Archie Valparaiso
@archiev.bsky.social
Gracelessly aging* writer, copy editor and translator. Curator of #SaveOurSubs. Based on the Continong.
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* No "e" after the "g", eh. Glad we've got that cleared up.
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* No "e" after the "g", eh. Glad we've got that cleared up.
I've been reading about a kid, the son of a cobbler from a small provincial town, who got grants and scholarships to enable him to go to Cambridge, where he went on to do post-grad studies. But that was 450 years ago and the kid was Christopher Marlowe. He probably had it easier than kids do today.
If I ever make £millions, I'm going to set up a bunch of Football-style academies for academic subjects
Send a load of scouts out to state schools to recruit working class kids with aptitudes for biology, history, physics, writing, music etc, and support the crap out of them, help them thrive.
Send a load of scouts out to state schools to recruit working class kids with aptitudes for biology, history, physics, writing, music etc, and support the crap out of them, help them thrive.
November 20, 2025 at 12:31 PM
I've been reading about a kid, the son of a cobbler from a small provincial town, who got grants and scholarships to enable him to go to Cambridge, where he went on to do post-grad studies. But that was 450 years ago and the kid was Christopher Marlowe. He probably had it easier than kids do today.
'"Franco [...],” said the grief-stricken prime minister “[...], has given his life, burned day by day, hour by hour, in the fulfilment of a transcendental mission.”'
He was cremated? #SaveOurTranslators
He was cremated? #SaveOurTranslators
‘Dangerous nostalgia’: did Spain’s ‘pact of forgetting’ after Franco leave new generation open to far right? Many thanks @demiguelch.bsky.social and Almudena Carracedo
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
‘Dangerous nostalgia’: did Spain’s ‘pact of forgetting’ after Franco leave new generation open to far right?
Events to mark the 50th anniversary of dictator’s death are intended to remind Spaniards, particularly the young, of the dangers of fascism
www.theguardian.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:14 PM
'"Franco [...],” said the grief-stricken prime minister “[...], has given his life, burned day by day, hour by hour, in the fulfilment of a transcendental mission.”'
He was cremated? #SaveOurTranslators
He was cremated? #SaveOurTranslators
Reposted by Archie Valparaiso
![@tomb_urges - Whenever I see someone on one of these, I like like to imagine they started out with a much larger vehicle and their journey has been riddled with mishaps. [pic of guy on a unicycle type thing]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:lxm3v43kiuo4gdun45a4zivh/bafkreialamhqwi5ukvc5s2hvbpuofiltysnogvfr6kqcy7cj4ye6alqkau@jpeg)
No potential Reform voters will vote Labour, no matter how close their immigration policies may become. A good number of potential Labour voters, though, may feel there's no choice but to vote for the Magic Grandpa or the Mammary Mesmeriser.
November 17, 2025 at 1:10 PM
No potential Reform voters will vote Labour, no matter how close their immigration policies may become. A good number of potential Labour voters, though, may feel there's no choice but to vote for the Magic Grandpa or the Mammary Mesmeriser.
Unless someone gives it a firm leftward kick up the arse very soon, this government will make Blair and Brown look like mad Corbynistas.
November 17, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Unless someone gives it a firm leftward kick up the arse very soon, this government will make Blair and Brown look like mad Corbynistas.
Football violence. The permathreat of nuclear annihilation. British Leyland cars. Vesta curries. The Black and White Minstrel Show. The fug of blue fag smoke in the projector's beam at the cinema. Lookshreh!
It all depends who you were & where you were. I was 5 in 1975; my memories are partial and scattered. Our life was better than it became in the 1980s, but there was lots about the world then that was not that great.
Nostalgia: great for a holiday, but you really wouldn't want to live there.
Nostalgia: great for a holiday, but you really wouldn't want to live there.
Ah the 1970s.
Stagflation, three day weeks, collapsing infrastructure. Civil War in Northern Ireland. In yer face racism and bigotry everywhere. Bin strikes. Strikes in general. Blackouts. Industrial decline. Wage inequality. Dog crap everywhere. And households spent 25% of their income on food.
Stagflation, three day weeks, collapsing infrastructure. Civil War in Northern Ireland. In yer face racism and bigotry everywhere. Bin strikes. Strikes in general. Blackouts. Industrial decline. Wage inequality. Dog crap everywhere. And households spent 25% of their income on food.
November 14, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Football violence. The permathreat of nuclear annihilation. British Leyland cars. Vesta curries. The Black and White Minstrel Show. The fug of blue fag smoke in the projector's beam at the cinema. Lookshreh!
One, erm, interesting name I haven't seen discussed yet amid this week's flurry of OMG-ness about the Epstein files, but who had extensive email exchanges with the, erm, "disgraced financier" in 2018: Steve Bannon, come on down!
November 13, 2025 at 12:05 PM
One, erm, interesting name I haven't seen discussed yet amid this week's flurry of OMG-ness about the Epstein files, but who had extensive email exchanges with the, erm, "disgraced financier" in 2018: Steve Bannon, come on down!
Reposted by Archie Valparaiso
I've just received a convincing-looking-at-first sight chat request ostensibly from the Bluesky Moderation Service, but actually from some random, saying my account has been suspended and telling me to click a link to fix it, which I obvz haven't done. So <SgtEsterhausVoice> be careful out there.
November 12, 2025 at 1:08 PM
I've just received a convincing-looking-at-first sight chat request ostensibly from the Bluesky Moderation Service, but actually from some random, saying my account has been suspended and telling me to click a link to fix it, which I obvz haven't done. So <SgtEsterhausVoice> be careful out there.
Reposted by Archie Valparaiso
If "blackguard" is pronounced "blaggard", why doesn't a guitar have a piggard? #RiddleMeThis
November 9, 2025 at 9:47 AM
If "blackguard" is pronounced "blaggard", why doesn't a guitar have a piggard? #RiddleMeThis
If "blackguard" is pronounced "blaggard", why doesn't a guitar have a piggard? #RiddleMeThis
November 9, 2025 at 9:47 AM
If "blackguard" is pronounced "blaggard", why doesn't a guitar have a piggard? #RiddleMeThis
That NYC and London both have Muslim mayors isn't really the story. That NYC and London both have mayors who are men, yet again and as always, that's the story. The under-representation of women in top jobs is something we take for granted so much it's a scandal not even worth mentioning, it seems.
November 5, 2025 at 10:11 AM
That NYC and London both have Muslim mayors isn't really the story. That NYC and London both have mayors who are men, yet again and as always, that's the story. The under-representation of women in top jobs is something we take for granted so much it's a scandal not even worth mentioning, it seems.
Impressive but not a uniquely British phenomenon. South Madrid Airport went bust only three years after it was built. It's been used ever since to store rusting aircraft being sold off for scrap. The vast infrastructure's failure may have something to do with its location: 125 miles south of Madrid.
My latest: Move over bat tunnel, here’s the wild story of how HS2 were forced to build a multi-million pound bridge for a road that… doesn’t actually exist.
How HS2 built a bridge to nowhere
A state-of-the-art road bridge has been built deep in the heart of rural Buckinghamshire. Designed to carry traffic over the HS2 railway, there's just one tiny problem - there's no actual road.
martinrobbins.substack.com
November 3, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Impressive but not a uniquely British phenomenon. South Madrid Airport went bust only three years after it was built. It's been used ever since to store rusting aircraft being sold off for scrap. The vast infrastructure's failure may have something to do with its location: 125 miles south of Madrid.
Reposted by Archie Valparaiso
That's a long time to spend in Cardiff isn't it
October 31, 2025 at 9:31 PM
That's a long time to spend in Cardiff isn't it
"Please do not say 'anymore' any more" -Guardian Style Guide
#SaveOurSubs
#SaveOurSubs
‘I can’t go on anymore’: Mazón resigns as Valencia leader and acknowledges mistakes during deadly 2024 floods – Europe live
‘I can’t go on anymore’: Mazón resigns as Valencia leader and acknowledges mistakes during deadly 2024 floods – Europe live
Mazón faced daily calls for his resignation after flooding in October 2024 killed 229 people
For more on the anger towards Mazón and the calls for consequences after Spain’s worst natural disaster this century, it’s worth reading this report from our Spain correspondent, Sam Jones.
Resigning his post, Mazón said “I can’t go on anymore” as he lamented “brutal” criticism he faced, while “acknowledging” mistakes made in an “unprecedented” situation. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 3, 2025 at 11:56 AM
"Please do not say 'anymore' any more" -Guardian Style Guide
#SaveOurSubs
#SaveOurSubs
Yes. See also the "I"-less "love you". Is that an order? Is it compulsory?
I like to sign off emails with “All best”, conveying the twin ideas that I wish the recipient all the best but I am too busy to type “the”.
November 2, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Yes. See also the "I"-less "love you". Is that an order? Is it compulsory?
There's a vast grey area of what places and things are the Windsors' actual property - i.e., what they'd get to keep if we turfed them out - and those they have exclusive, indefinite usufruct of, but only for as long as they are the royal house. I suspect not even they know for sure.
Aside from just having money and owning the Duchy of Lancaster, it seems plausible that having global top level access might conceivably afford one an opportunity for profit.
"Who are you, and why are you so rich?"
"I'm the King, and I'm the King."
"I'm the King, and I'm the King."
November 1, 2025 at 12:25 PM
There's a vast grey area of what places and things are the Windsors' actual property - i.e., what they'd get to keep if we turfed them out - and those they have exclusive, indefinite usufruct of, but only for as long as they are the royal house. I suspect not even they know for sure.
"Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse."
This is an absolute disgrace. That second comma should go after "remain", not "with". #SaveOurSubs
This is an absolute disgrace. That second comma should go after "remain", not "with". #SaveOurSubs
October 30, 2025 at 10:49 PM
"Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse."
This is an absolute disgrace. That second comma should go after "remain", not "with". #SaveOurSubs
This is an absolute disgrace. That second comma should go after "remain", not "with". #SaveOurSubs
The latest additions to my mute list are "Cuomo" and "Mamdani" (and I'm someone who doesn't even mute "GBBO" or "TOTP"). Enough.
October 29, 2025 at 1:23 PM
The latest additions to my mute list are "Cuomo" and "Mamdani" (and I'm someone who doesn't even mute "GBBO" or "TOTP"). Enough.
I must admit I'm finding it hard to keep up with all the twists and turns of the New York mayoral election. Mind you, I'm still struggling to process the Beame-Koch handover. Aren't we all?
October 29, 2025 at 12:57 PM
I must admit I'm finding it hard to keep up with all the twists and turns of the New York mayoral election. Mind you, I'm still struggling to process the Beame-Koch handover. Aren't we all?
Has he ever accused anyone of being "low IQ" who wasn't black or Hispanic? #RhetoricalQuestion
Trump: "They have Jasmine Crockett -- a low IQ person. AOC is low IQ. Have her pass the exams I decided to take when I was at Walter Reed. They're cognitive tests. Let AOC go against Trump. Let Jasmine go against Trump. The first couple questions are easy -- a tiger, an elephant, a giraffe ... "
October 27, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Has he ever accused anyone of being "low IQ" who wasn't black or Hispanic? #RhetoricalQuestion
My old school now has a "head of futures" who specialises in "upskilling" Fothering-Thomas Minor with strategies for addressing the further-education challenges to come. In my day we had a woodwork master who'd rap your knuckles with a set square if you ballsed up your spice rack. #CountrysGone
October 27, 2025 at 12:48 PM
My old school now has a "head of futures" who specialises in "upskilling" Fothering-Thomas Minor with strategies for addressing the further-education challenges to come. In my day we had a woodwork master who'd rap your knuckles with a set square if you ballsed up your spice rack. #CountrysGone
Why abolish the House of Lords when we could demolish it and build a beautiful grand ballroom?
October 23, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Why abolish the House of Lords when we could demolish it and build a beautiful grand ballroom?
The Nonce, and Future King.
October 22, 2025 at 9:42 AM
The Nonce, and Future King.
Ah. yes, of course. Balimmoral.
King Charles may be planning to send Prince Andrew to a castle in the Scottish Highlands, according to reports 👀
Prince Andrew faces exile to Highland town amid pressure to give up mansion
www.thenational.scot
October 22, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Ah. yes, of course. Balimmoral.