"Benches are where optimistic visions of civic life meet reality. To remove them, or to curate who gets to sit, is to abandon the work of defining a civic ideal and determining, together, how to live up to it."
NEW: Why benches are slowly disappearing from public spaces — and why we need them back:
the most personal of attacks
I am unreasonably excited about the prospect of having a big scheduled games afternoon this weekend with friends. Assuming of course that everyone remains available and there aren't family, work, or other dramas.
Life was easier back when we all went to a hall with our PCs for a weekend LAN & BBQ.
Lawyer Nick Hanna and the Palestine Action Group celebrating outside court today
NSW's fascistic anti-protest laws, enacted after Bondi and to allow Isaac Herzog, a war criminal, to tour without opposition, have been defeated in court today. The Appeals court found the laws "impermissibly burden" implied constitutional rights. From the river to the sea.
Runaway Jury is up there. It's goofy, but it's a good caper.
This is what happens when everyone has guns; everyone's bad at it
meanwhile that guy who made the doohickey was the only one with- *is pulled off stage by a shepard's crook*
The “Calvin’s dad explains two types” meme, inspired by a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon. Clockwise from top left: 1) Calvin’s dad walks into frame to find Calvin trying to operate a record player. The dad says: “There are only two industries left in America: gambling, and fraud.” 2) The dad shows where the record goes, and how to turn on the player, while Calvin watches. Dad says “Derivatives? Gambling. AI? Fraud. Video games? Gambling. Social media? Fraud.” Calvin says “yeah”. 3) With one hand open palm up, Calvin’s dad cheerfully explains to Calvin out of frame below him, “The stock market looks like gambling, but it’s actually fraud.” 4) In bed in a dark room, Calvin clutches at his pillow, eyes wide in existential terror. There is no text in the panel.
Happy 10th birthday to the greatest video on YouTube (no arguments will be heard at this time).
A true masterpiece by @5secondfilms.bsky.social, even if it is slightly longer than 5 seconds.
youtu.be/ajvhiAwFkLs
Beautiful writing. Sounds like you've had an incredible champion in your corner.
(Miniatures) Wargame about me
First game: Warhammer Fantasy Battles 4E
Latest Game: Dead Man's Hand
Longest Game: Blood Bowl during the LRB era
Favourite Game: Blood Bowl
Favourite mechanics: Pirates Constructable Strategy
Favourite setting: Blood Bowl
Favourite art: Rumbleslam
First game: AD&D 2E
Latest game: WFRP 4E
Longest game: timeline - AD&D 1E, most sessions WFRP 4E
Favourite game: Amber Diceless
Favourite mechanics: Hong Kong Action Theatre character as actor/director concept
Favourite setting: Grant Howitt absurdities
Favourite art: recency bias says SLA Borg
The Calvin's dad explaining records meme. He is explaining that the two kinds of meme are Calvin's dad and Loss. Despite being a meme about Calvin's dad, this one is Loss.
Much like Aava I was far too obsessed with this mountain to just give up.
WHAT A GAME.
Playing the demo and enjoying the climbing mechanics - taking me back to rockclimbing in my youth was what convinced me to play. But the story that was being told is one of the best I've played through.
It was absolutely punishing at times (and I had to walk away after losing huge chunks of progress to physics/geometry glitches twice), but there was no way I wasn't going to see it through. Thankfully the assistance options were there for what turned out to be the last 5m or so of the avalanche.
Finished Cairn and what an incredible way to finish. Not even the ending, but the question asked after the credits - it made me cry. What a fucking game. @thegamebakers.com have made an absolute masterpiece and I cannot imagine what will overtake in my heart this year.
Okay CTA. This is a good sign.
Next you're gonna tell me that you should serve chili on spaghetti too?
A box says parasol medical with a picture of a red and white parasol. Parasol is another word for umbrella.
Oh... Oh no!
Every new episode of Most Upsetting Guessing Game on @grousehousetv.bsky.social is a new level of fucked.
You need to be paying for this service because this show has to go on until parliament makes it stop.
All that remains of the southern Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab.
I think the number one, two, and three reasons for Israel's public relations crisis is that it's doing this to four separate countries simultaneously
Figure 1. Bicycle share of trips in New York City, London, Paris, and Berlin, 1990–2023. Note: the actual years vary slightly by city, as follows: New York: 1990,2000, 2010, 2019, 2022; London: 1993, 2000, 2010, 2019, 2022; Paris: 1990, 2000, 2010, 2017, 2023; Berlin: 1992, 1998, 2010, 2018, 2023. The percentages shown in thegraphic refer to the bicycle share of all trips, all trip purposes, based on travel surveys for each city. Sources: City of Paris, 2000–2023; City of Berlin, 2003–2025;Kalender,2012; NYCDOT, 2018–2023; Pucher, Parkin, et al.,2021; TfL, 2000–2023.
This paper compares trends in cycling levels, cyclist demographics and cycling injury risk in NewYork, London, Paris and Berlin, before and after the COVID pandemic. We explore these trends inthe context of changes to policy and infrastructure before, during, and after COVID. We based ouranalysis on data from published reports, open-data portals, government websites, travel surveys,and information provided by transport planners in each city. Cycling levels in NYC, London, Paris,and Berlin increased over the three decades prior to COVID (1990–2019). As a percentage of dailytrips, bike mode share rose from 0.6% to 2.2% in New York, from 1.2% to 3.7% in London, from0.4% to 5% in Paris, and from 7% to 18% in Berlin. Cycling rates have continued to increase sinceCOVID. By 2023, bike mode shares had risen further to 3% in NYC, 4.5% in London, 11% in Paris,and 19% in Berlin. Cycling became safer in all four cities over the period 2005 to 2023, withdeclining per-trip fatality and injury rates. More and better cycling infrastructure has been acornerstone of pro-cycling efforts, especially cycleways separated from motor vehicle traffic (pro-tected bike lanes). Bike parking and bikesharing systems have expanded and improved. Car restric-tions and traffic calming have complemented pro-bike measures, for example, using infrastructureand enforcement to reduce traffic volumes and speeds in residential neighborhoods. Long-termpolitical support as well as cycling advocacy organizations have been critical to the introductionand continuation of pro-bike policies and the necessary financial investments.
Truly wild research on the change in bike mode share in NYC, London, Paris and Berlin.
Between 2000 and 2023, Paris went from 1 out of every 100 trips being on a bike to *one out of 9!*
Many people, including credible researchers, would have told you that that *could not* happen.
We all know that induced demand is a thing for new car centric infrastructure, but everyone acts like you're insane and that it is absurd to talk about induced demand for bike infrastructure.
...I am absolutely going to be stealing this.
Maybe its a fifteenth generation copy of the original woodcut so everything is not quite right anymore.
This is perfect.
Now I have to figure out how to deep fry stone carvings for that full aesthetic.
Oh, then if it's @aptshadow.bsky.social then there should be a new one any minute.
One I am contemplating for a future dungeon puzzle would be an interpretation of Dwarven Chad/Virgin carvings.
Second: I need you to imagine the most annoying Nekekharan you can. What kind of stupid curses would they have put on their tomb?
I've been thinking about some that would be so specific to Nekekharan society that their impact on a "modern" Reiklander wouldn't even be that bad, but could be funny.