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Paul Clammer

@paulclammer.bsky.social

3.3K followers 940 following 1.1K posts

Writer | BLACK CROWN: Biography of Henry Christophe, King of Haiti | Antarctic Editor | Recovering Lonely Planet guidebook author | Bristol https://paulclammer.com/

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Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · Nov 17

Hello everyone!

I'm a UK-based writer: my last book was BLACK CROWN, a bio of Haiti’s revolutionary king and am now working on the lives of polar power couple Ernest & Emily Shackleton.

Before that too many Lonely Planet guidebooks to remember (but hence our Moroccan rescue street cat).

Copies of 'Black Crown : Henry Christophe, the Haitian Revolution and the Caribbean's Forgotten Kingdom' by Paul Clammer

Polar explorer Ernest Shackleton, with his wife Emily. They are on board a ship: he is in naval uniforn; she is in hat, jacket and long skirt in classic Edwardian style.

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Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · 1h

This is super cool – I grew up in Cambridge and always loved the prehistoric carvings on the outside of the Sedgwick Museum, so I'm delighted to know the themes are echoed inside!

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Reposted by Paul Clammer

Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 2d

I agree with every word Zelda Williams says. And this at the end from OpenAI makes me want to go full Ned Ludd. Creators can’t have a blanket opt-out on copyright infringement of their work and have to fill out a form appealing to OpenAI’s mercy every time? Fuck off into the sun

OpenAI told the Guardian that content owners can flag copyright infringement using a “copyright disputes form” but that individual artists or studios cannot have a blanket opt-out. Varun Shetty, OpenAI’s head of media partnerships, said: “We’ll work with rights holders to block characters from Sora at their request and respond to takedown requests.”

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Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · 2d

Happy birthday Henry Christophe - 258 years of people spelling your name wrong! 😉

Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · 3d

Interesting exercise!

Screenshot of an Instagram suggested search feed.

Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · 5d

Useful thread for UK authors—like me—who had their books stolen to train AI and had hoped for even a few crumbs from the Anthropic settlement.

Jason Sanford @jasonsanford.bsky.social · 6d

The official database of works eligible for the Anthropic AI settlement has been released and, as I suspected, many authors are screwed. Basically, if your books weren't officially registered with the US Copyright Office you're out of luck. 1/ secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/results

Welcome to the Anthropic Copyright Settlement Website
Are you the legal or beneficial copyright owner of a book included in the Anthropic Copyright Settlement?
You could get a payment from the $1.5 billion Settlement.

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Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · 5d

'Leave the girl - it's the scarf I want!'

Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · 6d

Good? That book seems to be getting a lot of love these days?

Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · 6d

What a wonderful essay - thanks for sharing.

Reposted by Paul Clammer

Michael Tisserand @tisserand.bsky.social · 6d

For the 75th anniversary of Peanuts here’s a link to an essay I wrote about Charles Schulz’s deep love of Krazy Kat

www.michaeltisserand.com/ottimliffs

Ignatz throwing a brick at Charlie Brown, drawn by Charles Schulz

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Reposted by Paul Clammer

Duncan Porter @misterduncan.bsky.social · 7d

This is the alternative universe I'd like to move to, please.

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Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · 9d

I can remember endlessly trying to perfect the logo to draw on my school books. 😆

Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · 9d

I had the 7-inch single as well!

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Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · 9d

I have just bought a copy based on these recommendations!

A book: 'The Ruin of All Witches' by Malcolm Gaskill'.

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Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · 10d

Age yourself with a film you saw in the cinema as a kid.

Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · 10d

I would love this - I'd order it like a shot.

Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · 10d

Such a great essay, and prompted me last week to listen to some brilliant albums I hadn't heard in years.

Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · 11d

One of Bristol's best kept secrets: Beese's cafe, where they send a ferry across the river to pick you up for coffee and cake (or a pint). Easy to forget you're still technically in the city.

Reposted by Paul Clammer

Jonny Morris @jonnymorris.bsky.social · 12d

I expect the ID card thing will be dropped within about a week with Labour claiming "It was only ever a suggestion!" but until then, why not register your disapproval (if you disapprove).

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...

Petition: Do not introduce Digital ID cards

We demand that the UK Government immediately commits to not introducing a digital ID cards. There are reports that this is being looked at.

petition.parliament.uk

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Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · 12d

Congratulations Manuel - it looks excellent!

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Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · 13d

Saw The Cramps at Reading Festival 1990: Lux Interior came on late and complained about someone locking him a caravan for 45 minutes, then nearly fell off the two storey speaker stack. Rushed afterwards to buy the bootleg tape, which I listened to for years – an amazing show.

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Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · 15d

Flashbacks to the my Sixth Form art trip a million years ago when we all turned up at the Louvre only to find it closed!

Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · 16d

It means it's time to go back to the sacred texts. youtu.be/pHCdS7O248g?...

Blondie - Rapture (Official Music Video)

YouTube video by BlondieVEVO

youtu.be

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Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · 16d

As someone whose partner has ILR, I can't begin to tell you how frightening this racist bullshit is. Fuck Nigel Farage, his media outriders, and politicians of other parties cosying up to 'legitimate concerns'.

Shoaib M Khan @shoaibmkhan.bsky.social · 17d

Nigel Farage: "We will abolish indefinite leave to remain (ILR) status", and "We will rescind ILR statuses that have already been granted".

The first sentence is worryingly ignorant. The second sentence is frighteningly fascist.

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Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · 19d

There's a Douglas Adams quote that I can't remember and will almost certainly mangle, along the line of 'a wit gives a smart retort on the spot, but a writer goes home and says something devastatingly clever six months later.' Don't know if that helps, mind you.

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Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · 19d

We must have been in the same early GCSE intake that had Great Expectations inflicted on them! Discovering Dickens later in life was such a pleasure, but always tinged with annoyance that the school drudge had programmed me to hate him for so many years.

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