Simon Williams
@stjohnbaptiste.bsky.social
98 followers 230 following 160 posts
Gog. Manceinion. In angello cum libello. (Abuse on my timeline = block.)
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
stjohnbaptiste.bsky.social
"Images of Manchester Jewish Museum were found on Mr Hussein's phone, the court heard"

Obviously the trial goes on, but close to home again. Just this morning had the e-mail giving the date for the annual community festival and open day for places of worship and museums and community centres here.
Men 'plotted to do untold harm to Jewish people in Manchester'
Walid Saadaoui and Amar Hussein planned to kill as many Jewish people as they could, a trial hears.
www.bbc.co.uk
Reposted by Simon Williams
sarahowen.org.uk
The two suspects in the arson attack on a mosque in Peacehaven had enough shame to cover their faces with balaclavas.

There were people inside the mosque at the time of this dangerous attack.

It must have been absolutely terrifying. /1
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Peacehaven: Police release photos of mosque arson suspects - BBC News
The images are of two people in balaclavas seen outside the mosque before the large blaze spread.
www.bbc.com
stjohnbaptiste.bsky.social
Been really into Vøvk's new music, their second album Litera released on Friday. First heard them on the Stalker 2 ingame radio singing in English so it's really cool hearing them now singing in Ukrainian. Bit progressive rock, bit post-hardcore, and hints of more in the mix too. Superb album.
Mur, by Vøvk
from the album Litera
vovk.bandcamp.com
Reposted by Simon Williams
nadinebh.bsky.social
1/3 Because progressive spaces have failed to be unequivocal on antisemitism repeatedly, the far-right have tried to pretend to be Jewish allies in that vacuum of accountability

They use the Jewish fears about antisemitic Islamists to demonise all Muslims by using our community’s trauma as a weapon
Reposted by Simon Williams
archaeohawke.bsky.social
#StandingStoneSunday

The Pillar of Eliseg, stands near Valle Crucis Abbey, Denbighshire, #Wales.
#Latin inscription consisted of some thirty-one lines of insular script. Excavation shows the Pillar sits atop a much earlier burial mound circa 2000BC.

#History #Archaeology
stjohnbaptiste.bsky.social
the antisemitism in some of the replies to people on this website is rather intolerable. horribly reminiscent of Labour's problems under Corbyn. from the outside, seems almost tied up into a sense of identity that 'i believe am an anti-racist therefore whatever i say cannot be bigotry'. just sad.
stjohnbaptiste.bsky.social
Last four albums listened to.
The cover of Milktuth's What A Time To Be Alive. It is blurry black and white picture of a woman holding something up in each hand. The cover is black with green writing. The cover of Jamin Winans' soundtrack to Myth of Man. It has steampunk-ish looking characters from the film in a collage. The Gentle Good's Elan. The main picture is what looks to be a line drawing or perhaps a woodcut of a view down a lightly wooded valley. A shepherd is walking with some sheep in the foreground. Vøvk's Litera. It is a black cover with pink and gold writing - there are seven golden symbols (the album has seven songs) beneath the album name. There is a colour picture beneath that of what seems to be a field of grain on fire.
stjohnbaptiste.bsky.social
One other thing about the Museum it's one of the local hubs for community here - there's the Irish centre and the Ukrainian centre too among others - so lots of events from musical evenings through to cookery and kids things. A few more pics from last I popped in a few weeks back.
Stained glass window - there is writing in Hebrew at the bottom and a cloud of smoke perhaps and a six pointed star. Dark reds, and different shades of blue and yellow/orange. In one of the upper galleries of the synagogue, looking towards the stained glass showing a candle holder and underneath that where scrolls are kept. A stained glass window. It has writing in Hebrew and the image is of a castle or walled town besides the sea, reds and greys and purples and blues. Another stained glass window. A scene of country side (I think). It has writing in Hebrew and it seems to be a picture of a valley besides mountains. Very red and orange and green with some blue.
stjohnbaptiste.bsky.social
Anyways, a useful reminder that there's a world beyond the conception of some. Thank goodness for those places which have open doors and provide a welcome.
stjohnbaptiste.bsky.social
It's one of those things it would be quite nice if it weren't true I suppose. The whole living on the streets after becoming poorly, living in a hostel, and then moved into a flat on a 'take it or leave it' basis. People on the internet are just weird.
stjohnbaptiste.bsky.social
It is very beautiful.

When I first moved to Cheetham Hill, I just saw museum on the bus so threw what little stuff I had down in this barren flat and part of Manchester I did not know and went there and was guided around.
A circular stained glass window, in blues and reds and yellows.
stjohnbaptiste.bsky.social
[dasein: defence of presence] is available in English translation now, and French, ordered my copy last night.
kyivindependent.com
Yaryna Chornohuz is a combat medic in the 140th Separate Reconnaissance Battalion of the Ukrainian Marine Corps. Beyond the battlefield, Chornohuz is a celebrated author. With her words, she gives voice to the pain and hopes for her country’s future.
'In every woman, there is a soldier’ – Yaryna Chornohuz, the brave poet fighting Russia
Editor's Note: This story was originally published in The Kyiv Independent's first-ever print edition, titled "The Power Within." You can order a copy in our e-store. If there were four women named Y...
kyivindependent.com
stjohnbaptiste.bsky.social
Some #RSThomas while I remember it's been Monday.
Lore

Job Davies, eighty-five
Winters old, and still alive
After the slow poison
And treachery of the seasons.

Miserable? Kick my arse!
It needs more than the rain's hearse,
Wind-drawn, to pull me off
The great perch of my laugh.

What's living but courage?
Paunch full of hot porridge,
Nerves strengthened with tea,
Peat-black, dawn found me

Mowing where the grass grew,
Bearded with golden dew.
Rhythm of the long scythe
Kept this tall frame lithe.

What to do? Stay green.
Never mind the machine,
Whose fuel is human souls.
Live large, man, and dream small.
stjohnbaptiste.bsky.social
not qting, because it always seems aggressive, although some of the takes on Labour conference being all 'middle class and having degrees' kind of misses just who it is who went to get degrees and are now at conference. also: able to find a good chippy and a nice cafe - aren't exclusive things.
Reposted by Simon Williams
kateinkharkiv.bsky.social
​This is what the destroyed homes in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, just outside Kyiv, look like after russian attack last night.

Bastards. Murderers.
stjohnbaptiste.bsky.social
Got the English translation of Yuliya Musakovska's The God of Freedom yesterday. Very glad to have been introduced to her own work. Just the one poem from it, Summer's End.
Summer's End

Summer has passed. Good friends and bad poems.
People leave to vacate a place in your heart for others.
Too little space. You should let go of what isn't yours.
Time marks all comfort spots on the maps.
Walk boldly. Fireflies will light your routes in the fog.
God napping on a pine branch probably won't get involved.
Dancing fountains, the water's whisper, and fragments of light.
A white trail that is visible up high every night.
Gray roofs that the morning wishes so much to gild.
This will not disappear with the summer's end.
The power of nature is present in every single drop.
There are too many losses and scratches ahead.
Lighten your backpack. Keep the knife and notebook.
Breathe more easily. And move faster as you move on.
A book. It's The God of Freedom by Yuliya Musakovska. Translated from Ukrainian by Olena Jennings and the author. The cover is a scarlet red, the text on it is in the bottom third in black ink. Above the text is a bird's body - black with gold picking out the feathers. But it has a yellow flower, in shape it looks a bit like a poppy to me but i know nothing about flowers, growing from its neck rather than a head. And its legs and feet are roots growing downwards.
Reposted by Simon Williams
jeremyjenkins.net
Taking official photos of my chocolates for the website is always tricky. They are so shiny you can always see reflections, and without fancy equipment it’s a game of trial and error. In this one, you can actually spot what a chocolate sees in the final moments before I eat it.
Lines of small black chocolates with yellow swirls. One can see the reflection of a person in each of them, then hand raised and about to snatch some chocolates.
Reposted by Simon Williams
stjohnbaptiste.bsky.social
Yesterday, I got my copy of the full English translation of Malevich's autobiographical notes called He and I. (Full title is a quote from within 'He and I Were Ukrainians'.) Absolutely stunning book. Tetyana Filevska has done some very sensible notes to help guide a reader to context and meaning.
A copy of He + I. It is pink with black lettering - two huge letters to a line. It is sitting on top of other books.