Deep into the Winter Woods

Public

197/365: The Gob, Bewdley
Click for a larger, sharper image
Okay, Gobby. I was a bit stuck for subjects for today's 365 photo, so I ended up taking this just outside Bewdley town centre. It's not a very interesting alleyway -- it's just a minor shortcut that I hardly ever bother using -- but it does have a fun name. Slightly disappointingly, the name "The Gob" doesn't seem to have any kind of historical or scandalous origin; "gob" simply used to mean an alleyway around here centuries ago. I assume there's some link with the still-used term "gob" for "mouth", but I don't actually know.

Current Mood: tired

Got a bunch of groceries this morning, came home and found a busted pipe in the garage spewing dirty water and somebody had called Roto rooter in to fix it. The staff is never here on weekends and some other people got into the front office and are having a party in there. I went swimming.

Current Music: the Beatles

Public

My country (the UK) is currently allied with Ukraine against Russia, and that is strongly supported here. I too think it's the right thing to do, given that the enemy is Vladimir Putin, a vicious and expansionist dictator who is a clear threat to peace in Europe much more widely than Ukraine -- and a man whose regime has directly attacked the UK physically (Salisbury) and online (plenty of times). Over the Atlantic, Donald Trump is making it increasingly clear that he likes Putin and by extension Russia, so we in Europe need to step up our game. It won't be easy, but I don't think we have any alternative.

But as I said in the subject line, we need to avoid that leading to us thinking that Ukraine or President Zelenskyy are perfect, because they're not. For example, last month Ukraine passed a law weakening the independence of the country's anti-corruption bodies. This was very unpopular and caused the largest street protests in Ukraine since Russia's invasion. A week later, the law was reversed -- but damage had already been done, and trust in the President has fallen. Zelenskyy said he'd changed course after the protests, and also because of reaction from elsewhere in Europe.

That last bit is significant. Ukraine wants to join the EU, and it hasn't done itself any favours with this. Ukraine has had serious problems with corruption since long before the current war, and that hasn't improved -- the Corruption Perceptions Index shows that it's seen as more corrupt than every single current EU member. Ukraine is nowhere near meeting the Copenhagen Criteria, especially on judicial independence, and its wartime restrictions on the expression of Russian culture are incompatible with EU ideals.¹ The idea that even if peace were secured now, Ukraine would be an EU member quickly, is wildly overoptimistic. It won't be.
¹ This one is complicated by the fact that a few existing member states, such as Latvia, have similar restrictions.

This does not mean that Ukraine should give up on becoming part of the EU. Bulgaria was once hugely corrupt, still has significant problems in that regard, yet is now an EU state. Perhaps a bigger stumbling block might be one that rarely makes the headlines: agriculture. An EU-member Ukraine would be expected to accede to the Common Agricultural Policy, yet as things stand it would risk severely unbalancing it. Unlike other EU countries, Ukraine has enormous agri-businesses cultivating hundreds of thousands of hectares, and some Ukrainian intensive farming practices don't meet EU environmental standards.

I won't go on as I am certainly not a specialist, but my basic point is this: everyone wants peace, or at least everyone worth considering wants peace. But even when peace is achieved, Ukraine does not magically become like any other European country. Not even when the wartime damage has been repaired. After reforms? Well, it's a European state and like most other European states, including the UK, there are some serious problems in its structures that can't simply be brushed aside because it's anti-Putin. (I'm aware that I have at least one Ukrainian reader here, so I hope I can accept corrections to my thoughts with grace and humility.)

Current Mood: thoughtful

Public

Tributes on Black Sabbath Bridge, Birmingham, 15th August 2025

196/365: Tributes to Ozzy Osbourne, Birmingham
I was in Birmingham today for boring reasons, but there was some interest to be had. It's VJ Day, and so there was a two-minute silence at midday. I observed it, but not many others did. To be honest, I'm not surprised: I have to say I think the sheer number of such silences is becoming excessive. We really can't mark all significant WW1/WW2 anniversaries this way, otherwise we'll be having them every day.¹ It feels a bit like the way people wear poppies now from about mid-October, which again I find excessive. Go back a few decades and they were often worn for only one day. I do go beyond that, but not the weeks and weeks that seem to be expected of people like newsreaders now.
¹ Plus, as my late grandpa (who was in the Royal Engineers and would have been posted to Burma had the war not ended) said, VJ Day is different from Remembrance Sunday. He felt it should be more of a celebration and less sombre.

There was nothing photogenic that I saw on that score, so my 365 photo for today is something completely different. This is Black Sabbath Bridge (yes, that's its official name) on Broad Street, across a canal just outside the city centre. Unsurprisingly it's become a centre for fans to leave tributes to Ozzy Osbourne, as you can see here. I had to wait a couple of minutes to get this photo because there were so many other people -- tourists from all over the world -- who wanted to get their pictures taken in front of it. The city museum had a temporary exhibition on Osbourne's solo career, too, although I didn't have the time (or, really, the inclination) to go and see that. I was in Broad Street anyway, so...

I had the nicest time out yesterday, I went to the Exploratorium and saw lots of really wild displays and stuff!

Current Music: Skip James

Public

St Chad's Gospels, Lichfield Cathedral, 14th August 2025

195/365: St Chad's Gospels, Lichfield Cathedral
Click for a larger, sharper image
I was in Lichfield today, ancient cathedral city and birthplace of Samuel Johnson. I had a couple of hours to myself, which was a nice treat, and I spent a good deal of that in the cathedral. They were showing the Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners, which as usual were superb -- though the low lighting in the cathedral wasn't ideal for this purpose. I'm also not that keen on the way Lichfield has (or at least had today) someone standing next to the way out asking if I wanted to donate. I'm used to Worcester Cathedral, which isn't as pushy and simply has various ways to donate (or buy stuff in the shop), while Gloucester Cathedral openly asks you for a specific amount on the way in. I must say that I prefer both of those approaches. I've never liked being asked for money on the way out of a place, whether it be a charity shop or a church. As it happened I'd called at a donation station earlier on anyway.

Anyway, that little moan apart, Lichfield Cathedral is a glorious building. It's huge inside and out -- you keep happening upon extra side chapels and staircases and the like. In the Lady Chapel they were exhibiting some of their greatest treasures, of which this may be the most remarkable: the surviving volume of St Chad's Gospels, written in the eighth century. (The second volume was probably lost when the cathedral was looted in 1646, during the Civil War.) This book, though in Latin, contains marginal annotations in Old Welsh -- some of the earliest in that language to survive. The similar pigment in the Lichfield Angel and analysis of the paper suggest that, although the book was with the Welsh monks of St Teilo in the ninth century, it was probably written in Lichfield itself, not in Wales.

It really is an extraordinary sight, even behind glass, and even to a non-religious person like me. I'll reassure you that (probably unlike most visitors!) I read every single word of Lichfield Cathedral's photography policy, and every word on the signs up in this room, and there was nothing stopping me taking this photo. I did not, of course, use flash -- so I think it's come out all right given that the dim lighting meant I had to use a 1/14s shutter speed!

Current Mood: impressed

Today it is my pleasure to send out...

*~*~*~*~*GREAT BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISHES*~*~*~*~*

To my friend,

bangdrum.

I hope you have a terrific day. :)

AA Happy Birthday 3

Public

Old Mill Street Hospital, Kidderminster, 13th August 2025

194/365: Old Mill Street Hospital, Kidderminster
Click for a larger, sharper image
Not quite as warm today, but it still felt hot in the sunshine. I was in Kidderminster for a small part of the day, and that's where I took this photograph. It shows part of the former Mill Street Hospital, built in 1870, which closed about 30 years ago when its operations moved to the more modern building that serves as Kidderminster Hospital today. What you see here is only about half the old hospital, as there's a second, similarly sized (but less striking) building out of shot to the left. This building has now been converted to residential use. It's in a reasonably good place for this, as the town centre and a fairly large Sainsbury's supermarket are only about ten minutes' walk down the hill (off to the right).

Current Mood: hot

I had the nicest time at Skeptics in the Pub last night, my friend who brings me also brought his daughter who I really got along great with. Now back to home with my dishwasher that doesn't fucking work and my neighbors' screaming baby.

Current Music: Velvet Underground

claidheamhmor

I've been quite slow on modelling, but I recently finished an "egg plane" model, an aircraft shaped like an egg: a Hasegawa "RAF Taxi" Harrier, along with a ground scene including an old codger and his got waiting for the bus or taxi. It was a really old kit, and quite fun, but I had to find replacement decals because the old ones were welded to the paper.

All the build pictures

Public

...for whenever I get the time to write in more detail. But I might as well put it here. "AI should go away" (narrator from the future: AI did not go away) is not only unrealistic, it's also simplistic. For a start, LLMs (eg ChatGPT) are a subset of AI, not the whole thing. For another thing, chatting to an AI bot does not have to be worthless, as long as you understand what you're doing and why. And for another, some of the arguments being deployed against it are wildly broad, eg "stop machines doing human jobs". Without qualification? The printing press in the 15th century put humans (calligraphers) out of a job, and I'm assuming most people don't really want to live in 1450.

There are good arguments for being cautious and even cynical about quite a lot of aspects of AI. There are very serious questions about its effect on society, the economy and even our emotional wellbeing. Say that and I'll agree as I'm of that opinion myself, and again I'll try to expand on this on here at some point. But if you want recruits for the army of "AI is all slop, full stop" then I'm afraid I'm not going to enlist.

Current Mood: awake

Public

193/365: Bewdley Auto Services
Click for a larger, sharper image
It reached 32 °C here today. In terms of daily maximum temperatures, this summer looks likely to come close to the all-time record, set in the legendary summer of 1976, given the forecast for the next couple of weeks. It won't be as dry as summer 1976, but the heat is on, so to speak. My photo was taken while on a walk just out of town to get an ice cream at a local farm shop. This garage has been around for many years, using an old farm building as its workshop. It's an MOT Test centre, hence the blue and white sign out front. The banner on the side is advertising Bewdley Beer Festival, which happens over August Bank Holiday weekend later this month.

Current Mood: hot

Hoping to hear from a friend about a ride to Skeptics in the Pub tonight, I've already e mailed him a couple of times and he has my cell number. In the meantime I have to mail in my electric bill payment, pick up breakfast stuff and go to PT.

Current Music: Paolo Conte

W.T.F. NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trump Takes Over D.C. Police and Deploys National Guard in Nation's Capital in Unprecedented Power Grab

The president has been insisting that Washington has too much homelessness and crime, despite crime rates dropping substantially since 2023

By Kyler Alvord

https://people.com/donald-trump-takes-over-dc-government-deploys-national-guard-11788370?hid=7f1109a25d2362f31854399df255b82ba78f015e&did=18977911-20250811&utm_source=ppl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ppl-news_newsletter&utm_content=081125&lctg=7f1109a25d2362f31854399df255b82ba78f015e&lr_input=758ad690760192cf49795c3f52223721cac5324e3e862e41c5d4db73a4d43f32&utm_term=midday

Public

Cheap & Cheerful, Bewdley, 11th August 2025

192/365: Cheap & Cheerful, Bewdley
Click for a larger, sharper image
A mildly unpleasant day's weather today, with a very warm feel but not a great deal of sunshine, so it felt muggy and close. Even some light rain in the evening, although not enough to do the garden much good. Today's photo is of Bewdley's only real discount shop, Cheap & Cheerful. It's as piled high with stuff inside as it is outside, so despite being a fairly small place it does stock a lot of things! Ironically, it's not that cheap -- in some cases it's better value to go into Kidderminster and visit one of its much larger discount stores or even a supermarket. It's certainly convenient, though, as long as you've remembered your physical money as it's still a cash only shop. The bunting above the sign is in Bewdley Rowing Club colours and is left over from the regatta a couple of weeks ago.

Current Mood: thirsty

Got everything done that I needed to get done. Slept like a rock last night.

Current Music: Alan Stivell