iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 03/10/2026

Loving the sunshiney Green Party Conference vibes in Brighton.

Selfie: I am standing in front of the Brighton Centre. The window is covered with large lettering saying “Real Change”. The sun is shining and I’m wearing shades.

The brutal concrete exterior of the Brighton Centre. Two thick layers sandwiching a band of black windows with thin vertical concrete ribs.

Hannah Spencer MP and Sian Berry MP are behind the decks in a club (with a couple of other people). The lighting is green and they *are* playing The Prodigy.

1121

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 10/09/2026

This is how the school run should be.

0326

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 22/08/2026

Post a picture that should be on an album cover. This must be the difficult 3rd album by the doom-prog-folk band Ecocide, called “Frog”

A photograph of a dead frog lying on tarmac. The frog is in the upper half of the picture.

020

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 13/08/2026

We took some pictures (with the blurry little filter that came with our specs, and the biggest lens I’ve got)

Partial eclipse of the sun! The moon is covering about half of it. There’s quite a lot of golden blur.

Partial eclipse! Telephone wires are crossing.

The peak. Only a tiny slither at the top of the sun is visible. A relatively clean shot.

040

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 04/08/2026

One reason that the 17:46 from Euston to Crewe is so rammed (which the guardian neglects to mention) is that all the other trains (there are 5 per hour) cost about 3 times the price. We must sort out pricing so that rail travel is always affordable. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

A train booking website showing trains from London to Crewe. Most of the trains cost £148.50, but the 17:46 costs £46.90

270

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 01/08/2026

In taking a breath, my 5yo and I picked a load of blackberries and made crumble. Small simple pleasures 👍

A blackberry and apple crumble cooling on my stove-top. The topping is a light golden brown, and filling is bubbling up around the edges.

161

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 27/07/2026

Every time someone digs up a main road in Manchester, they find the old tram lines buried beneath the pavement. And I cry at what we could have had.

A dug up section of road. The layers of tarmac have been cut away to reveal a tram track. A few bits of litter have been thrown in the hole.

216436

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 24/07/2026

I let a child loose with an SLR in a small zoo. 👍

Leaf cutter ants marching along a rope. Illuminated from behind by a bright light.

A crocodile chilling out in its enclosure under a heat lamp.

A small marmoset thing with shaggy hair sitting on a branch.

020

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 24/07/2026

Well… Downing Street in Manchester is a small stretch of the A6 and an industrial estate in Ardwick. But for real, the no 10 north offices are in Heron House on Albert Square, at least for now.

Streetview image of Downing Street and a boxy industrial estate in Manchester.

010

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 11/07/2026

Here’s the point at which the choices run out… option 1 is 999. The other options are unhelpful.

Screenshot of an online form:

Step 7
What do you want to report?

A vehicle blocking a public road and posing imminent danger to the public

A vehicle blocking my car in my driveway, preventing my exit

A vehicle blocking my entrance to my driveway; parking in my designated space

000

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 11/07/2026

Well that’s fun… there is currently no sane way to report cars blocking pavements to Greater Manchester Police. If you try reporting it as a road traffic incident it redirects you to report it as anti-social behaviour… and then it tells you to call 999. I’ll just have to email them.

A silver Honda, completely blocking a pavement. (Number plate blanked, because that is my policy)

130

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 30/06/2026

Cinnabar moth caterpillars! 🐛

A yellow flowering ragwort with yellow and black stripy caterpillars crawling on it.

190

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 23/06/2026

If you see this, post a vampire that isn’t Dracula.

040

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 21/06/2026

Fellow Nationwide building society members, you should have received your “Review of the year” and voting pack. Only this time is a bit odd. There’s a member-nominated candidate @jss4nw.bsky.social who the board are very obviously trying to prevent from being elected. It’s utterly blatant.

The nationwide annual voting pack. A whole bunch of bits of paper with candidate profiles etc.

A separate booklet entitled “Member Nominated Candidate” which includes a prominent box saying “Your board recommends you vote ‘Against’ the election of this candidate as a Member Noninated Director of the Society”

242

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 10/06/2026

I experienced the VOID. Contractors found a mysterious hole beneath the new Floop/Wilmslow Road junction, and I went to check it out. Shouldn’t hold things up too much, they are going to fill it in over the next day or two.

Selfie. I am standing in the bright sunshine wearing a blue jumper with a rainbow stripe on it and a black cap.
Behind me is fencing and a road is being torn up for a re-modelled junction. There is a gaping hole beneath the carriageway.

Another view of the roadworks and the gaping hole.

142

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 08/06/2026

Gradually working my way around local businesses for chats. Today I couldn’t miss seeing the folks at Lentils and Lather. We talked cargo bike deliveries, improving lighting on paths, and nice things that could be done with a little pocket of unused land. 💚 #OldMoat #ShopLocal

Two middle aged white men in front of a small suburban shopfront. The sign above says “Lentils and Lather” in green text. Shelves in the window are stacked with healthy produce.

040

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 02/06/2026

Gah my headphones have stopped working, refusing to charge or power on. These are Sennheiser HD 250bt… they’ve done well tbh, daily use, mostly for calls rather than music, and quite rough handling. And so begins the process of trying to shop.

A pair of headphones with (replacement) purple ear pads, resting on a furry leopard print blanket.

100

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 27/05/2026

In small but important little wins: we have a new “cyclops” junction being built in Fallowfield. I asked the contractors if they could kindly move the signs that were blocking the bike lane, and it has happened! I’m drunk with councillor power now. 💚😅

A pair of temporary signs obstructing a bike lane. One is yellow and says “Diversion Ends” and the other is red and says “Cycle Lane Closed”

Selfie: the signs have been moved so they are no-longer obstructing the bike lane. I am pointing at the “Diversion Ends” sign with a massive happy smile on my face.

0172

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 25/05/2026

Realised that our hedge (actually the neighbouring landlord’s hedge) is infested with box moth caterpillars 🐛😭 Anyone had any luck with Nematodes? Or is this hedge a goner?

A box hedge, mostly stripped of leaves and covered in silky caterpillar webbing.

111

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 15/05/2026

Sometimes you have to lift the lid and look inside to see the problem… (I’m actually kinda delighted that my first bit of casework involves bins)

I am standing in an alleyway next to some green bins, lifting the lid to reveal mixed stinky rubbish.

270

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 11/05/2026

First day in the new job. 👍💚

Picture of me, a middle aged white man with short hair. I am standing in the Manchester Town Hall council chamber, behind me are fancy wooden desks, projection screens, and the coat of arms thing. I am wearing a green blazer, a t-shirt with things written on it, green shorts and green DMs.

2210

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 09/05/2026

So yesterday I got elected as the new #GreenParty councillor for Old Moat in Manchester. 💚 I genuinely didn’t expect this, thinking that I’d come a good second, but as it turned out I ended up with a majority of 640. #LocalElection2026 /1

Mandatory selfie with Hannah Spencer MP. We are grinning happily. I’m wearing a blue floral pattern shirt, a green rosette, and am bedangled by lanyards. She is wearing a green waistcoat and spotty shirt. In the background, a big hall with tables set out for counting votes.

1913415

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 07/05/2026

We found a dog while out campaigning today. Kept following us but then haring off. Would not come to the polling station. Sometimes you can’t win em all. #dogsAtPollingStstions

A black and grey spaniel looking towards us from a distance. In the background, a grass verge, tarmac pavement, and someone’s wheelie bin.

020

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 03/05/2026

I see things… little things… that need fixing. Details matter, both the little stuff, and the big stuff. #VoteGreen 💚

Detail of a kids climbing frame. Four ropes meet at a junction, except that one rope and the junction are all covered in black gaffer tape.

A piece of play equipment in a suburban park. It’s a long ramp thing, with a slide at the end. Except a whole section of ramp is missing.

051

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 02/05/2026

Really beautiful to go out campaigning with Thirza, our Green candidate for Moss Side today. Not counting any chickens but if we are both elected it’s going to be a privilege to work together. #VoteGreen @mcrgreenparty.bsky.social 💚

A group of people all jumping in the air and waving their arms! Thirza, a black woman, our candidate for Moss Side, is at the front wearing a green rosette and holding a big “VOTE GREEN” sign. We are in a park, the sky is blue with scattered clouds. In the background is a brick built park gatehouse with a clock tower. There is someone directly behind Thirza but you can only see their shoes.

0379

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 01/05/2026

Here’s a visualisation from 2023 that I happen to have handy… so proportional. So fair.

Two donut charts showing:
How people voted in the 2023 local election in Manchester - 65% Labour, 12% LD, 14% Green, 7% Tory, 1% others
What you got: 30 Labour, 2 LD, 1 Green.

030

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 30/04/2026

A got an ADB-USB Wombat, so I can use this keyboard from 1988 with my modern computers. #smallNerdPleasures

A vintage era Apple keyboard connected to a modern MacOS setup with a large monitor. Various desk detritus, including the USB Wombat, in the background.

030

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 29/04/2026

Some Zack-mail arrived! Things are feeling very positive in South Manchester. I spent today speaking with residents and handing out posters in Old Moat. Truly hopeful vibes. 💚🌞 @zackpolanski.bsky.social

A leaflet with the Face Of Zack on it! Text: “Stop Reform. Replace Labour. Vote Green.”
Background of a brightly coloured flowery tablecloth.

371

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 28/04/2026

I saw a special little blue train today 💙

A single carriage diesel train (class 153) painted in bright blue. It has the words “Inspection Train” and various logos along the length of it. It’s on the rails of the west coast mainline at Nuneaton, wires and blue sky above. At the near-end of the train are some cleverly mounted cameras/sensors. And the word “Special” in the destination window.

110

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 25/04/2026

I spend quite a bit of time in Manchester’s various parks. And I spend a lot of time thinking about their accessibility (and lack thereof) and how fencing, gates, and compartmentalisation has consequences. There must be some research on this… and there is! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Canada geese and a couple of ducks on the pond in Fog Lane Park in suburban Manchester.

110

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 25/04/2026

So lovely to see the popup market on Copson Street buzzing in the sunshine this morning. Enjoyed a natter with some of the stallholders and was extremely tempted by all the cakes. Magic what happens when streets are for people 🥰 #Withington #OldMoat

A street market on a suburban high-street. People are milling around the stalls and buying things. Bright sunshine and blue sky.

171

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 25/04/2026

We met this beautiful beastie in Burnage while campaigning for Asma and @mcrgreenparty.bsky.social #VoteGreen #CoolCats

A splendid ginger and white bicolour cat. They are looking slightly to the side with one paw lifted. In the background, tarmac pavement and a hedge.

351

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 20/04/2026

This junction in Old Moat, Manchester is literally lethal. One death, two serious accidents and a clutch of slight ones (probably more unreported) between 2020 and 2024. Making this safe for pedestrians and cycles is surely a high priority? It is for me. Vote Green. Vote Sam for safe streets. 💚

Selfie. I am standing at a suburban traffic intersection. It’s a big wide crossroads - sea of tarmac. There are traffic lights and… no pedestrian crossing whatsoever. I am making a disappointed face.

A map of the junction showing markers for accidents - 1 black for fatal, 2 red for serious, 5 yellow for slight.

2154

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 20/04/2026

Exciting obstacle for the children to jump on this morning. Way too heavy to shift, and belongs to an HMO. 😭

A big stone gatepost, fallen across a suburban pavement. Mottled sunshine.

Another angle on a big stone gatepost, fallen across a suburban pavement. Mottled sunshine.

110

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 15/04/2026

So I ride everywhere, have multiple bikes, and all that… but the BEST thing has been my kids learning to ride. They love it, and get pouty with me if we ever go anywhere by foot or car. Here’s my youngest, who had just turned 3, the day she nailed pedalling.

1362

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 14/04/2026

I thought I had got rid of this Boglin but it’s cursed, so it just came back.

A grotesque purple plastic toy. It’s mostly face, with green eyes, a big open mouth full of soil, and a pair of white trainers which join on where it neck should be.

031

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 13/04/2026

We went to the South this weekend, to visit family and do a mandatory trip to Peppa Pig World. We went on a Voyager. It took forever. Oh how I wish we had better railways…

A plastic dinosaur monorail thing at Peppa Pig World.

000

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 09/04/2026

Here’s a map of road deaths in Manchester since 2020… every single one an unacceptable loss of human life. And preventable. The council and mayor may have adopted a “Vision Zero” strategy, but it actually needs implementing. Otherwise it’s just nice words and continuing death and injury.

A map of Manchester, roughly the area within the M60 ring. Road deaths are marked with little black markers. There are a lot of them.

87727

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 08/04/2026

You’ve got me on the duck-hating warpath now. Crayons out. Turn the Chester and Ellesmere Port branches of Merseyrail into a loop? Cc @greens4hs2.bsky.social @garethdennis.uk

Screenshot of Openrailwaymap showing the area between Chester and Ellesmere Port. I have drawn a new line exiting Chester station to the East, running north (past the Zoo, Cheshire Oaks, the aquarium) joining up to the east of Ellesmere Port station, forming a loop.

130

Cllr Sam Easterby-Smith @samsterby.com · 08/04/2026

We survived an Easter holiday day out to @chesterzoo.bsky.social today! We haven’t been since they opened the new “Heart of Africa” area, and oodles more giraffe space. Popular with my small ones today were the eagle owls (with chick!), the mini monkeys, and the anteater.

A tiny little monkey with a grumpy black face, white fur on its top half, and orange behind. I think it’s a tamarin, but wasn’t paying attention.

130