iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 11h

I’ve just installed some new graphics for alerts on my stream, and I’ve literally had to take it on trust that they’re not AI. Luckily very little money was involved. (These are just supplementary items, the main design is by a human - my brother.)

100

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 11h

I tried to look up that Amazon profile thing, and discovered that it’s so long since I last used Amazon that it no longer recognises my login.

000

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 11h

I’m still amazed Radio 3 hasn’t been axed, or at least made subscription-only. I think it’ll happen in my lifetime.

010

Reposted by Stephen JC

Alexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social · 14h

The idea that "EU doesn't want Brits back in" is absurd as the claim that the "EU will let Brits back on British terms". The EU will want certain things if the UK wants to join, and if the UK government and its voters accept those things the Brits can become members of the EU again.

1265

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 13h

Ours had turned on the light to the boiler cupboard. It can’t possibly have been me leaving it on.

000

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 14h

Funny, we were contemplating a Malta trip, but I’m not sure it’s going to happen.

100

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Oh wow, 102. I knew she was still alive, but… RIP.

010

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I don’t regard my house as part of my wealth, even though it’s treated as such. It’s technically worthless until I sell it, and then I have the expense of buying a new house. It’s not real money in my head.

010

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Kansas is a state I’ve had my eye on. Extremely conservative , but has elected two Democratic governors since Obama (women too!). Now the Dems have chosen a Methodist pastor as their candidate, by all accounts really good. And the sitting senator sued pregnant women when he was an ob-gyn.

010

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Funny this has cropped up, but this is the first year I’ve noticed how rapidly the sun sets in October. Bright at 6pm, pitch dark at 6.30pm. None of those slow, gentle, languorous sunsets we get in July.

000

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

If you see this we IMPLORE you to post a picture from whatever device you’re using without explanation.

Description but not explanation: a clip art picture of a human skull, facing forward. In its eye sockets are googly eyes.

110

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I deliberately don’t get involved in these discussions, but I just want to thank you and Paul for your measured, wise and sincere contributions.

120

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

@deeplyclassical.bsky.social I just had a quick listen to parts of Rattle’s new Bavarian Mahler 2. Really not keen on the acoustic, I wonder if its being live is a factor. Quite boomy, I feel. Also he seems to be getting faster each time he records it. Berlin was better, CBSO still best IMO.

000

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

My ex used to work in arts marketing, and always said the FT had really lovely arts people. The Telegraph, too. On the other hand she said The Guardian were always horrible to deal with.

120

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I didn’t know this was a thing, thank you.

010

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I love the implication that it’s the particles that have won the prize.

010

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

At the LSO concert I was sure the people around me would have been worried I was having a seizure; the simple fact is I was shaking because I was sobbing, I was so moved.

020

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

He’s recorded it *again*? OK, this I must hear. (The two best Proms concerts I ever went to were Rattle doing M2 with the VPO in 1997, and Rattle doing M2 with the LSO about four(?) years ago. He’s unmatchable in this work.)

110

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

“The torment of scraping badly sharpened pencils across my skin” is a phrase that’s going to stick with me.

000

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I use a garlic press almost daily and I can’t see how one would cost £40 but…. The residue, you say….?

020

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I didn’t come across Apaches until a year or two ago (can’t think how I missed it, I remember all the other PS films), but I thought it was hilarious. Who’s next? What implausible death is going to befall them? And why has the farmer noticed *none* of this?

100

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Oddly enough I haven’t been scared of clowns at all since then.

000

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Brian Cant, of all people. He was in a little mini-adventure set on the moon where he played a sort of man-bear. He had clown makeup on and it freaked me out.

100

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

This is perfectly reasonable. I can’t imagine who at Disney thought ‘Elephants on Parade’ was suitable for children.

1120

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I would have said the spider walk, but that’s only in the extended edition.

040

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from 40 years of following politics, it’s that voters are always sure the stove won’t be hot this time. Or at the very least, “it can’t be as hot as the kettle was when I touched that.” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

Brazil election goes to run-off as right-wing Flávio Bolsonaro wins first round

With neither candidate getting more than 50% of the vote, the election will go to a run-off on 25 October.

010

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I’ve only been once and I really liked it, what horror did I miss?

110

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Erm…… oh, I’ve got one. You won’t have to listen to a load of racist drivel. Unless they intend to introduce that as a feature, of course. Imagine getting into one of these cars and suddenly you hear a pre-recorded voice: “these days, if you say you’re English…”

020

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

The usual reason: don’t have to pay anyone.

210

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

“By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.” No, you’re supposed to give me an opt-out option. If my only opt-out option is not to use your site, I’m not using your fucking site.

010

Reposted by Stephen JC

Ian @ianpatterson.com · 04/10/2026

... yet all of their policies are more of the same. 50,000 prison places (60% more than now) is ridiculous in its own right, let alone funding (we dont have that much foreign aid left). Conservatism is hollowed out - and she's doing nothing. bsky.app/profile/drje...

121

Reposted by Stephen JC

Legal C @legalclaret.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Kemistry is the name a 19yr old called Kemi might call their Instagram handle.

1244

Reposted by Stephen JC

David Higham @oldtrotter.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

On the importance of asking the right questions in politics.

We are measurably lonelier. We feel less productive, and yet more burnt out. We're less satisfied in our jobs. We are less fulfilled in our personal lives. We're taking up fewer hobbies. Engaging in less culture and art. We miss our real communities. But we're going out less. Our trust in our institutions has plummeted. We're having fewer kids. We're politically more volatile. We're believing more lies. A younger generation is going on fewer dates. And they have fewer friends. Opportunities for human contact are shrinking.
Anxiety is up, and yes, that overall happiness metric is falling.
Sorry to be a downer, but then you knew all that already. We all feel it.
Instead, we are pursuing a race to "growth". But what kind of growth, and to what end? An AI data centre in a hollowed-out postindustrial community might provide 30-odd jobs and create numerical growth on a Treasury spreadsheet but does it materially address the lack of meaning, purpose or agency many feel in their lives?

13419

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Carlson is probably running for the White House in ‘28, so this is interesting positioning on his part. There are some German speakers in Texas, but I’m not sure who else this would appeal to.

000

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Someone needs to remind Carlson that the Declaration of Independence was almost written in German.

100

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

My immediate assumption was that this was rather feeble parody.

010

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Vegan cheese is possibly the one foodstuff that no one has ever come close to getting right, and quite frankly they should stop trying.

120

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

There’s also a performance in Manchester in November, but I don’t think that’s an immersive production so it’ll lose some of its attraction. Being able to wander between the different groups of instruments and change the aural emphasis was compelling.

010

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I saw this performance in Bristol in August and was so blown away that I went to see it again at the Royal Festival Hall a week ago. They’re doing it again in Glasgow tonight, and I wish I could be there.

110

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

On Steve Reich’s 90th birthday, here are three members of the Paraorchestra playing the same marimba (one of them upside down) in their recent performance of his Music for 18 Musicians.

Three musicians dressed in white play a marimba, surrounded by an audience. Two of them stand next to each other, the third is playing the marimba from the ‘wrong’ side. I can’t tell you how impressive this looks.

110

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

On the last day of Edgbaston 2005 we were driving home from holiday in East Anglia. I was listening to the coverage, getting more and more tense (partner was driving). I got home just in time to see Jones’s final catch. The only time in my life I have successfully completed a backward somersault.

020

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

As a Welshman with some English ancestry I’m unsure how offended I should be.

110

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I’ve noticed both AIDS and cancer are glibly used as metaphors for something bad in online spaces, generally on Reddit.

000

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Can’t see myself using it as I no longer frequent any of the areas it covers, but any network that allows one to get more easily around outer London is welcome. Also I gather the WLO would be very easy to build as much of the track is already in place.

000

Reposted by Stephen JC

Rosamundi @rosamundi.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

A *poem*?

Headline from a Daily Telegraph article:
"Accountant calls police after being asked to attend meeting".

3274

Stephen JC @stephenjcol.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I was considering replacing my PC this year, but I think it can wait.

000

Reposted by Stephen JC

Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Was curious about the whole going "we need to be where we were 40 years ago" thing. Found this from the ONS - real disposable incomes today are almost twice that of 1986. Obviously there's a lot that needs fixing (housing!). But I feel like this is relevant...? www.ons.gov.uk/economy/gros...

ons.gov.uk

Households: Real disposable Income, per head: Chained volume measure (reference year = 2024) £: Seasonally adjusted - Office for National Statistics

136117