Seen it (Sparks fan of old). The New Years made me feel I was getting my Mubi value - 10 episodes, each compelling.

shout out to everyone who watches one film on Mubi per month because they feel like if they cancel the subscription but keep Netflix it's just further evidence that they're just three dumbasses in a trenchcoat posing as an intellectual

That's me.

Writing poetry in form reminds me of using an LLM. Your choices are constrained by metre, rhythm, rhyme. The outcome can be far from, and far more interesting than, your original intention. But what was the guiding hand? How does it work? Too big to think about...

In which I talk with the delightful @gregorykearns.bsky.social about stealing books, a railway childhood, translation and the soul’s mobility…. @carcanet.bsky.social

Don Paterson recommended #Scrivener for writing and collecting poetry. At first I doubted it. Now I can't imagine working without it. Happy to share my MO with anyone struggling with heaps of Word files, or mountains of notebooks.

Tragedy repeated as farce.

It wasn't just the memory of the Cuban missile crisis. In the early 80s, nuclear conflict seemed just a matter of time. Reagan's speeches, AJP Taylor's assessment that MAD would not hold forever. It was in the zeitgist - Sting's "Russians", the movie 'War Games'...

Alia Kobuszko's 'Dream Latitudes' is a special collection of poetry. It feels like an important debut.

Θα γυρίσω σε λίγες μέρες. Ελπίζω να βελτιωθεί ο καιρός...

My babies!

Thanks to @robcrank68.bsky.social for today's theme of #LargeBirdsinFlight for #BirdoftheDay. Earlier this week I was lucky enough to watch one of France's largest and rarest birds floating down the gorges of the Verdon River below me. Here's a Griffon vulture at full stretch.

#photography #birds

How did you keep your composure? My video record of one of these lovely, beautiful creatures making a close pass in Crete's Lefka Ori is basically my phone bouncing out of my hand in surprise and me crying 'Jesus! Did you see that'?

Δες την εκτόξευση να σου φτιάξει η διάθεση ρε, 4 άνθρωποι φεύγουν από την Γη και θα πάνε στην πιο μακρινή απόσταση που έχει πάει ποτέ άνθρωπος. Όσο πιο μακριά γίνεται από τα χάλια που συμβαίνουν αυτή την στιγμή στον πλανήτη μας, και όσο πιο κοντά γίνεται στο να κατανοήσουν την ματαιότητα όλων αυτών.

How Britain’s Leader Decides Which U.S. Bombers to Let Fly Against Iran

This is pure WWE theatre. Right now US bombers are being loaded up in the UK, and we're providing logistics support to the US. The Trump-Starmer enmity is much-needed electoral fuel for the latter. Let's keep our eye on the ball... www.nytimes.com/2026/03/31/w...

Μεσκλά - Ζούρβα - Θέρισο. Ωραίος ο δρόμος, οραία η περιοχή!

Last year I decide to do nothing to the garden, absolutely zip. Never seen so many bees.

No, I think it just looks damaged.

I work with LLMs. They are at their worst with 1) Numbers (they're language models, not spreadsheets) 2) Quotations. Honest to God, if you ask ChatGPT for an appropriate quote, it ALWAYS finds one. I enjoy its grovelling when you make it admit that it made it up, which it frequently does.

It would help if the Israeli government didn't keep referring to itself as 'The Jewish State' when making its case, then. No?

But it smells as sweet. :-)

You got its name wrong.

Cycling in Paris is a treat.

Napoli

I'd like to sit with him there for a little while.

Stocks surged right before Trump's Iran post - is it insider trading? There are worries that someone with insider knowledge made moves in the stock market ahead of Trump's announcement.

metro.co.uk/2026/03/24/s... A significant prize.

Annual reminder: don't spray spring dandelions with roundup or similar chemicals. One flower can be visited by 100+ bees in a day, and your chemicals will kill all of them.

Γεννήθηκα έτοιμος...

Νίκησα το Ιραν, ελέγχω τα Στενά
Οκ, θα νικήσω το Ιραν, ελάτε να βοηθήσετε να ελέγξω τα Στενά.
Οκ, θα νικήσω το Ιραν, μπορώ και μόνος να ελέγξω τα Στενά
Οκ, νομιζω πως νικησα το Ιραν, ποιος τα χεζει τα Στενά, δεν τα χρησιμοποιώ εγω, δικό σας προβλημα.
Νομίζω πως νικησα το Ιραν, πάω Κουβα.

Thank you. I needed that.