Simon.

@simonashton.bsky.social

238 Followers 515 Following

Scottish-born American. A joy of a human.

Am outside photo of Ian Wade's book '1984 - The Year Pop Went Queer', on a Kindle. Palmetto trees and azaleas in the background
Flora and Son
A copy of the book 'Mad Men Carousel' by Matt Zoller Seitz
A Spotify wrapped-style round up of my year's reading of the Washington Post. 8 read 1,054 stories from 51 countries. My top author was Maegan Vazquesz
A quoted retweet from Stephen Fry "Somehow extraordinarily touching..."
A tweet from March 6th, 2000 "It's Friday night. We've all had a week. Want to watch a 1950s housewife describe being on acid for an experiment? "I've never seen such infinite beauty in my life" Of course you do."
Snoop Dogg laughing
A Jeopardy question: Ray Carney from Harlem shuffle by this novelist was back in his 2023 bestseller 'Crook Manifesto'
Men's All-Name Team FIRST TEAM A – Shackleford Stanwick, Sr., Johns Hopkins A – Quinn Commandant, Fr., RIT A- Declan Smartwood, Jr., St. John’s M – IV Stucker, Sr., Roanoke M – Holden Rosen Grupp, Sr., Tufts M – Dar Sleeper, Fr., Michigan D – Sky Dupree, Sr., North Greenville D- Taggart Eymer, Fr. Bryant D – Dallas Creamer, Jr., Stevens G – Colby Hamwey, Jr., Assumption SECOND TEAM A – Wheaton Jackoboice, Fr., Notre Dame A – Tanner Elwood, Fr., Tennessee Wesleyan A – Corson Kealey, Fr., Robert Morris M – Kadin Kightlinger, Gettysburg M – Whitten McCune, Fr., Cumberlands D – Conn Curry, Sr., Roanoke D – Gaige Barber, Fr., Wilkes D – Raines Shamburger, Fr. Duke G – Hampton Brannon, Fr., UMass
Italian football fans holding a sign which reads 'The Queen Gave Blowjobs'
Cover of The Cure album Boys Don't Cry
Sir, Anyone familiar with the history of the Church of England should not be surprised that Paula Vennells almost became Bishop of London in 2017 (report, Jan 10). In 1724, Lancelot Blackburne was appointed Archbishop of York despite having been a pirate in the Caribbean. From 1732 until his death in office in 1743, no ordinations whatsoever took place. Performing a rare confirmation at St Mary’s Nottingham, he was ejected by the vicar, who took exception to the bored archbishop attempting to light a pipe and down a pint during the service. Definitely one for the ladies, Blackburne dug a tunnel from his deanery in Exeter to a nearby canon’s house so that he could sport with his wife. As the satirist William Donaldson quipped: “His behaviour was seldom of the standard expected of a cleric; in fact it was seldom of the standard expected of a pirate.” The Right Rev David Wilbourne Honorary Assistant Bishop of York
Aretha Franklin doesn't approve
A copy of a task book 'Sterling's Gold' by Roger Sterling
Screenshot of a Kindle book ('Small World' by David Lodge) where the word 'panettone' is circled
A young Shane McGowan, in a scarf and sunglasses, posing in front of graffiti which reads 'Burnt Out Stars'
Fonzie giving a thumbs up
Hilda Ogden, glass and cigarette in hand, laughing
A snippet of a tweet saying 'Guess which comedian I called the comedy anti-christ.'
The cover of Teena Marie's 'Square Biz' single
an ad from 1990: Finally. Saturday, November 10th. Find out who killed Laura Palmer. Really. Twin Peaks - 10/9 Central ABC Television Network
A pair of handmade copper teardrop earrings on a wooden board with a plant framing them
two headlines, one under the other, reading: Rishi Sunak says AI should not be viewed as a threat to worker's jobs ahead of meeting with Elon Musk AI Artificial Intelligence could pose risk to humanity on scale of nuclear war, Sunak warns
the John Calhoun statue being removed from Marion Sq, Charleston
Instagram post from Taylor Swift which reads, in all caps, I LOVE THE FALL
An anarchy 'A in a circle' symbol power washed into a filthy driveway
A tweet from Nazir Afzal: More than 100 passengers a year fly to Austria when they meant to fly to Australia So Salzburg Airport has a special counter for them Then a photo of the sign, which reads 'Sorry, this is Austria not Australia! Need help? Press the button '
Snowdrops Do you know what I was, how I lived? You know what despair is; then winter should have meaning for you. I did not expect to survive, earth suppressing me. I didn't expect to waken again, to feel in damp earth my body able to respond again, remembering after so long how to open again in the cold light of earliest spring-- afraid, yes, but among you again crying yes risk joy in the raw wind of the new world
She needs to be tried for treason and resulting consequences. This tyranny will not stand. Removal from office isn't enough.
Madison Cawthorn
a screenshot of my made-by-Spotify playlist called 'balearic post-disco monday morning'. Made because "you listened to /cosmic/ and /obscure/ on Monday mornings
b/w photo of DH Lawrence, with a shirt, jacket and tie
@GusTheFox: It's just one fucking thing after another for eels isn't it? Headline: Cocaine in the River Thames is 'another problem eels don't need', says expert
Ingredients bread baked beans butter Directions Grill the bread, either white or brown to the colour that you like. Whilst the toast is in the toaster put the beans in a saucepan preferably (or a microwave dish) and cook until hot. When the toast is done put loads of butter on -never marge- and put the beans on top. Add lots of black pepper and Daddies brown sauce on top of the dish and enjoy!
a panel of a comic strip, with a car driving in a circle. The driver is saying "I'll keep driving in a circle until we figure out a plan..."
A 2019 tweet from Obama, which reads "Next up are my favorite movies and TV shows of 2019. Of course, there’s also American Factory, a film from our own production company, Higher Ground, that was recently shortlisted for an Oscar. Here’s the full list: FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2019 American Factory Amazing Grace Apollo 11 The Last Black Man in San Francisco Little Women Marriage Story Ash Is Purest White Parasite Atlantics The Souvenir Birds of Passage Transit Booksmart Diane The Farewell Ford v Ferrari The Irishman Just Mercy AND A QUICK LIST OF TV SHOWS THAT I CONSIDERED AS POWERFUL AS MOVIES: Fleabag: Season 2 Unbelievable Watchmen"
"There isn't any symbolism [in The Old Man and the Sea]. The sea is the sea. The old man is an old man. The boy is a boy and the fish is a fish. The shark are all sharks no better and no worse. All the symbolism that people say is shit." Ernest Hemingway Letter to Bernard Berenson 13th September 1952
A box of grape flavoured 'hard happy dad' seltzers
A newspaper clipping: "We apologize for the Princess Diana page one headline 'Di goes sex mad' which is still on sale at some locations. It is currently being replaced with a special 72-page tribute issue: 'Farewell to the Princess we all loved. Diana - Her Final Hours.'"
A post from the London Evening Standard which reads "It’s particularly dispiriting to find that this virtue-signalling turned woke-bullying has captured TfL and therefore the entire Underground network, so proudly symbolic of this country’s resistance to totalitarianism during the war"
Still from a video of a fight on a dock. At the top, one guy is hitting another with a folded chair. Mid screen someone else is taking on the phone. And at the bottom a guy with glasses wearing a red top is casually leaning against a bar, smiling straight at the camera.
This article was amended on 24 July 2023. An earlier version said that the number of atoms in the sun was “around 1057”, rather than 1057.
a news story about Clarence Clemons which is headlined "Lady Gaga's saxophonist hospitalised"
Photo of the New Yorker being read outside
A post showing a picture by Mia Farrow's grandchild and a post immediately above it showing a very similar toned piece of medieval art
An anarchy symbol power washed into my filthy driveway
A screenshot showing zero search results on Blue Sky for 'Jackie Leven'
A headline in The Telegraph newspaper reading "We advertised for a nanny at £12 an hour – and got trolled for being slave drivers’ All William Cash wanted was help serving tea and ferrying his children to pony club. What he got was an army of online trolls"
An animated dog in the movie and my dog, seemingly looking at each other
A mailer, reading "Warning: The contents of this mailer include sexually graphic materials that Ron DeSantis removed from schools."