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Potempkin Village Idiot

@ixak.bsky.social

1K followers 1.6K following 2.3K posts

Baltimore climate dad anthropologist fighting existential terror w/ existential counter-terrorism. The soft underbelly of the cutting edge. Working on resilience, local governance, urban gardening, tool repair, fermentation. https://medium.com/@ixak

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Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · Sep 7

Conversation w/ my son:

Him: What was your favorite movie when you were a kid?

Me: Short Circuit

What's it about?

A robot who comes to life.

What was your favorite movie when you became a grownup?

Blade Runner

What's it about?

A guy who hunts and kills robots who have come to life.

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Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 2h

Discussing the planets with my 9-year-old son I realize he's only known a solar system with eight planets.

Which means I can say, "You know, there used to be nine planets. But we don't talk about what happened to the other planet."

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Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 2h

A dodo in 1000 BCE

Thee Spooky BlackSky👨🏾‍🍳 @xavierbeloved.blacksky.app · 23h

If you got reincarnated today what would you wanna be in your next life

Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 3h

Went to the Baltimore Mooncake Festival last week, which was fine. But my 9-year-old son, who'd ordinarily be more excited about ninja swords and Pokemon went absolutely apeshit for Italian brainrot plushies.
@bruces.bsky.social

A chimpanzini banini plushie being pulled from a larger crate full of Italian brainrot plushies.

A cappuccino assassino plushie sitting on top of a pile of other plushies.

Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 3h

bsky.app/profile/ixak...

Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 23d

Made this while rereading #Neuromancer.
@greatdismal.bsky.social

A variation on the "two guys looking out opposite sides of a bus" meme.

The overall image has the title "The sky above the port"

The sad passenger to the left, labeled "Gen X" is facing a window that is covered with the black and white static from a dead channel on an old cathode ray TV set.

The happy passenger to the right is labeled "Millennials" and is facing a window that is the bright blue of a flat screen TV tuned to a dead channel with the label "no signal" in the upper corner.

Reposted by Potempkin Village Idiot

Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 22d

designating ANTIFA an enemy of the state is telling on yourself

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Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 10h

Yesterday my 4-year-old asked me if ducks have tongues, and it was such a great question I almost exploded with pride.

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Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 19h

Happens to us all. Miss you, bud.

Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 20h

12 years ago I got on an October train and a transatlantic flight to bid farewell to my mother.
Tomorrow I'll get on pretty much the same train to take the same flight to pretty much do the same thing for my father.
A million things have changed since then and I feel so many more will change again

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Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 20h

A lot of people don't realize that for the vast majority of Americans over the age of 65ish - regardless of political orientation - Israeli history stops in 1967. All discussions and negotiations begin and end with that framing.

Andrew Exum @exum.bsky.social · 23h

This week has confirmed my suspicion that Biden’s Middle East policies will look worse, and will be even more embarrassing for Democrats, with the passage of time.

Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 21h

A lot of times when I'm out & about and an idea occurs to me I'll text it to myself - oftentimes just a few random keywords.

Today I found myself staring blankly at the words "sonic mask" on my phone until realizing it referred to my son's recent request for a Sonic the Hedgehog mask.

Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 21h

@epsilonicus.blacksky.app Let me know if you want some seeds. I have plenty.

Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 21h

It's so good! I've never had it before.

Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 21h

So, the great thing about Tromboncino squash is that in the summer it's a light summer squash like a zucchini, but in the fall it turns into a hearty winter squash like mild butternut squash. And I saved the seeds for next year.

Small packets of tromboncino squash seeds.

A large 3lb bulbous light-green tromboncini squash the size of a barstool seat

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Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 22h

Just need to say that I worked on State Department Middle East projects as a contractor under all three of these secretaries of state, and my take is that of the tree Hillary is the most deft liar, Pompeo is the most shameless liar, and Blinken's lies are so dull they inspire somnolence.

max tani @maxtani.bsky.social · 23h

New: Bari Weiss booked Hillary Clinton, Mike Pompeo, and Antony Blinken for a roundtable on Gaza, her first major move at CBS.

Notably on a CBS call today in which the panel was floated, one producer also repeatedly emphasized the need to hear from Palestinians in Gaza (Weiss did not respond).

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Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 23h

A lot of people's retirement funds are being juiced up by it too.

Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 23h

a picture of a girl sleeping with the words hold on i need to do something

Alt: a picture of a girl sleeping with the words "hold on i need to do something"

media.tenor.com

Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 1d

I generally strain my hot sauce through a mesh sieve towards the end of the process, and one of my favorite things to do is to dehydrate the thick pulp tleft behind and grind it into a special sprinkle powder that I call "Magic Dust"

Sometimes I sing The Who song "Magic Bus" while I make it.

A pile of yellow powder on a sheet of aluminum foil.

Close up of flakes of dehydrated yellow pepper paste in a small glass jar.

A small glass jar of yellow pepper flakes sitting in the palm of a hand.

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Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 1d

Concluding with "In My Heart" by Mackenzie Porter accompanied w/ Rod Stewart's similarly sweet but schmaltzy "You're in My Heart" www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf6n...

The child's book "In My Heart" by Mackenzie Porter

Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 1d

"I thought I Saw a Dinosaur!" by Lydia Nichols - accompanied w/ "Walk the Dinosaur" by Was (Not Was) www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYKu...

Child's book "I thought I saw a dinosaur" by Lydia Nichols

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Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 1d

"I'm the Scariest Thing in the Castle" by @kevin-sherry.bsky.social - accompanied w/ "Bella Lugosi's Dead" by Bauhaus www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy9h...

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Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 1d

Reading to my 4-year-old son last night and we got to page seven of the 1-2-3 Baltimore book which featured robots (presumably tied to AVAM?). He requested a song about robots, so I went for the obvious - youtu.be/D_8Pma1vHmw?...
After that, each book needed its own song. Selections are as follows:

The child's board book "1 2 3 Baltimore" by Puck.

An inside page of "1 2 3 Baltimore" featuring seven robots.

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Reposted by Potempkin Village Idiot

Emma Evans @trance.bsky.social · 2d

Link's ban is wrong and should be reversed.

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Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 1d

Mormons. The solution is Mormons.

Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 2d

Pastor friend of my dad walked in the room one time while I was listening to "Suffer" and tried to sing along because he liked the chorus.

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Potempkin Village Idiot @ixak.bsky.social · 2d

Me too, Tammy. Me too.

Electrical box on an outdoor telephone pole graffitoed with the words:

I ♡ U BMORE
-Tammy

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