TIL that “May the 4th” for English speakers doesn’t generally refer to the 五四运动, but some sort of lame Star Wars joke. I feel stupid.

Great day for London. Nasty, divisive culture-wars politics comprehensively rejected. And the swifts are back.

Rentier Capitalism by Brett Christophers: an unputdownable read

Part of a book cover, reading "Rentier Capitalism - Who Owns the Economy and Who Pays for It?"(Book by Brett Christophers)

Bubble tea in Stratford

A line of people waiting at a bubble tea kiosk in front of a large glass window, seating pods in the background, with a 70s airport feel, Westfield logo visible on a building beyond the glass

My hometown: dancing under the overpass

Couples dance together under a concrete flyover, decorated with red swooshes, people sitting on benches look on. Terry Spinks Place, Canning Town, East London

Drift down to the beach

A paraglider descends towards the beach over the sea, with the sun setting behind the shoulder of a mountain in the background

A community event in Custom House (from some years ago)

A red poster advertising a community event fixed to a dilapidated metal fence, behind which is dessicated overgrown grass and weeds.

Surprise to see this coot here on the pavement at Poplar Marina

A coots sits on the pavement beside a pigeon who is eating seeds, there's a metal fence in the background, and the water of a marina

There’s a colony of wagtails at Westfield in Stratford. They’ve bounced back since the pandemic.

A wagtail against a background of paving stones An annotated illustration of a wagtail colony, their roots and their poop, on the decorative bronze frontage of a shopping complex

Critters

A group of friendly cows blocking the road

Down to the spine

The bones of a fish on a plate with chilli and lime

Park light at Canary Wharf

A smartly dressed man walks down the path in a park. The trees are lit with fairylights, the park benches glow green.

Dreamy dusk at the Docks

Dusk at the Royal Docks in East London, light fading from blue to yellow at the horizon, and buildings reflected in the water

Blue flag, blue sky

An Australian flag flutters against the blue sky above Canberra's Parliament House

Mountain sunrise

A pyramidal mountain is illuminated by the sunrise, with its flanks in darkness. Electrical cables in the foreground.

Ice coffee and other things

A sign for a coffee shop, a theatening fence, a bus stop, and trees

Birthday favour

A cupcake with the initial M on top of a menu, surrounded by wine glasses, offered as a birthday favour

East London transport trifecta on the way home this evening. Trains cancelled because of trespassers on the tracks. When a train finally got through we managed one stop before someone pulled the emergency egress lever. Then a brawl broke out in the carriage…

Moody skies over North Greenwich

Louring grey clouds with hazy yellow light breaking through over the Greenwich Peninsula and the O2

The transcendence of the rider - no time to park your Lime bike in the Rapture

Bright green Lime e-bikes parked haphazardly or scattered on the pavement