This bush in our garden is covered with bees, which is delightful. At least three different types today, probably more. Of course photographing them in focus is hard.

Status:

Very much a sleepy rest day after yesterday’s crash. Got up late, went back to bed twice, mostly mooched on the internet, watch cartoons and took it easy.

Reading:

• Lasers, hawks and even guns haven’t solved the UK’s pigeon problem. There is a better way — The “better way” is fascinatingly simple: give them a regular spot with food to roost in and replace their eggs with dummies so the population shrinks. Also it’s all our fault: “When humans domesticated pigeons thousands of years ago, we bred them to rely on human care, and some of their natural instincts dwindled with their autonomy. This means they’ve lost the sensibility to ever stop mating, causing them to breed constantly."
• A thread about the local elections in Birmingham — This is really good but sadly the author has set their BlueSky account so you need to log in to read it. This would usually be a dealbreaker (fuck that nonsense) but if you have an account and live in Birmingham it’s worth a read.
• 4,000-year-old cuneiform tablets reveal ancient magic rituals from Syria’s lost temple archive — I find this kind of statement fascinating: “These tablets reveal a world in which magic, governance, and knowledge were deeply intertwined. They show how ancient societies confronted uncertainty — not only through administration and law, but through ritual and belief." As if our modern enlightened societies don’t deal with uncertainty through ritual and belief!
• Martin Belam’s one-line spoiler-free movie reviews for April 2026 — Shocked to discover Martin had never seen Akira before now. -10 nerd points, dude.
• “They would never use the Death Star on us”: Alderaan residents reflect on their support for the Empire as a large imperial installation enters the system
• Too self aware for management
• Utilitarianism and Its Enemies

Watching:

• Noah Kalina ‌(25:32)
• When did stories become so centred on good battling evil? And why? ‌(9:00) — Around the time the nation state required mythologies that branded foreigners evil.

Music:

• Give Up by The Postal Service — I played this album a lot back in the day but hadn’t much recently. Of course it’s now on the streaming platforms as a “deluxe” edition which means once the stuff you know is done there’s a load of stuff you maybe don’t know that wasn’t on the album for good reasons. Hate when they do that. But my big new revelation is Ben Gibbard is a winey bitch who should get over it. Thank god for Jen Wood putting him in his place in Nothing Better. Still love the album though.

Telly:

• Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord — And we’re done. That was fun!