iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

So long, Declaration of Arbroath tea towel that we bought the year we were married while living in St Andrews 24 years ago. You've served us well, but my wife now says you look like a disgrace and doesn't want you near the clean dishes.

A dirty white tea towel with phoney Celtic knot patterns in green and white along the border and impressive old-style.typeface that reads a portion of the Declaration of Arbroath: "For so long as a hundred of us remain alive, we never will in any degree be subjected to the dominion of the English. Since it is not for glory, riches, nor honours that we fight, but for liberty alone, which no good man loses but with his life" On the counter behind are certain bits of kitchen paraphernalia.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Sad to see the news Bonnie Greer has died. She and I shared a stage along with Laura Zahra McDonald of ConnectFutures at the very first Byline Festival @bylinetimes.bsky.social in East Grinstead in 2017. She had amazing energy and good convictions. Rest in power.

Selfie in a tent of three people sitting on chairs. To the left, a bearded bespectacled white man in a brown full-brimmed hat smiles. In centre, a white woman in pale hijab and white shirt smiles with her head close to the head of a black woman with short curly hair and a grey checked headscarf. The black woman has her hand over the shoulder of the woman in the centre.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Small joys. Raspberries are my favourite fruit, and the ones we're growing in the garden this year are gorgeous. Last year, caterpillars turned the leaves to lace, so this is a wonderful turn of events for me. (Photo blurrier than I thought, but I've picked them now so no do-overs.)

Blurry photo of delicious ripe red raspberries on a thorny cane, with green leaves and, in the background, a cream coloured wall and a brown wood shed wall.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

My 9/11 story, and since I have access to a blog with my research centre, I can make it long, with links to relevant publications of mine. But our institutional blog site has a hard time putting up the photos automatically. So click the link, not the pic. blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/islamukcentr...

Black and white photo of the New York City skyline from over the water, with two columns of light stretching up past the tops of the nearby buildings to signify the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I thought the playout at our church service this morning was a good place to bring in Dolly Parton. Her demeanour, commitment to love and justice, and use of her money chimes with the good folk at Canton Uniting URC. I combined "Wildflowers" with Gillian Welch's "Orphan Girl", which seemed to fit.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

The story around the hounding and the death of Jason Arday is complicated and terribly sad. I've said the media bear a stain for how they pursued the story. This from Hugh Muir, whose work I respect, notes this and also defends Black journalists involved. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Screenshot from linked Guardian article by Hugh Muir:

Very many in their work focus on the particular concerns of minorities coping and maybe thriving on challenging terrain. They are not fated to do so, but these matters interest them and many see who they are and what they know, juxtaposed with the skills they have as journalists, as an ideal way to make a contribution to society.

In my reporting career, I have covered domestic politics, international politics, international conflict – the whole gamut of journalistic subjects – but I drew great pride from being the recipient of the first Commission for Racial Equality Race in the Media award in the national newspaper category. I worked as a community affairs correspondent for the BBC for the duration of Sir William Macpherson’s landmark inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, explaining the intricacies of that historic event to millions on radio and TV. It is not a motivation exclusive to black journalists, but the vast majority I have known and worked with tend to hope that their professionalism will somehow make a positive difference to and for their communities, and to wider society’s understanding of their communities.

But here’s the thing: we are journalists. We are not activists. Often we work with activists and I am very proud to have done so. Often our hopes and agendas coincide, and when they do, injustices are exposed, wrongs are righted, sometimes laws and attitudes are changed, but we are adjacent, we are not the same. Activists vary, but almost by definition they seek a means to an end. A good journalist lays out facts. Sometimes those facts push that end further away; sometimes they are unpalatable.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

X-Tendamix Dance Mix '92. Oh yeah. And I was the first in my family to own a CD player (age: 13). Got it on points for delivering newspapers in Nanaimo, BC.

Blue-toned CD cover for X-Tendamix Dance Mix '92 - in yellow and black lettering overtop a blurred image of people dancing. Top left corner has a pink M at an angle with "Muchmusic" in a yellow bar in the middle of it.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

A good day with my 13yo yesterday leads to a day full of promise today. (I did not tell him, "Those are your school lunches next month that you're picking today," though the thought did occur to me.)

Crushed blackberries (and sugar - there.bit not visible) begin to boil in a stainless steel pot. A probe thermometer sticks in ar the right hand side.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Man, I have the best students. Llongyfarchiadau, Class of '26.

A line of people posed for a photo in a white tent with rainbow bunting. Young people are all wearing dark gowns, white and red hoods, and black mortar boards for graduation. A few academic staff, dressed casually, are clustered in the midst of them.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

It's that time again! Dusting off the white bowtie, preparing my "yes, well, PhDs from Edinburgh don't *wear* a hat" responses. What can it be but graduation? Actually chuffed to be here, despite it all. This year's Year 3s have been bloody brilliant.

A bearded bespectacled man in a dark jacket and white shirt with (dirty) white bow tie takes a selfie in a white tiled room.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Yes, I feel good about the art I make and value the metrics that help me understand how other people interact with it.

Chart showing plays on Bandcamp. Column on the left shows song titles, middle column shows plays - complete, partial, and skips using coloured bars of green (complete), yellow (partial), and pink (skip) - and right column shows whether it's in Bandcamp (cyan) or from embeds elsewhere on the internet (orange). We see a lot of pink bars, sometimes two skips and then, below, one skip, and the equivalent entirely cyan bars in the right column. There is one dash of green, so for the song "Anchors Aweigh", it had one complete play as well as one skip. All the other songs have been skipped.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Double whammy for me. Father's Day, just 2 months after my dad died. And my mom's birthday: hard enough 1st as a widow, but it's also a significant 75. Back in the day, when the 21st was a Sunday, my brother and I would have to make breakfast in bed for *both* of them. Wouldn't mind doing it today.

A bearded bespectacled man in a brown jacket playing cribbage with a grey haired man on oxygen in a hospital bed, in hospital greens.

Three men posing at Christmas near an azalea. A dark haired man in a black hoodie to left, a grey haired diminished man in grey sweatshirt middle, and a bearded bespectacled man in a knit cardigan.

An elderly couple in their living room. Husband in a dark body warmer sits on a couch covered with a quilt. Wife stands beside him with a red ukulele.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

We had a pleasant dinner with the first half on: made it as Dutch as we could with ham, chips, and spiced pineapple. All are pleased with how this one is going. Roll on, second half. #HupHollandHup

A bearded bespectacled man in an orange Dutch football top with black piping smiles to rhe camera while sitting on a couch. Behind him are potted plants and, to.his right shoulder, an orange cylindrical lampshade.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Might as well log this here, but everyone's "coral" this and "coral" that, but to me, that kit is a fine example of Scottish salmon.

A bearded white man in salmon coloured football top for Scotland 2026 stands, arms crossed in front.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

Turning up, possibly against my better judgement, to support the Netherlands tonight. #HupHollandHup #RIPMyDad

Selfie of a man's torso with arm across it, giving the devil horns "this rocks" sign. He is wearing a purple shirt and has an orange tie with black lions on it, aligning with the Dutch national football team. On the sleeve is a cufflink also orange with black and white on it. The tie and cufflinks are from my dad, who died in April. I nicked them from his cupboard and wear them in his memory. The cufflinks were made bynhis youngest brother, my uncle Ronald.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

We were encouraged to put boiler plate posters in these frames introducing ourselves (name, photo, office hours). A worthy accessibility initiative, but I instead used this from @tomgauld.bsky.social It has never not felt grimly apposite. Also a postcard by my uncle Len Munnik, as a counterpoint.

A clear frame on a grey door. Inside is a page-length cartoon from an old issue of the Guardian Saturday magazine, illustrated by Tom Gauld. It is titled, at the top, Some Advice on How to Cope in these Tough Times. Below are eight panels (4×2) of cartoon villains, monsters, aliens etc whi are discernable malevolent but who have speech bubbles giving anodyne positive thinking messages like "Think positive" and "Follow your dreams" It doesn't fill the frame, and up in the top right corner is another illustration, this time postcard sized, by my uncle Len Munnik. A man holding a large red arrow walks forward while a rain storm of small blue arrows pelts him in the opposite direction.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Clearing out my office at Cardiff Uni. Not forever! They are tipping us out to "uplift" the "fabric" and activate shared offices. When I came 11 yrs ago, it was moving to have my name already on my door. I'm sad for colleagues who've joined later in less certain times and didn't get that.

A grey door with a black rectangular screwed on plate. A printed strip on the plate reads, in white text, Dr. Michael Munnik. To the left of the ajar door, the office behind is visible but blurred with boxes, empty shelves, some detritus.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Lovely weekend in Cardiff at the tail end of the spring half term (and the calming of high heat). We dropped in at the Norwegian Church Arts Centre, where my employers @islamukcentre.bsky.social joined a broader display on diverse faith groups in Cardiff. Top job as ever by @abdulazim.bsky.social

Two posters on the wall - one in Welsh, one in English - illustrating Wales with icons of different locations, somewhat in the style of earlier renderings of the Mabinogion. These display points of interest in the history of Muslim Wales. In the foreground to the right is a mannequin head (featureless) wearing a traditional wrapped headdress in a buff khaki colour.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Someone is being cheeky* at the charity shop in Caerphilly. *or ignorant

A charity shop shelf of worn slim children's novels of a mid 20th C vintage (think Enid Blyton and co). Tucked.amongst them - pale blue spine and the right height - is Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

A very penblywdd hapus to Neil Finn, one of my songwriting heroes. It was so wonderful when he and the latest formation of Crowded House came to Cardiff two years ago. Singing with them was just magical, and he approved of our collective tunefulness.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Spent the bank holiday walking up and down the Garth in the sunshine while my youngest son explained the grandmapocalypse.

Selfie by a bearded man in sunglasses wearing a grey t-shirt with I Heart (the Toronto is not visible below the frame) with two teenage boys behind his shoulder sitting on a sunny grassy hill. One is reclining with his hands behind his head. The sky is blue but hazy.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Me, my fresh haircut, and my new-to-me leather jacket (thanks, Dad, RIP) hit the polling station today. Wales is not merely the latest temperature check for the fortunes of national parties and leaders. It's a distinctive polity with its own issues and conversations. Vote, and don't get distracted!

A bearded, bespectacled man in a black leather jacket gives a thumbs up before a sign that.bilingually reads Gorsaf Bleidleisio Polling Station

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

There's @fip.fr lining the pockets of Microsoft again...

Screenshot of FIP currently playing - the cover of the Rolling Stones for the track Start Me Up on a gradient pink background.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

From the charity shop ye came, and to the charity shop ye shall return. Thank you for 15 years of service.

A folded v-neck jumper- beige base with broader stripes of brown and green.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Finishing up Stanley Tucci's memoir Taste: My Life Through Food. We gave it to my dad (a chef) for Christmas a few years ago. We were back home at Easter to see him in hospital, be there when he died, and lead a memorial service before flying back to the UK. I hope he enjoyed it.

Book cover for Stanley Tucci's Taste. White top third, orange bottom third. Black and white photo of the author, a bald bespectacled man with slight facial hair, but cut off just below the nose and before the mouth.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

Bw Good Friday & Easter Sunday, my dad Bob Munnik died. He was 79 & had been unwell for a while. He was in hospital from late March, so we flew from Cardiff to BC. He even beat me at cribbage y'day morning. We bought tulips for his room (Dutch classic but BC grown), but we've brought them home now.

A grey haired bespectacled man lies on a hospital bed covered in blue blankets and a white sheet, wearing a green hospital top. He has a tube of oxygen strapped to his head, entering his nose. A bearded bespectacled man in a brown jacket and blue tartan scarf sits behind the bed, looking at the camera. Between them, a wooden cribbage board is on the bed with blue and red pegs racing the course. The man in the bed holds playing cards.

Purple and pinkish-orange tulips stand in a tall square glass vase on a wooden lazy Susan atop a dark brown dinner table. Also visible on the lazy Susan are a white ceramic ramekin of mini eggs in pastel colours and a service sheet for the Eastern sunrise service at St Andrews Presbyterian Church.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

At a zine workshop today. Pondering whether to post the results. But at least here's a picture mid-day with the extraneous mess. Eagle-eyed observers will recognise @neillcameron.bsky.social's handiwork in there.

Scraps of printed visual material (including frames from the comic Mega Robo Bros) on paper that's been cut up, as well as a box of Crayola felt-tip markers half-in the frame, and to the top left corner, the white lid of a glue stick. All are on a yellow table top.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Last night's book launch for @abdulazim.bsky.social's Muslim Wales was excellent. Fun, personal interviewing from Hanan Issa, and excellent turnout from university staff, students, and the broader community. I got to say some things at the end about @islamukcentre.bsky.social's work. A good night.

Photo from a book event. Two people - an Asian man with beard and grey jacket and an Arab woman with brown hijab - are seated on pale green chairs to the left of the image. Behind them are several easels with blown-up black and white photos of traces of Islam in historical Cardiff. To the right, at a lectern, is a White bearded bespectacled man in green jacket and pale shirt, speaking and gesturing with palms upturned. Between them is a banner for Seren Books - a quilt-styled star in gradient grey over a pale beige background. Behind them are several blank whiteboards.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Got my copy of @abdulazim.bsky.social's Muslim Wales. Looking forward to hearing from it shortly. (And giving some summary remarks at the end.) @islamukcentre.bsky.social @cardiffuni.bsky.social @serenbooks.bsky.social

A book on a wooden desk. It has a black cover and a few images- mountains, a golden decorative leopard head with red and green jewels, an ancient coin, a white mosque with green doors, and a gravestone with English and Arabic script with two daffodils next to it. The title reads Muslim Wales: A History in 9 Places, and it's by Abdul-Azim Ahmed. Next to the book is a square red pin, and part of another book is visible to the top right. Coming out the top of the book is a paper slip that reads Michael Munnik.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

In it, @meganwachspress.bsky.social refers to a chapter in Amia Srinivasan's The Right to Sex. Bluntly, it's called "On Not Sleeping with your Students", and it's a full treatment of the issues. When people point to age of consent &c., Srinivasan discusses its damage to the enterprise of learning

Book cover for Amia Srinivasan's The Right to Sex - black cover with stark white text - on a wooden desk top. Other text notes The Sunday Times Bestseller and a quotation from Lisa Taddeo: "Laser cut writing and a sunning intellect. If only every writer made this much beautiful sense."

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

After gentle encouragement of my kids, I'm finally reading Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games. 1 I share a birthday with Katniss Everdeen 2 Was not expecting the "Bridget Jones: Beyond Thunderdome" aspects 3 I wrote a poem ~'98 called "Apples" with the line "and tart sweetness bathes my tongue" so...

Photo of a page from Suzanne Collins's novel The Hunger Games. A character (Gale) tosses a blackberry to another character (Katniss) who catches it in her mouth. I'm especially interested in the sentence "The sweet tartness explodes across my tongue." It is very close to a poem I wrote as a university student about an apple. (To be clear, unlike what the post cheekily suggests, I'm not accusing Collins of plagiarism. The poem, though written a good 10 years before The Hunger Games was published, was never published and only performed publicly once, and I'm extraordinarily small time. It's just an uncanny coincidence of phrasing.)

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Yes. A pity when this chap faded from view.

Cartoon drawing of Algy Pug from Rupert Bear. He's a white short-faced dog in humanoid form (though not really a pug, and then the visible tail through his trousers at the back is kind of large and fluffy - they weren't going for accuracy) wearing white boots, red trousers, and a blue jacket over a yellow waistcoat and white collared shirt. A blue bow tie tops the image.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

And now National Poet of Wales @hananelizabethissa.bsky.social reciting her poem "Where Two Rivers Meet", commissioned by @islamukcentre.bsky.social for our 20th anniversary in September. Lovely to hear these words out in the world again.

A woman in an orange hijab and a pale blue dress reads from a phone beneath a big red screen.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

Poor photo, but my @islamukcentre.bsky.social colleague @abdulazim.bsky.social killing it at the first national iftar for Wales on St David's Day at Cardiff City stadium.

A bearded man in grey speaks at a lectern beside red banners reading "Croeso" and "Welcome" and under a big screen that reads "St David a Shaykh al-Hakimi: Gwersi o'r Gorfennol. Dr Abdul-Azim Ahmed. Muslim Council of Wales (and Welsh translation) Islam-UK Centre (and Welsh translation).

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Here's my @islamukcentre.bsky.social colleague Mark Bryant (not of this parish) adjusting our History of Islam in Wales display at an iftar at our friendly HE colleagues Cardiff Metropolitan Uni.

A white, bearded man in a cream skullcap, scarf, and robe and a dark blazer adjusts a black poster on a wooden easel in a hall filled with picture displays. The poster has photos and text relating to Islam's history in Wales - this one on the theme of "empire".

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Carrying the banner of @islamukcentre.bsky.social at the Grangetown Careers and Role Models Day. Lovely to do some outreach and uplift in my own neighbourhood. #Cardiff

Two bearded young men in black clothing speak to a bearded bespectacled man sat on the opposite side of a table with a red tablecloth. Behind are a pair of maps of Wales, stylised to recall the art of the Mabinogion but about Muslims in Wales.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Here it is, spinning the first track, the finger-picked plaintive love song "Messages" with gorgeous cello by Helen McSherry. (The warmth of analogue music is somewhat diminished by my crappy phone mic.)

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

My new record comes out Friday! You can download it or buy a CD on Bandcamp - all my released stuff is there. But for the first time, this record will also be on....vinyl! Yes, due to the magic of on-demand vinyl, you could spin the black circle for my indiefolk album elasticstage.com/michaelmunnik

A bearded bespectacled man in a striped green, cream, and butterscotch striped jumper grins while holding a fuchsia 45 album sleeve called If Words Could Mend a Heart by Michael Munnik. He sta as before a piano in a teal painted room, on top.of which is a record turntable and a lamp.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Grimly but appropriately, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. It arrived in December in one of the boxes we cleared out of my in-laws' house.

Book cover for Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West, by Dee Brown. It has a black cover, and the text is in white with an impressive 70s orange-red shadow effect. Below the author's name is a sepia portrait of a Native American man. The book rests on top of a wicker laundry hamper.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

Reader, it didn't explode. The motor whirred. This is oven back in the wall, back panel all screwed in, and front fan blade reattached. Does it bake consistently? Find out soon enough, but hurray for weekend DIY. Fix before replacing, fam.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

So, getting the oven out of the wall and the panels off? Easy enough. Then I looked at the motor unit already there. Everything fine... except the two electrical connections are on the SAME rather than OPPOSITE sides. Taking a pic to remind you how it went when you reconnect only works if...

A fan motor with a copper coil in red plastic casing attached to the back of a metal oven plate. Two wires - a red and a pair of yellow - connect to the unit, coming in from the right.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

Oho, the part has arrived. Guess which songwriting sociologist gets to turn his hand to oven repair today? (It's me. I'm the guy.)

Stainless steel circular fan on a long metal threaded rod with a motor apparatus visible underneath. It's to the left of a small cardboard box with tape on it bearing the logos of several appliance manufacturers.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

This was beautiful to see as I start my day of work. I paused a long time on the line, "It is said his time was easier than ours, but I doubt it - no time can be easy if one is living through it." Many thanks to James Baldwin. Posted with alt text, thx to @tapirtrouble.bsky.social

James Baldwin, The Cross of Redemption (ed. Randall Kenan)
Originally reprinted in THE OBSERVER, April 19, 1964.
"The greatest poet in the English language found his poetry where poetry is found: in the lives of the people. He could have done this only through love—by knowing, which is not the same thing as understanding, that whatever was happening to anyone was happening to him. It is said that his time was easier than ours, but I doubt it—no time can be easy if one is living through it. I think it is simply that he walked his streets and saw them, and tried not to lie about what he saw: his public streets and his private streets, which are always so mysteriously and inexorably connected; but he trusted that connection. And, though I, and many of us, have bitterly bewailed (and will again) the lot of an American writer—to be part of a people who have ears to hear and hear not, who have eyes to see and see not—I am sure that Shakespeare did the same. Only, he saw, as I think we must, that the people who produce the poet are not responsible to him: he is responsible to them."
"That is why he is called a poet. And his responsibility, which is also his joy and his strength and his life, is to defeat all labels and complicate all battles by insisting on the human riddle, to bear witness, as long as breath is in him, to that mighty, unnameable, transﬁguring force which lives in the soul of man, and to aspire to do his work so well that when the breath has left him, the people—all people!—who search in the rubble for a sign or a witness will be able to ﬁnd him there."

Source:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/7754/the-cross-of-redemption-by-james-baldwin-edited-with-an-introduction-by-randall-kenan/9780307275967/excerpt
James Baldwin, The Cross of Redemption (ed. Randall Kenan)
Originally reprinted in THE OBSERVER, April 19, 1964.
"The greatest poet in the English language found his poetry where poetry is found: in the lives of the people. He could have done th…

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

It's been fantastic visiting family and friends over the holidays in BC. Hard to leave for many reasons, but one thing I won't miss is this evil machine.

A bathroom sink faucet - combined hot and cold with an oblong crystal-effect head thst you need to pull out and point in order to operate. It's on a cream-coloured porcelain sink with a dark mottled counter and a few bathroom effects visible at the margins.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Going through vestiges of my childhood in the closet of my parents’ house while on a Christmas visit. Some things are obvious - keep, chuck. This one is stumping me. Handmade costume for the one-act “Fool’s Angel” that I was in for my final year. We took it to North Islands and Provincials.

A costume laid out on a grey plastic patio table in the sunshine. The white patio railing is visible in the background. A cracked black plastic bowler hat sits right, slightly overtop a rough t-shirt from rough, unbleached cotton with unfinished hems. A brown burlap sack that’s been cut and stitched into trousers continues to the left, with a brown bit of plastic cord as a belt. A strip of the same burlap was cut into a necktie shape and sits overtop the t-shirt roughly where a tie would be. In the foreground on the table is a stick with some kitchen twine fastened to one end; at the other end of the twine is half a coconut with two holes punched in it where the twine is tied. It makes the sort of toy where you’d flip the stick to get the half-coconut balanced on top of the stick.

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Michael Munnik @michaelmunnik.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

Dad's got a sparkling Shiraz from the Okanagan loaded and ready. Things are looking up as we escape 2025.

A bottle of sparkling Shiraz with a Sumac Ridge label on a coffee table with three empty crystal champagne flutes to its left. In the foreground, a white plate with three scallops wrapped in bacon still on a plate (they're pierced with wooden toothpicks).

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