Sign in

PhilippaB

@philippab.bsky.social
247 followers 155 following 2.3K posts

Spoilt by Feminism. Intersectionality is context. Context is vital. She/her. If you say nothing, you can never be wrong. Go you Huskies. Check out the FFW podcast: soundcloud.com/frenchfootballweekly open.spotify.com/show/0rN6ZTcQz57T1…

PostsRepliesMedia
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Oh, Oh, "We have 3,000 substitute teachers who are currently not in front of students because, until now, we didn't know how to assign them properly, among other things." (Google translate of quote at 20.41) And now you're actually trying? JFC. www.midilibre.fr/2026/10/08/e...
Students outside Lycee / College Georges Clemenceau (a combined school for 11-18 year olds) protesting with the flags of France, Occitanie, and Palestine. One student appears to be dressed as a banana.
110
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Still raining, but it's calmed down a bit. Local paper is describing yesterday as "Un épisode méditerranéen", which doesn't really seem strong enough, as the river went up by over 4 metres...
Picture of a car half-submerged next to the river Lez in Montpellier after an absolutely ridiculous storm.
030
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
It's been a tough time financially since a work project ended. I fixed the dishwasher, sorted out monthly payments for a new oven, but the devis for the toilet replacement is in and I've just got my 'council tax' bill. If you can spare anything to help, or can share, bless you. ko-fi.com/philippab
My cat Plume in close-up. She is small, ginger, with big green eyes and long whiskers. She is extremely melodramatic and occasionally violent. I love her to bits.
000
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
OK it's too soon but JFC these three look like they're bad stock photos for how your incompetent and annoying boss comes into your office...
Photo of 3 top AFD people trying and failing to look normal. Tino Chrupalla is leaning awkwardly forward with a creepy pursed-lips smile, Ulrich Siegmund is leaning sideways with a rictus grin and big 'thumbs up' and Alice Weidel is waving while looking like a deer in headlights but with dead, dead eyes...
010
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
This simultaneously makes sense and confuses me. Then again, my knowledge of this part of the world is mostly down to CSI:Manhattan and Rizzoli & Isles... mydialect.us/quiz-standar...
My map results for a dialect quiz, showing that I - a Brit - speak like someone from the north-east of the US. Which I suppose makes sense, but it specifically says New York or Boston, which confuses me a bit.
000
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Ligue 1 is back! We kick off tonight with OM v Strasbourg (possibly on Amazon Prime, at 7.45 BST).
Schedule for J1 in Ligue 1
Friday
Marseille-Strasbourg
Saturday
Lens-Auxerre
Le Mans-Brest
Nice-Lorient
Toulouse-Lyon
Troyes-Paris FC
Sunday
Angers-Lille
Le Havre-Monaco
Rennes-Paris-SG
001
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
The bird in question, as it's hella cute.
A picture of a very cute, but rather cross-looking, bird with orange-red head and chest/shoulders, and dark blue stripes around its eyes. Otherwise white apart from a black crescent under its beak. It is smol and fluffy.
050
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Occasional stuffing... @davidsquires.bsky.social has absolutely nailed this panel. www.theguardian.com/football/pic...
A panel from cartoonist David Squires, featuring Gary O'Neil as a stereotypical frenchman (stubble, cigarette), and a worried horse.
020
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Not sure 'unintentional' is needed here. On second thoughts...we do know what he's like.
Guardian headline - "SpaceX rocket thought to have crashed into the moon in unintentional collision"
020
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
I swear to God I had not seen this before posting...
Screenshot of Guardian headline - "Wales become first nation to drop support for Fifa president Gianni Infantino"
000
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Buddy Christ from the film Dogma.
120
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Also for la petite finale, England v France. Glad to see Upamecano got props (8 off the bench) but not sure what Djed Spence they were watching...
Screenshot of L'Equipe's notes for England v France, average 4.2 for France and 4.6 for England. Understandably harsh on France after *that* first half, 5 players received a 2 (one step up from 'execrable'), only Mbappe getting an above-average mark (7). Djed Spence bizarrely got a 4, Saka the highest-ranked player overall with 8 (Upamecano also got 8 as a sub).
000
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
L'Equipe doing L'Equipe things in the notes for the #worldcupfinal...
Screenshot of L'Equipe's notes for the World Cup Final, average 6.2 for Spain, 4.7 for Argentina. Messi got 4, and Emi Martinez was the highest-ranked Argentine with 8. Another 8 went to Pau Cubarsi, possibly for artistic interpretation.
200
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Expected...
Screenshot of L'Equipe's reader vote for 'flop of the match' - with 11,500 votes, the referee is way ahead with 73%.
020
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Meanwhile, it's 35C here but we're the only department showing 'no particular alert' so you can imagine how things are elsewhere. Blimey.
A map visual of France showing heatwave alert status, with most of the west of France across to Paris as 'absolute alert'.
120
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
IT support please. I use a VPN to access a client's system, but even when disconnected, my computer thinks I'm in Sweden. Can't change it. Feels like my taskbar is mocking me. It's 35C outside and I'm melting. What?
Screenshot of a Microsoft taskbar showing weather as 15C, and that I am connected using my Wifi. It's 35C outside.
101
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
OK there's something weird about the video for France's World Cup song and I just can't put my finger on it... www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuUP...
The official video for France's World Cup 2026 song by Matt Pokora and L2B has a background person wearing a red football shirt with green detailing. These are not France's colours. Hmm.
000
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Following emails from both Mum and Dad, we seem to be on board with the vote for the new bank notes...
Screenshot of the votes for me and my parents for the new bank notes. We all voted for Hare, Owl, Bee and Butterfly. Mammals was the most diverse group, with votes for Fox (Dad), Hedgehog (me) and Seal (Mum, although she says she's now 'conflicted'). Birds saw me and Mum both going Kingfisher, while Dad went for Woodpecker. We were unanimous on the last group. 
Dad asks if he gets free samples if he gets it right, heh.
010
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Some cute little flowers have appeared on a shrub by my terrace, and cute little birds seem to love them - or maybe there are tasty insects inside. Image search suggests they are Feijoa sellowiana (or pineapple guava)...
Sparse but pretty blossoms on a shrub, with white petals with pink bits, and darker pink stamens in a bunch in the middle. Little birds - tits? finches? - have been all over them since they bloomed.
130
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
The first leg of the Ligue 1 / 2 playoffs was a weird watch. St Etienne might have just chucked away their trump card. www.lequipe.fr/Football/Art...
Screenshot of L'Equipe's notes for the first leg of the Ligue 1 / 2 playoffs between St Etienne (average 4.7) and Nice (average 4.4) which ended 0-0. Underwhelming overall.
110
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
On a more light comedy vibe, there was a street near me when I lived in London called 'Vineyard Grove (formely Depot Approach)'. Per streetview, people are still nicking the sign for the laughs. I always imagine it being said in Victoria Wood's voice...
Picture of a small wall at the entrance to a small street, with the poles to support a street sign - but no street sign.
030
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
I mean...
The referee in the Gambardella final sends off Boly for a foul committed by Coulibaly. Everyone looks confused. And have very different haircuts.
000
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Heh, they even guessed where I am (France) - presumably from the questions about demos stopping traffic. And my closest matches are Jeremy Corbyn and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes. None of you will be surprised. Try, is fun: findmypolitics.com
Took the 'Find my politics' test and have been deemed 'progressive left'. Had some issues with some of the questions, but it seems good overall.
000
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
L'Equipe's notes for Bayern v PSG - bit of a change from last week...
Screenshot of L'Equipe's marks for Bayern (average 4.2) v PSG (average 6.9), with Pacfho, Zaire-Emery and Kvaratskhelia receiving 8 out of ten.
111
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
OK I was looking for a photo in my files and refound this... Plume is my little talkative inquisitive buddy who always wants to know what I'm up to, heh.
A very close close-up of a ginger cat with big green eyes, sitting on my desk and checking up on what I'm doing.
060
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Safe to say that L'Equipe were not impressed by the defending last night. They just don't know how to have any fun...
L'Equipe's marks out of ten for PSG v Bayern, with an average of 5.5 for PSG and 5.1 for Bayern. Kvaratskhelia got 9, as did Diaz for Bayern, and Dembele got 8. There's quite a lot of 3s scattered around both defences - which is defined as 'terrible' in the marking schema.
111
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
OK sometimes Facbook memories are actually worth it...
Screenshot of the Methodist Recorder from 1999, headline "Sex and violence", reporting on a Conference debate about TV content - featuring a captioned photo of my father. The original clipping is round here somewhere...
020
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
I swear I never saw it until later - we were both laughing about 'scrap Brexit'...
Me and my uncle in front of a graffiti wall in Berlin
010
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
OK who's betting on a 90+6 minute winner? And if so, for whom...?
Screenshot of Monaco v Auxerre at 73 minutes. It's 2-2. Auxerre were winning 2-0 at half-time. Monaco have lost their shit in a really big way recently, hehehhehehhehe.
110
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Er, what's this about?
Screenshot of my feed showing a pink banner saying 'forbidden'. 
Terrible design as well as very confusing.
100
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Good neighbours.
A sticker saying 'Montpellier anti fasciste' around a logo of 
gender-inclusive / anarchist black and red flags
030
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
So, in Montpellier...you might want to look up the guy who beat the fash into 6th and 7th. Go Remi.
Results of the first round in the French elections in Montpellier, where the left and centre qualified for the second round, and the two rightwing candidates were beaten by a local comedian and animal rights activist, Remi Gaillard.
120
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
They've got standard wording. Identical in all three reports. That's vomit-inducing.
Screengrabs from three BBC articles about the deaths showing identical language being used by the course spokesperson.
010
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Ooh, I've got a couple of old French 'BDs' in that format. Jack Forgas - chasseur de gangs! 🙃
Two old French landscape-oriented comics featuring hero 'Jack Forgas - gang hunter'. One is called 'the gangster's daughter', the other 'the spy's daughter'. They are printed using only black and red ink on the covers (inside are just black and white).
010
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
And now it's had a third go. I know, I know, I should have known better, but I figured they'd have actually linked in the product details, not just made a wild f-ing guess. Hope nobody asks Rufus how to cook raw chicken.
Third attempt from Rufus, differently incorrect from previous two attempts.
000
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
On my Facebook memories today - authentic journo swag from Mexico '86. Just look at those sponsors...
A Mexico '86 shoulder bag, official press edition.A Mexico '86 shoulder bag, official press edition, reverse side, showing the official sponsors, including Camel cigarettes and Cinzano. Oh, the old days, hehehheheh.
120
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Yup...
Chelsea are fucking Strasbourg and David Squiers is all over that.
010
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 26/12/2025
And a happy festive period to Orange, for picking the perfect moment to fall over AGAIN.
Screenshot of the Orange status page, showing that everything is down until tomorrow morning (allegedly).
020
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
You will be visited by three spirits
A picture of PJ Harvey, Bjork, and Tori Amos, all dressed in white
020
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
Someone's got cross...
A screenshot showing that a search for 'SQL' redirects to the Wikipedia article about machine guns...
000
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
Picture of a small terracotta camel on a window sill, captioned 'oh camel ye faithful'
200
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
For any Canadian soccer fans out there, saw this today while in a cab - couldn't take a photo so apologies for this poor screenshot from google streetview...
A street sign saying Rue Labbé, over a large 'no entry' sign
010
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
Montpellier's banning the electric ones from the centre of town - hopefully the area gets bigger, they're an even bigger menace when they're moving...
A map showing the parts of central Montpellier where electric scooters are now banned, including several key access streets.
000
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 09/11/2025
Still regret not buying this book from his football career...
A picture of the book 'Juve contre Fantomas', which I found at an antiques market and still regret not buying...
100
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
Please let it be this one
Christine Sinclair in a facemask after breaking her nose. Possibly from the euros in Germany where she came back on and scored. Legend.
100
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
Other 'Dave Gahan' photos would include this, and obvz Brandi Chastain and Megan Rapinoe.
Jack Grealish celebrating on the Man City busBrandi Chastain celebratesMegan Rapinoe celebrates
100
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
Angel di Maria celebratesMontpellier fans watching on a big screen in town when the 2012 trophy was confirmedZidane walks past the World Cup after being sent off
210
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Was just thinking it would be cool if a candy manufacturer made boiled sweets for all the pride flags. What flavour would you want for yours? I'm thinking fruits of the forest...
An example of 20 pride flags including multiple versions of the rainbow flag as well as other specific identities.
120
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
Q9 - how well are various public services functioning? Q10 - who would you trust with your data? Yikes at some of those results Q11 - (page 147) asks about storing data digitally, stressing 'NHS, schools, and the police' and then in the question 'like the education system or the health system?'
Q11. Part of the purpose of digital ID, according to those who propose it, is to allow government bodies tland public services like the NHS, schools, and the police to be run more effectively
by allowing them to make better use of data. For example, a ‘digital learner ID’ within the education system might collect data about a student's progress to understand how they learn,
which areas they need to focus on, and how they might be best supported to achieve better educational outcomes for their individual needs.
To what extent, if at all, do you believe that collecting data in this way and storing it digitally would benefit or not benefit public services, like the education system or the health system?
100
PhilippaB @philippab.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
On to Q3, which is all about how government could better use technology (page 57, for those with nothing to do) which does start with the issue of 'processing asylum seekers and managing the UK's borders'. Getting close now, I can feel it...
Q3. Thinking about the following policy challenges facing the government... Do you think there is digital technology that could help tackle these issues but is not being fully used by the
government at the moment -- or do you think the government is already using digital technology to appropriate effect in these areas?
100