Simon
@simonxix.com
📚cultural & critical studies 📽️film critic 🐧open source developer 🐦birder 😐he/him
🔗 https://simonxix.com
🔗 https://simonxix.com
Reposted by Simon
The scraping of Spotify by the shadow library, Anna's Archive, has made it into Private Eye, where the hypocrisy of Spotify - which originally was a pirate scraper site - is brought to light.
January 11, 2026 at 5:40 PM
The scraping of Spotify by the shadow library, Anna's Archive, has made it into Private Eye, where the hypocrisy of Spotify - which originally was a pirate scraper site - is brought to light.
I rewatched INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL for the first time in years the other night. There's some fun sequences in that film but it also has some underlying Chariot of the Gods? shit and the treatment of Indigenous people is somehow more regressive than the older films.
January 11, 2026 at 5:30 PM
I rewatched INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL for the first time in years the other night. There's some fun sequences in that film but it also has some underlying Chariot of the Gods? shit and the treatment of Indigenous people is somehow more regressive than the older films.
We discussed Erich von Däniken extensively on the ALIEN VS. PREDATOR episode of our podcast series on the Alien franchise because unfortunately Chariot of the Gods? had a big impact on that film. He was a convicted fraudster, a racist, and his book was edited by a former member of the Nazi Party.
January 11, 2026 at 5:24 PM
We discussed Erich von Däniken extensively on the ALIEN VS. PREDATOR episode of our podcast series on the Alien franchise because unfortunately Chariot of the Gods? had a big impact on that film. He was a convicted fraudster, a racist, and his book was edited by a former member of the Nazi Party.
Reposted by Simon
You’re right—swallowing the bird was a half-measure. The bird did eat the spider, as planned, but now you have a bird in you. It reminds you of swallowing the spider to catch the fly. You’re seeing the pattern.
Would you like me to suggest some animals which could eat the bird?
Would you like me to suggest some animals which could eat the bird?
January 11, 2026 at 3:01 PM
You’re right—swallowing the bird was a half-measure. The bird did eat the spider, as planned, but now you have a bird in you. It reminds you of swallowing the spider to catch the fly. You’re seeing the pattern.
Would you like me to suggest some animals which could eat the bird?
Would you like me to suggest some animals which could eat the bird?
Very enjoyable to stumble across the fairy tale elements that get sanded down in Tolkien's later legendarium and in the Jackson portrayal. Talking purses, animal waiters, the King of All Birds, Were-worms.
January 11, 2026 at 2:42 PM
Very enjoyable to stumble across the fairy tale elements that get sanded down in Tolkien's later legendarium and in the Jackson portrayal. Talking purses, animal waiters, the King of All Birds, Were-worms.
Reposted by Simon
I think about this quote from the Luddite movement all the time
January 11, 2026 at 12:12 AM
I think about this quote from the Luddite movement all the time
I'm reading The Hobbit along with @rangedtouch.bsky.social's Shelved by Genre this month and it's tricky trying to not be influenced by the imagery of the Peter Jackson depiction of Middle-earth. Very hard to picture Gollum differently even though the text explicitly says he has pockets.
January 11, 2026 at 11:45 AM
I'm reading The Hobbit along with @rangedtouch.bsky.social's Shelved by Genre this month and it's tricky trying to not be influenced by the imagery of the Peter Jackson depiction of Middle-earth. Very hard to picture Gollum differently even though the text explicitly says he has pockets.
I always say James Cameron was a great film director because he comprehensively lost the juice decades ago.
January 11, 2026 at 11:18 AM
I always say James Cameron was a great film director because he comprehensively lost the juice decades ago.
Reposted by Simon
Reposted by Simon
Granted I’m biased but I actually don’t think that looking like a lesbian should justify summary executions.
January 11, 2026 at 12:40 AM
Granted I’m biased but I actually don’t think that looking like a lesbian should justify summary executions.
Reposted by Simon
*posting on twitter* oh ho, I’ve made a wry observation. Better make sure a bunch of pedophiles see it
January 10, 2026 at 10:46 PM
*posting on twitter* oh ho, I’ve made a wry observation. Better make sure a bunch of pedophiles see it
Reposted by Simon
Thank you TCW for this instant classic of Harper’s Letter sophistry, explaining that the categories "right" & "left" are unhelpful in understanding a campaign of kidnappings & assassinations undertaken by an ultra-right wing secret police force at the behest of an ultra-right wing political regime
January 10, 2026 at 5:35 PM
Thank you TCW for this instant classic of Harper’s Letter sophistry, explaining that the categories "right" & "left" are unhelpful in understanding a campaign of kidnappings & assassinations undertaken by an ultra-right wing secret police force at the behest of an ultra-right wing political regime
Reposted by Simon
This is just what you like to see on here
January 10, 2026 at 5:00 AM
This is just what you like to see on here
No. Bad on its own merits and not a patch on the Lumet.
January 10, 2026 at 8:01 PM
No. Bad on its own merits and not a patch on the Lumet.
Reposted by Simon
In case you’re wondering whether the pro-ICE reactions to Renee Nicole Good’s murder are natural, here’s a comment that was just left on my video. My video about anti-transgender bias at the BBC. I haven’t made a video about Good yet.
youtu.be/pWm3dK8tPto
youtu.be/pWm3dK8tPto
January 10, 2026 at 5:07 PM
In case you’re wondering whether the pro-ICE reactions to Renee Nicole Good’s murder are natural, here’s a comment that was just left on my video. My video about anti-transgender bias at the BBC. I haven’t made a video about Good yet.
youtu.be/pWm3dK8tPto
youtu.be/pWm3dK8tPto
No, I'm not bothering with that age verification nonsense.
January 10, 2026 at 6:26 PM
No, I'm not bothering with that age verification nonsense.
Reposted by Simon
This would be me if I was on The Traitors: trying to enjoy a free breakfast while having to perform emotion because someone I just met a few days ago was pretend-murdered in a game.
Me on literally any Teams call that takes place before about 11am. #TheTraitors
January 10, 2026 at 9:59 AM
This would be me if I was on The Traitors: trying to enjoy a free breakfast while having to perform emotion because someone I just met a few days ago was pretend-murdered in a game.
Reposted by Simon
As American cops being trained by Israel is salient again, let's remember that Starmer fired Rebecca Long-Bailey for linking to a wide ranging interview with Maxine Peake where she at one point mentioned that this occurs.
Niether Long-Bailey or the link mentioned Israel at all.
Niether Long-Bailey or the link mentioned Israel at all.
January 10, 2026 at 1:20 PM
As American cops being trained by Israel is salient again, let's remember that Starmer fired Rebecca Long-Bailey for linking to a wide ranging interview with Maxine Peake where she at one point mentioned that this occurs.
Niether Long-Bailey or the link mentioned Israel at all.
Niether Long-Bailey or the link mentioned Israel at all.
Walked past mere moments ago and I could hear Hey Jude all the way up Buchanan Street as I walked away.
January 10, 2026 at 1:18 PM
Walked past mere moments ago and I could hear Hey Jude all the way up Buchanan Street as I walked away.
Reposted by Simon
This would be me if I was on The Traitors: trying to enjoy a free breakfast while having to perform emotion because someone I just met a few days ago was pretend-murdered in a game.
Me on literally any Teams call that takes place before about 11am. #TheTraitors
January 10, 2026 at 9:59 AM
This would be me if I was on The Traitors: trying to enjoy a free breakfast while having to perform emotion because someone I just met a few days ago was pretend-murdered in a game.
Russia is 3.8 kilometres from the USA.
January 9, 2026 at 9:59 PM
Russia is 3.8 kilometres from the USA.
Didn't even occur to me to do that. What a player. A dark horse. #TheTraitors
January 9, 2026 at 9:08 PM
Didn't even occur to me to do that. What a player. A dark horse. #TheTraitors
The software used to produce this imagery is irrelevant. The people that made, profit from, and continue to offer this software are liable.
January 9, 2026 at 6:58 PM
The software used to produce this imagery is irrelevant. The people that made, profit from, and continue to offer this software are liable.