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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Oscar? www.thetimes.com/culture/film...

Has antiquities sleuth cracked the origin of the Oscar?
More than 3,000 Academy Awards have been handed out, yet the inspiration for the statuette remained a mystery until a London dealer did some digging
An ancient Egyptian Ptah-Seker-Osiris figure compared with a modern golden Oscar statuette.
David Sanderson
David Sanderson, Arts Correspondent
Wednesday October 07 2026, 6.34pm, The Times
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It is the most recognised trophy in the world with more than 3,000 handed out during the past century and yet the design inspiration for the Oscar has until now been a mystery.

Detective work by a London antiquities dealer has unearthed evidence that the statuette was probably inspired by a bronze sculpture bought by William Randolph Hearst, the media tycoon, from a British politician.

The bronze of the Egyptian god Ptah has been traced back through archives and placed in Heart’s Californian castle San Simeon during a period when Cedric Gibbons, the art director, was a regular visitor.

An Egyptian bronze statue of Ptah with gold inlay, holding a staff.
Ptah was known as the god of artisans
Frieze Masters
In 1927, Gibbons was asked by Louis B Mayer, the founder of MGM studios, to sketch an emblem for the newly formed Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to issue as an annual award.

Gibbons’s design was first cast in bronze and then plated in gold to be presented to the greats of the film world for the first time in 1929.

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The similarities between Oscar and Ptah — known in ancient Egypt as the God of artisans — were occasionally highlighted in subsequent years.

Gibbons, however, is not known to have revealed where his inspiration came from before his death in 1960.

The Academy has never confirmed the link with Ptah, instead describing the statuette as the “stylised figure of a knight holding a crusader’s sword standing on a reel of film” with five spokes representing the origi…

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Private Eye Magazine @privateeyenews.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Archer’s resignation from the London mayoral race after it was revealed he lied in court was the thing that got Paul Foot up from his sickbed and contributing again, having first started chronicling Archer’s lies and misdemeanours in 1969. From the Private Eye archive. Issue 992, December 1999.

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

... all the children on Vulcan are born in pods.

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Sean Jones KC @seanjones.org · 06/10/2026

What a rascal! Leaning on his personal assistant to fabricate evidence to help him win libel damages. Perjuring himself. Breaking a promise to pay the money to charity. Having his counsel accuse the assistant of fraud over her personal expenses at the perjury trial. Lovely guy. Fit to legislate.

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Rose: I'm going to go take Baby's temperature. But what temperature should a pig be? Sophia: I know a ham turns out nicely at 325.

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Rose: [referring to Baby, the pig she inherited] He has a mental problem. Dorothy: Four grown women decide to live with a pig and he's the one with the mental problem?

• Rose: I'm going to go take Baby's temperature. But what temperature should a pig be?
Sophia: I know a ham turns out nicely at 325.
• Rose: [to the pig] There you are! You get into the kitchen and eat your slop before I spank that little pig fanny!
Sophia: All right, I'm going, I'm going... Oh, sorry. That's the way they used to call us for dinner in the home

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Rose: [referring to Baby, the pig she inherited] He has a mental problem. Dorothy: Four grown women decide to live with a pig and he's the one with the mental problem?

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Eurasian blue tit perched amongst the branches of a firethorn shrub. #bluetit (Cyanistes caeruleus), #Firethorn (Pyracantha) ... #Bangor

The bird visiting Bangor garden, an adult Eurasian blue tit perched amongst the branches of a firethorn shrub.
* Bird species: Eurasian blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus), identified by its cobalt blue crown, white cheeks, dark eye stripe, and yellow underparts.
* Shrub variety: Firethorn (Pyracantha), an evergreen hedge plant bearing dense clusters of vivid orange pomes alongside sharp woody spines.
* Seasonal activity: During October, blue tits inspect firethorn clusters for spiders, aphids, and small caterpillars sheltering amongst the berries, whilst also pecking at fruit pulp and seeds for energy.
* Natural shelter: The thick network of thorns and foliage provides essential cover, protecting the bird from coastal winds and garden predators such as sparrowhawks or domestic cats.

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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Archer came and spoke to my school in the 1980s. Charm personified. Bragged at length about his many achievements and then... something bizarre happened. 1/3 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

Jeffrey Archer obituary

Politician and best-selling author whose career was mired in scandal and disgrace.

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Ian Martin @ianmartin.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

As ever, and for the last time in connection with lying shit Jeffrey Archer, we remember Monica Coghlan, whose life he destroyed.

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Wicked but GOPervs ... Hallelujah

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

“Well, once you’ve had cancer, you’ve seen the bus. I hope it can inspire people who have their own problems — not just cancer — to be positive and keep fighting" ew.com/dolph-lundgr... Dolph Lundgren

ew.com

Dolph Lundgren breaks down amid cancer battle in emotional trailer for ‘Dolph: Unbreakable’ (exclusive)

Dolph Lundgren admits that his cancer diagnosis left him not knowing if he’d still be alive to see the premiere of his documentary.

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Qui no té un all, té una ceba Refrany en català. Qui no té un all ("ai"), té una ceba. Refrany. Quan no és per una cosa és per una altra. if you don't have a clove of garlic, you have an onion Catalan proverb. If it's not one thing, it's another Everyone has some ailment or another, some worry

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Paramount combined company is taking on ×$80 billion of debt while promising continued investment in content but $6.4 billion of interest expenses in 2027 questions remain of how much of the principal it can pay. It has to keep feeding the debt every year. www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

hollywoodreporter.com

Why California Was Willing to Cave to Paramount

A court hearing offered insight into the states' decision to settle the case while bringing to the forefront some of the deal's shortcomings, which have positioned CEO David Ellison as the ultimate wi...

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

mathematical riddle aka Jacobian conjecture ((1+xy)^3 z + y^2 (1+xy) (4+3xy), y + 3 x (1+xy)^2 z + 3 x y^2 (4+3xy), 2 x – 3 x^2 y – x^3 z): \C^3\to \C^3, has jacobian determinant -2, and sends (0, 0, -1/4), (1, -3/2, 13/2), and (-1, 3/2, 13/2) to (-1/4, 0, 0) www.thetimes.com/uk/technolog...

thetimes.com

Harvard mathematician uses AI to crack 87-year-old riddle

A 33-year-old junior fellow appears to have disproven the Jacobian conjecture

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

AI utilized higher-dimensional geometry—like an 8-dimensional lattice—and then projected this pattern down onto a flat surface. This unique algebraic method allows many more points to remain exactly one unit apart than any standard grid could ever allow.

Here is an illustration contrasting the simple, traditional approach (on the left) with the intricate, complex pattern discovered by the AI (on the right).
The right side of the diagram captures how the solution looks like a dense and swirling constellation of points. To achieve this breakthrough, the AI utilized higher-dimensional geometry—like an 8-dimensional lattice—and then projected this pattern down onto a flat surface. This unique algebraic method allows many more points to remain exactly one unit apart than any standard grid could ever allow.

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Whenever two dots are exactly one inch apart, draw a line between them, 80 years ago, Erdos, one of the 20thC’s most prolific mathematicians, asked: how many such “unit-distance” lines can you get at most, if you are allowed to arrange the dots however you like? www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...

thetimes.com

How AI made a breakthrough in one of geometry’s trickiest problems

Mathematicians were left stunned when a tool created by OpenAI ‘spectacularly’ disproved a long-held conjecture on a problem posed by Paul Erdos

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Our Queen, Dolly Parton makes an impromptu appearance at Páidí Ó Sé’s pub in Dún Chaoin, Co. Kerry and takes to the stage to entertain the muppets. youtube.com/watch?v=NqdK...

youtube.com

Coat of Many Colours - Dolly Parton, Ireland 1990

YouTube video by CR's Video Vaults

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Judge strikes down Texas ban on drag shows, tells people offended by them ‘just don’t go’ The federal judge, who cited Dolly Parton in his ruling, found that the state law violated the First Amendment. www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcn...

nbcnews.com

Judge strikes down Texas ban on drag shows, tells people offended by them ‘just don’t go’

The federal judge, who cited Dolly Parton in his ruling, found that the state law violated the First Amendment.

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Bokar Rinpoche commons.tsadra.org/index.php/Bo... (Tibetan: འབོ་དཀར་སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་, Wylie: ’bo dkar sprul sku rin po che) (1940 – 17 August 2004)

1st January 1993 under the Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya 🙏🏼

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 17/08/2024

Bokar Rinpoche, 20th Anniversary of Paranirvana, 17 August 2004 Bokar Tulku Rinpoche (Tibetan: འབོ་དཀར་སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་, Wylie: bo dkar sprul sku rin po che) (1940 – 17 August 2004) Karma Kagyü and Shangpa Kagyü lineages.

Bokar Rinpoche on the road to Rumtek 1996, 20th Anniversary of Paranirvana, 17 August 2004

Bokar Tulku Rinpoche

(Tibetan: འབོ་དཀར་སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་, Wylie: bo dkar sprul sku rin po che) (1940 – 17 August 2004) Karma Kagyü and Shangpa Kagyü lineages.

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

"This experience [of mahamudra] does not imply any direction given to the mind, any intention, or any support on which to lean" Bokar Rinpoche

Bokar Rinpoche, Bodh Gaya, 1 Jan 1993. "This experience [of mahamudra] does not imply any direction given to the mind, any intention, or any support on which to lean

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

THE WINGS OF DEVOTION BROAD WINGS THAT CARRY TO PRAYER AND DEVOTION BY BOKAR RINPOCHE Master come, Master come, source of grace, Master-root come to me. Master come, Master come, holder of powers, Master-root come to me. Master come, Master come, doer of activity, Master root come to me.

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 17/08/2025

21 years since parinirvana of Bokar Rinpoche #kagyu #buddhist #mahamudra #buddhism Seeing the Still and Pure Mind If our mind's image in the mirror is impure, and we start to cleanse the mirror, we can only temporarily remove the dust, but we still haven't truly removed the impurities of the image

Text Extraction and Translation

Seeing the Still and Pure Mind
The mind is a vast expanse of emptiness.
If our mind's image in the mirror is impure, and we start to cleanse the mirror, we can only temporarily remove the dust, but we still haven't truly removed the impurities of the image. This is because our efforts are not directed at the right object, and no matter how much effort we put in, it is useless. This is why the Buddhist teachings and practice are a fundamental method: recognizing that happiness and suffering are not derived from external sources, but from the mind itself. If we practice recognizing our own mind, the mind will become still and pure on its own. It is like the dust on the mirror naturally disappearing. So we can say that cleansing the mirror is not about using a cloth to wipe, but about the image in the mirror being still and pure.

Here is the extracted Chinese text and its English translation.
Chinese Text
English Translation
禪修的精義與智慧，盡在本書中
The essence and wisdom of meditation are all in this book.
照見清淨心
Illuminating the Pure Mind
禪修入門指南
A Beginner's Guide to Meditation
Meditation: Advice to Beginners
Meditation: Advice to Beginners
作者: 波卡仁波切 Bokar Rinpoche
Author: Bokar Rinpoche
譯者: 吳嘉真陳玲瑜審閱: 丁乃蘭
Translators: Wu Jiazhen, Chen Lingyu Proofreader: Ding Nailan
世人汲汲營營，追尋用物質堆砌出的幸福、快樂，然而，內在的痛苦與焦慮始終如影隨形、揮之不去。唯有向內心尋求，才能獲得真正的幸福、快樂。
People in the world are busy, pursuing happiness and joy built with material things, but the inner pain and anxiety are always like shadows, lingering and difficult to get rid of. Only by seeking within the heart can one attain true happiness and joy.
波卡仁波切 (Bokar Rinpoche)
Bokar Rinpoche
簡介:
Introduction:
一九四九年出生於藏西地區的遊牧家庭中。經第十六世大寶法王認證為上一世波卡仁波切之轉世。二十二歲那年，隨著其他上師由緬甸抵達尼泊爾。在印度接受數於傳承導師中最廣大的之第二卡盧仁波切 (Kalu Rinpoche)，在其指導下完成為期三次三年三個月的傳統嚴格閉關。他是密傳佛教噶舉學派傳承之法脈持有者。擔任多所寺院之閉關班總導師。亦廣受其他教派所推崇，邀請開辦也經常應請回祖地交互傳心及討論。
Born in 1949 into a nomadic family in western Tibet. He was recognized by the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa as the reincarnatio…

Seeing the Still and Pure Mind
The mind is a vast expanse of emptiness.
If our mind's image in the mirror is impure, and we start to cleanse the mirror, we can only temporarily remove the dust, but we still haven't truly removed the impurities of the image. This is because our efforts are not directed at the right object, and no matter how much effort we put in, it is useless. This is why the Buddhist teachings and practice are a fundamental method: recognizing that happiness and suffering are not derived from external sources, but from the mind itself. If we practice recognizing our own mind, the mind will become still and pure on its own. It is like the dust on the mirror naturally disappearing. So we can say that cleansing the mirror is not about using a cloth to wipe, but about the image in the mirror being still and pure

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 17/08/2025

If we practice recognizing our own mind, the mind will become still and pure on its own. It is like the dust on the mirror naturally disappearing. So we can say that cleansing the mirror is not about using a cloth to wipe, but about the image in the mirror being still and pure Bokar Rinpoche

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

China Steals Language and Home Life From Tibetan Kids as Young as 4 Beijing is building a broad network of preschools across Tibet areas, seeking to inculcate loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party early in life archive.today/xoQNr

archive.today

Welcome to nginx

If you see this page, the nginx web server is successfully installed and working. Further configuration is required.

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Benjamin Tausig @burrata.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

The Chinese government has successfully pressured the government of Nepal into forcing Kathmandu Univ. to cancel the 2026 IATS (Tibetan studies) conference. This is a huge deal, a flashing alarm about the expansion of academic censorship across int'l borders. kathmandupost.com/national/202...

kathmandupost.com

Nepal overruled its own security agencies to cancel Tibetan studies conference under Chinese pressure, officials say

Days after the Home Minister said the seminar would proceed with security vetting, the government’s Chief Secretary personally ordered Kathmandu University to shut it down.

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Michael Sheehy @mclsheehy.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Meditators! Recruiting long-term practitioners for a scientific study under the guidance of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche in the Mahamudra-Dzogchen tradition to participate in an online survey &/or a week-long retreat in France this September. *limited scholarships available - contact me via dm.

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Mr Bear ? ... But then he might be confused, there are a lot of bears ... How about Stanley?

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

As the glue holding together the Tibetan diaspora, His Holiness has long championed the middle-way approach: rather than outright independence, he seeks genuine autonomy and cultural preservation for Tibet #dalailama #ccp time.com/article/2026...

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

China and Tibet not complicated ... Tibet was brutally occupied, it's culture smashed and Chinese occupation did lower the population by slaughtering hundreds of thousands of Tibetans ... Lowering infant mortality for invading Chinese occupants but not for native Tibetans ... You are a sick shill

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

It's better than ok 😘 ... It's lovely

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ChrisTrekkin 💜🖖 @christrekkin.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Felt like singing today so, with that, I hope you enjoy my take on 'Am I OK?' from Adam Lambert's new self-titled album 🙂💜🎵 #CoverSong

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henry sholar @mapablue.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

morning thought, heidegger: “the approaching tide of the technological revolution in the atomic age could so captivate, bewitch, dazzle, and beguile man that calculative thinking may someday come to be accepted and practiced as the only way of thinking.” ("Memorial Address," 1955)

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

They call it el entendimiento del juego in Spain, “understanding of the game”, a philosophy whereby players, not coaches, are expected to dictate play, and the art of decision-making on the field is as revered as a shot into the corner ... #ESP www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

thetimes.com

Inside the midfield factory: what England could learn from Spain

Developing intelligence, blurred lines between players and coaches and ‘younger sibling theory’ make Spain’s midfield talent pool envy of the world

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

The new Status Quo .... Hooked on Smackers

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Switched it off, just wrenchingly awful ... And after a sublime c.8.00pm Josephine Stephenson: That the sunrise not leave us unmoved - BBC commission: world premiere Gerald Finzi: For St Cecilia Yunchan Lim, piano Thomas Atkins, tenor BBC Singers BBC Symphony Chorus Dalia Stasevska #proms

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david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Goodbye, Charleston's rose... Moneys on the dresser - memes.getyarn.io/yarn-clip/09...

memes.getyarn.io

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