simon blackbourn

Porridge should never have crunchy things added to it. Honey or maple syrup, yes. Banana (very ripe) or berries, just about acceptable. Nuts and seeds? Should be a punishable offence.

Just discovered that I made an apocalypse-preparation schoolboy error by not putting my apocalypse survival food store in a mouse-proof box. Fingers crossed I have time to pop to Sainsbury's before the AIs rise up against us.

Off to see the wonderful Madra Salach with @onlyindevon.co.uk tonight. Very much looking forward to an evening of alternative Irish folk and drones. This one especially I am sure will be a highlight: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2Gn...

Did a secondhand book buying spree ready for the coming autumn evenings. Because my already teetering pile of unread books might somehow not be enough...

I reviewed the new Laura Veirs album. It's lovely narcmagazine.com/album-review...

I can see this turning into an obsession... -- #fireHydrantFriday #photography #aofoto

Some neighbours are having a party and the singing is just beautiful

I'm loving all these hashtags of the everyday and the mundane on here. Thanks to @tamarphotography.bsky.social for bringing #wheelieBinWednesday to my attention. -- #photography

@tamarphotography.bsky.social This is just what you were asking me about earlier :)

I love Pixies for their mastery of extremely short but perfectly formed songs: most tracks on their first three albums are way under three minutes and only one is over four minutes.

'Accidentally' setting my phone to Do Not Disturb mode for the whole of Monday morning is from now on my new way of starting every week. Highly recommended.

Apocalyptic is a massively overused word, but there really is no other word for scenes like this 😢

The bravery of these fire crews is beyond words

Not many activities are as deeply satisfying as shelling broad beans freshly picked from the allotment

"Ooh ooh, piccalilli shinpads"

This, all the other RTS street parties, squatting, anti roads and climate change protests, the free party scene... Feels like a very long ago time of youthful optimism and demand for change that the governments of the time very quickly decided had to be comprehensively stomped on.

Standing with the stones at the entrance to West Kennet long barrow near Avebury on a beautiful June evening just before sunset. -- #tombTuesday

Devonians were horrified to learn last week of plans for a massive AI data centre near Great Torrington, north Devon. The proposals from company XLinks Ltd would cover 850 acres of farmland. But who owns the land? I decided to investigate. 1/ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I took my little wooden 35mm pinhole camera along to an analogue photowalk in Exeter last weekend. I'm not used to shooting with it in such bright sun so I about half my shots are over-exposed. I do like this one, even though I have absolutely no idea why it came out pink and orange! -- #pinhole 📷

I'm sure that Tidal is nowhere near ethically perfect, but it's at least an improvement on Spotify and I have no regrets about switching last year. Their new policy on AI generated music and royalties seems pretty good.

Until recently, my dad regularly wore a pink La Coste t-shirt that I gave to him when I became a goth aged 17 and started dressing in nothing but black. I am now 55, so that t-shirt must have lasted at the very least 35 years.

When reality surpasses fiction! Top: fictional forecast for August 2050, broadcast by French TV in 2014 to warn about the consequences of global warming. Bottom: Real French forecast for yesterday, June 22, 2026.

Reform UK councillors have introduced a motion to rescind King's Lynn and West Norfolk's climate emergency declaration and deprioritise decarbonisation efforts The council were going to vote on it on Thursday But the meeting has been postponed due to extreme heat

The entire Cure concert from last night is up on YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvHG... (probably won't stay there long I imagine). I've been feeling a bit wobbly all day, so I wasn't in the least bit surprised when I had a big old cry to Pictures of You. Feel much better now. Thank you Mr Smith 🖤

I have come to realise that it is impossible for me to drive along this stretch of the B3212 over Dartmoor and not stop to photograph it. -- #Dartmoor #photography

Plymouth in the Guardian today www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

So it turns out that slicing your thumb open with a serrated carving knife produces a surprising amount of blood

Still won't flush.

Slept out under the stars last night by the coast in Cornwall. Temperature was perfect. Back home in the city tonight and I just know it's going to be clammy and horrible... 😩

Five motorway services in one day is not good for the soul.

Erik Satie played on the theremin and trombone by a bunch of weird Italians called Decostruttori Postmodernisti is even more wonderful than I imagined it would be www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q19x...

Plymouth friends! 'The Land' is showing at Plymouth Arts Cinema from this Friday (with a panel discussion on Tuesday). Highly recommended if you are interested in the countryside, right to roam, ownership of land and rivers, etc. plymouthartscinema.org/whats-on/our... @righttoroam.bsky.social

A misty morning at the allotments earlier this year. Tried to take some more photographs up there this weekend but it was just too sunny. Seems I really struggle to take photos in good weather these days! -- 📷 #blackandwhitephotography

#ECK #HumansofBluesky #ClassicMono #UrbanGaze 'The Joy of Multi-Storey Car Parks' Photographers must be the only group of people who actually like car parks. Thanks to @simonblackbourn.net (pictured) the joy is infectious. #Monochrome #BnW #BlackandWhite #StreetPhotography #Urban #carparks

Finally starting to fall in love with my Bombtrack after putting some chunky gravel tyres on it. Amazing what a difference it makes, feels like a completely different bike. Did a lovely ride in the sunshine along Drake's Trail for an obligatory sausage sarnie and cake at The Larder in Yelverton.

🖤 youtu.be/L-57FrioeuE

Been hoping for a new Maustetytöt song for a while now and this doesn't disappoint. Extra special bonus marks for having a word with FIVE umlauts in the title (pärjääkään).

Blossom and brutalism -- 📷 #Plymouth

Will someone please just nut that mad cunt.

This song with the original video is possibly the most melancholy combination of music and video ever made. It's less than 3 minutes long but every time I watch it, it stays in my head for days afterwards www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vgc...

I do like a Shag on the rocks on a Wednesday lunchtime. 📷

Dartmoor silhouettes -- 📷 #photography #blackandwhite