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• Post #4500181

  I came across this article today about language reform in Sweden which intrigued me. Many European languages have a formal and an informal “you” eg. Du/Vous in French and “Du/Sie” in German. Swedish also had this but it was effectively abolished around 1970 to promote egalitarianism. What I find interesting is that this seemed to happen organically i.e the country as a whole shifted its use over a period of time via common usage rather than it was imposed from on high (NB. The Swedish du/ni...

• Post #4500180

  Having just finished watching this I decided to go see what I could find out about it and the Wikipedia entry is spot on and full of excellent detail. On the one hand it’s easily one of the worst films I’ve ever seen and yet it could easily pass for a bone fide 100% camp classic. Fun to see Joss Ackland and Miriam Margolyes though I’m disappointed/relieved to find that it isn’t “the” George Clinton in the film. Also pleased to see that 1994 didn’t turn out like that 🤣 Currently on Prime UK...

• Post #4500179

  I find it utterly insane that a critical piece of rail infrastructure does not have a business continuity plan that includes a failover to another site. It’s all computerised these days so that should at least be easy to do. It’s absolute carnage on railways in the North West UK this evening and thankfully me and mine are not affected. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cwy0d0wgy4xt #NWUK #railways #news

• Post #4500178

  Can we please teach people how to put together questionnaires? If the answer to question 6 is “no - I have no need of this service” the following questions about “how much would I pay for it” and “where else might I go for it” etc etc should have a “Not Applicable” option if they’re all mandatory. 🤬

• Post #4500177

  I’m almost certainly late to the party and I have zero awareness of any source material but I am enjoying the Gotham Knights tv series which is kind of a shame because I know it got cancelled after just one series. However, 10/10 for employing trans actors #gothamknights

• Post #4500176

  This is very very niche unless you have an interest in Liverpool, the music scene in Liverpool in the 70’s and errm Carl Gustav Jung (seriously). However, this is a great little article about the first of the mad events called the “Jung Festival” that occurred in Liverpool. It was a great day. https://substack.com/home/post/p-199599505 #liverpool #liverpoolmusicscene #jung #carlgustavjung

• Post #4500175

  Wigan Pride today. No big names (limited budget), no big crowd but more than enough folks and allies for a good time. It’s important to support small town Prides otherwise they’ll all disappear. #wigan #wiganpride

• Post #4363941

  A trip to a “new to me” hospital can be turned into an adventure by going by train(s) plus walking and seeing new places. I loved these three buildings. Two were clearly old cinemas or theatres but it brings me such joy to see them preserved long after their original purposes had faded. #manchester #urmston #architecture

• Post #3864451

  I’ve clearly been triggered and am now hyper focussed for a while so……if you don’t already know about it but have an interest in Queer Music (of all sorts and going back quite a long way) I can wholeheartedly recommend a wander through the Queer Music Heritage website (I’ve linked to the section specifically discussing Bears but there are tons of others) The site design is of its time so completely messes with my eyesight but nearly everything is streamable and songs are often placed in contex...

• Post #3623405

  It’s just a pride flag on a lamppost isn’t it? Well, not quite…. A week or two I posted that Calderdale Council had recently been won by Reform (hard right) and one of the first things they did was to declare that only the Union Jack and St George’s Cross flags could be hung from council property. That declaration prompted some degree of guerilla Pride flagging with them mysteriously appearing on lampposts around both the Town Hall and Shibden Hall (home of that rather famous Lesbian - Ann L...

• Post #3597437

  This exhibition in Leeds was quite interesting. Nice to see that the vast majority of exhibits were from museums in Mongolia rather than from scattered museums across the world. Learned a lot about Chinggis Khan (his less anglicised name)and the important role of the “primary” wives in governing and policies. The exhibition focussed a lot on how benevolent and modernising he might have been and barely touched on how brutal his acquisition of territory must have actually been. I had to do some...

• Post #3024342

  As folk have been posting snaps of their plants and gardens I thought I’d share mine. It’s rather chaotic but that’s how I like it. It’s not “showy” but to me at least it feels organic. My sole criteria for choosing is that a plant has to meet at least one of the following three criteria : 1. I like it 2. It’s drought tolerant 3. The bees like it I am especially pleased that the hardy bananas (second photo) survived last winter as in the previous two years they’ve died and I’ve started f...

• Post #3024341

  Currently watching this on Amazon Prime UK. Yes, as a “gay” film from 1971 it’s VERY dated and loaded with clichés but I was genuinely surprised to see Rue McClanahan playing a fag hag (I had to look it up to be 100%) and even more surprised to see Gil Gerard (of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century) playing gay which was big deal back in those days. Other notables include Fannie Flag, who wrote “Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café” and Candy Darling of Andy Warhol and Lou Reed fame (….Ca...

• Post #3024340

  In Manchester to fulfill a long held dream of a) seeing Sugar live and b) seeing Bob Mould (long term celebrity crush) play with a band again. The venue (New Century Hall) is an impressively restored building with a listed sprung dance floor and what they describe as a “disco ceiling”! The downside? £40 for a flipping tour t-shirt so I won’t be buying on of those. That’s almost two thirds the cost of the admission! #sugar #bobmould

• Post #2535976

  An interesting guided tour yesterday of the old dock in Liverpool. This currently sits underneath the Liverpool One shopping centre and a small glass portal there allows you to look down. However, Liverpool Museums run tours which allow you into the vault to get a proper view of it. This was the world’s first commercial enclosed “wet dock”. It was built in the early 1700’s and was revealed during the building work of the shipping centre. It was pivotal in turning Liverpool into a thriving mar...

• Post #2535975

  A great day. We’ve seen so many different things today - amazing sea views, stunning buildings and a LOT of history has been seen and further researched. I will curate and post some shots over the next few days but for now here are some of the views we got whilst walking between Tynemouth and Whitley Bay on the North East Coast of the U.K. Most of my friends know that I’m at my happiest whilst near the sea so this small portion of the day was my idea of heaven! #uk #tynemouth #whitleybay #Nort...

• Post #2535974

  Tynemouth priory and gun battery. The U.K. is not short of ruined abbeys thanks to the efforts of Henry VIII. This one is fortified with a wall around it and a moat to the landward side. The site also once contained a monastery and the site was defended against the vikings and the Scots. Its location meant that it was also often used by the military in its later life - primarily against the threat of a Napoleonic invasion but also during both world wars. Stone from the monastery and the abb...

• Post #533213

  Spring continues to do what it does best - surprise me with new beauty every couple of days. Yes, they’re just randomly planted bulbs and don’t require much care but they bring me such joy at a time when the world (and occasionally just my own brain) seem intent on bringing me down. #gardening

• Post #462755

  Ok so my favourite Swedish word of today is “snickesnacka” which means “gossip” or little chat. (NB I know that the Danes use “ping pong” to mean friendly chatter as they have (or at least used to have) special seats on their trains designated as “ping pong”) #svenska #swedish #wordoftheday #dansk