad" in large cream lettering with a tagline: "Thanks for playing me the good stuff", "Thanks for developing the best bits", "Thanks for the recommendations" and "Thanks for the brews and chats."
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Catbus @catbus.phd · 24/05/2026
Director Akira Kurosawa posing with the cast of Rashomon (1950) 📽️
From left-to-right: Daisuke Katō (policeman), Takashi Shimura (woodcutter), Toshirō Mifune (Tajōmaru), Machiko Kyō (Kanazawa's wife), Masayuki Mori (Takehiro Kanazawa), Kichirō Ueda (commoner), Minoru Chiaki (monk), and Akira Kurosawa.
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Ennius @enniusredloeb.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
24th May is the feast of Pentecost. München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, BSB Clm 4452; Evangeliary of Henry II; circa 1007 CE-1012 CE; Reichenau; f.135v
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john bone @johnbone.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
sold out? He was lucky to get a seat then.
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john bone @johnbone.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
“Can you imagine a worse choice as reserve player on a seven-week trip than a footballer who thinks this is the correct way to behave, and the best way to support his teammates and his country? Spot‑on, Thomas. I wouldn’t want that guy wandering around the tennis courts between games either.”
theguardian.com
Tuchel has picked a good England squad and doesn’t care about the wider shout-verse | Barney Ronay
Every choice or omission stands up to scrutiny, although the FA’s technology department did not do such a good job at the unveiling
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womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Contemporary painter Mary Pym, who was born in the Netherlands but who now lives in the UK #WomensArt
Redish painted landscape with fields and a small homestead with purple hills in the background
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History and Heritage Yorkshire @handhyorkshire.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
The arrival of the nuns at Nun Monkton came roughly a century after the Norman Conquest. In 1172, Ivetta of the Arches, an Anglo-Norman landowner, founded a small Benedictine nunnery which owned the village. The priory survived until 1536, when it was dissolved under Henry VIII. The village
The west facade and doorway, the Church of St Mary, Nun Munkton, North Yorkshire,, Spaecer Means, CC BY-SA 2.0
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john bone @johnbone.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Introduce yourself with 10 bands you've seen live. Traffic Procol Harum Van Morrison Richard Thompson Blowzabella Vasmalom Frank London’s Klezmer Brass Allstars Flaco Jiménez Shooglenifty The Hot Sardines
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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
204 years ago now. RIP Pfeilstorch.
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john bone @johnbone.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
“He had no plans to rejoin the EU in the next 10 years and he quite fancied some kind of electoral reform. And welfare also needed looking at. This was all for later, though. Now he just wanted to let Makerfield know he was an ordinary, humble local boy. A politician they could trust.”
theguardian.com
Manchester Messiah Burnham anointed to fix Westminster politics
King of the North searches for the hero inside himself to an Oasis backing track to change politics for the better
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Digital Brain @yourdigitalbrain.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
A Swiss luxury train elegantly navigates two different track gauges without changing cars, showcasing innovative engineering in action.
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RG Poulussen @rgpoulussen.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
#OTD in 1941, York Barracks. Infantry recruits practicing aiming their rifles at an aircraft, with the aid of a model plane held aloft on a pole. #WW2 #HISTORY
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Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
OpenAI's claim that this is a central conjecture in discrete geometry is not an exaggeration. This will I think be looked back on as the first time that AI solved a major mathematics problem (defined as a problem that all experts in some subfield had thought about). openai.com/index/model-...
openai.com
An OpenAI model has disproved a central conjecture in discrete geometry
An OpenAI model solved the 80-year-old unit distance problem, disproving a major conjecture in discrete geometry and marking a milestone in AI-driven mathematics.
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Dorothy Bishop @deevybee.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
bonkers. We need more care workers, not millionaires
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Occasionally Lost @mostlyrambling.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Comprehensive record-keeping on the North Yorkshire coast in March 2020. ☀️ 🌊 🕒 #AlphabetChallenge #WeekTForTime #Time #WoodensDay #History #ECK #EastCoastKin #Scarborough #Yorkshire
Landscape oriented,  16:9 aspect ratio image. 

A large, rectangular wooden display case from the 1930s, on the seafront at Scarborough. It contains a clock for British Standard Time plus:

a barometer dial, dials for high water AM and PM, a dial for wind direction, and a dial for hours of sunshine.

In the centre there is a board with  piece of paper attached to it with data recordings written on it. 

The words "Borough of Scarborough" are painted across the top of the cabinet in upper case letters.
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womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Cornwall based, UK ceramics artist Linda Styles #womensart
Photo of a ceramic bowl with colours on a white background
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womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Nicola Kantorowicz, contemporary stained glass artist #womensart
Circular stained glass artwork with stylised flowers
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SempaiScuba @sempaiscuba.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
19 May 1649: The Long Parliament passed an Act declaring #England a Commonwealth. #History
Text of 'An Act Declaring and Constituting the People of England to be a Commonwealth and Free-State':

"Be it Declared and Enacted by this present Parliament and by the Authority of the same, That the People of England, and of all the Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging, are and shall be, and are hereby Constituted, Made, Established, and Confirmed to be a Commonwealth and Free-State: And shall from henceforth be Governed as a Commonwealth and Free-State, by the Supreme Authority of this Nation, The Representatives of the People in Parliament, and by such as they shall appoint and constitute as Officers and Ministers under them for the good of the People, and that without any King or House of Lords."
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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 19/05/2026
Can a skull be cute you ask? In this case? Yes. This is a close up of a silver spoon which is engraved with a small skull. Made in York in 1666, this is one of several skull decorated spoons that were gifts exchanged between two families in East Yorkshire to celebrate christenings.
Silver Death’s Head Spoon with an oval bowl, slightly tapering stem inscribed, ‘LIVE TO DIE’ and engraved decoration, the disc terminal engraved with a skull (death’s head), the reverse of the stem inscribed ‘DIE TO LIVE’ and engraved decoration, the disc terminal engraved with the Coat of Arms of Strickland of Boynton, East Yorkshire, the reverse of the bowl initialled V B, traces of gilding
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Becky Wallower @bwallower.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
#AllMetalMonday The extraordinary 57.5cm tall C3 BC #Etruscan figure, called (in recent times anyway) Ombre della Sera, as it recalls long shadows cast at the end of day. Inspiration for Giacometti is pretty clear..... Now in Volterra's Guarnacci Etruscan Museum, stopping people in their tracks.
A slender metal sculpture of a man, with very elongated body, legs and arms, contrasting with small head hands and feet. It is 57.5cm high, set on a small white plinth for display.
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History and Heritage Yorkshire @handhyorkshire.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
🧵Near Dewsbury lived a man described as there being 'no more bold and original thinker ever devoted himself to the study of the earth or the heavens.' He has also been called the true 'father” of the black hole concept,' John Michell was born in Nottinghamshire in 1724, and attended
This blue plaque commemorates the life and achievements of the Reverend John Michell (1724–1793), a notable English clergyman and natural philosopher. Michell made significant contributions to geology and astronomy, including proposing the concept of what are now known as black holes.: He was the first to propose that earthquakes travel in seismic waves and developed methods to estimate their epicenter.: He invented the torsion balance, an instrument designed to measure the gravitational force between masses, which was later utilised to calculate the density of the Earth. As Rector of Thornhill, he maintained connections with other prominent scientists of his time, including Henry Cavendish, William Herschel, and Joseph Priestley
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john bone @johnbone.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Curiously irksome 2012 episode from the IOT archive, comprising little more than a disjointed tour through simple game forms. MB keeps asking, reasonably, what makes this *mathematical*. No-one can tell him, beyond some mumbling about calculating equilibrium probabilities in mixed strategies.
bbc.co.uk
In Our Time - Game Theory - BBC Sounds
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss game theory, the mathematical study of decision-making
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eastlondongroup.bsky.social @eastlondongroup.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
#SundayMorning has arrived once again so here's our traditional start to the day, Cecil Osborne's iconic view from his window at 221, Farringdon Road Buildings of "Sunday Morning, Farringdon Road" from 1929. The painting is in the collection at Brighton & Hove Museums. #CecilOsborne #EastLondonGroup
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G W Lang @smokeybarkid.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
“Distracted Expressionist Boyfriend”, Skip Doncaster, 2019
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christhebarker @christhebarker.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
I've read 32 of the Mr Men and Little Miss books. How many have you read? mrmenbooks.lovable.app
mrmenbooks.lovable.app
Lovable App
If you're feeling bad about how few of the Guardian's best novel you have read… maybe this will help?
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john bone @johnbone.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
interesting attempt by Tory central to control its local councillors in what would seem to be a matter of local politics. And not obvious that it will change the situation anyway.
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john bone @johnbone.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
◽️ Starmer ◽️ Streeting
theguardian.com
Easy as ABC: voters in England tend to pick names nearer top of ballot, data suggests
Exclusive: Where parties fielded multiple candidates in last week’s vote, those at top of list were more likely to be picked
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john bone @johnbone.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Interesting difference of focus between the likes of Clive Lewis, for whom the primary issue is winning the next election, and the likes of Jess Phillips for whom the primary issue is getting stuff done between now and then. Not unrelated of course, but definite difference of focus.
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Paul Hünermund @p-hunermund.com · 11/05/2026
From now on, I'm going to write papers where I take an arbitrary performance metric, restrict the sample to top performers on that metric, and then hunt for negative correlations with everything else in the truncated sample. I'm at a business school, so this should be extremely lucrative.
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john bone @johnbone.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Fifty years since David Munrow sadly took his own life aged 33. Nice piece in the Graun.
theguardian.com
The connoisseur of the crumhorn, the showman of the shawn: the brilliance of early music pioneer David Munrow
Six decades ago, Munrow’s passionate and persuasive advocacy for early music opened audience’s eyes and ears – and took the rackett on to primetime TV. Fifty years after his early death, we look back ...
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Cameron Yarde Jnr @cameronyardejnr.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Oh my word! There's an Andrew Davies night on Wednesday 20th May on BBC4. He adapted novels into classic television like Pride & Prejudice, House Of Cards & Mother Love. But the best thing he ever did was his own creation. A Very Peculiar Practice. And it's getting a repeat! 🥳
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