Gareth Potter
@garethpotter.com
I mostly write code. Occasional photographer.
![booze | bu:z | informal
noun [mass noun]
alcoholic drink: I wonder where he's hidden his booze.
verb [no object]
drink alcohol, especially in large quantities: I expect he's boozing | (boozing as noun) : Michael is trying to quit boozing.
ORIGIN
Middle English bouse, from Middle Dutch büsen
'drink to excess'. The spelling booze dates from the 18th century.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:oeeauy2zhiqpq43mm32yg3ox/bafkreih5cgnysmmrpyw4mbqalsl3sltdl3bg4chgpma5rtpevcghtee4dm)
Sometimes even spelling is a struggle.
September 9, 2026 at 12:06 PM
Sometimes even spelling is a struggle.
It continues to amuse me that English translation always seems to be given to someone new, with the consequence that every translation - even of the same thing - is novel. A particular highlight is to be found in many men’s loos, an obvious nod to Neil Armstrong but the English never quite makes it.
September 9, 2026 at 12:02 PM
It continues to amuse me that English translation always seems to be given to someone new, with the consequence that every translation - even of the same thing - is novel. A particular highlight is to be found in many men’s loos, an obvious nod to Neil Armstrong but the English never quite makes it.
“Legions in the roots”, eh. I appreciate words are hard, but I do expect better from the BBC.
September 8, 2026 at 6:50 AM
“Legions in the roots”, eh. I appreciate words are hard, but I do expect better from the BBC.
I am yet to do Suzhou. Will get there eventually. Just did a rather epic three week tour in June: started in Chengdu, went up through Gansu to Dunhuang (to see the caves we, er, robbed) then drove round a decent part of Qinghai. Chinese motorways are deserted because the tolls are so expensive.
September 4, 2026 at 10:02 PM
I am yet to do Suzhou. Will get there eventually. Just did a rather epic three week tour in June: started in Chengdu, went up through Gansu to Dunhuang (to see the caves we, er, robbed) then drove round a decent part of Qinghai. Chinese motorways are deserted because the tolls are so expensive.
Frankly shocking what British Rail did to it. I remember going in the restaurant, where they had butchered the beautiful original ceiling to suspend a false ceiling beneath. Can’t see that I have any photos of that, but, well, at least one here of some scraped-away paint.
September 3, 2026 at 8:05 PM
Frankly shocking what British Rail did to it. I remember going in the restaurant, where they had butchered the beautiful original ceiling to suspend a false ceiling beneath. Can’t see that I have any photos of that, but, well, at least one here of some scraped-away paint.
It took them a lot longer to actually start doing it up! I went on a tour of it (shortly before the renovations did begin) in 2005.
September 3, 2026 at 7:36 PM
It took them a lot longer to actually start doing it up! I went on a tour of it (shortly before the renovations did begin) in 2005.
(from “St Pancras” by Kenneth Powell, the coffee table book of the restored building)
September 3, 2026 at 6:56 PM
(from “St Pancras” by Kenneth Powell, the coffee table book of the restored building)
The article sympathetically quotes a whinger from the hamlet of Horton, where it is planned to build 1,250 houses. Nowhere is it mentioned that Horton is a stone’s throw from Cheddington station on the WCML. This is exactly where we should be building new homes! Indeed, why only 1,250? 2/2
August 15, 2026 at 7:26 AM
The article sympathetically quotes a whinger from the hamlet of Horton, where it is planned to build 1,250 houses. Nowhere is it mentioned that Horton is a stone’s throw from Cheddington station on the WCML. This is exactly where we should be building new homes! Indeed, why only 1,250? 2/2
So weird. And, yes, wonderful.
August 8, 2026 at 8:15 PM
So weird. And, yes, wonderful.
“What are you looking at?” 26 July 2026. #photography #wildlife #safari #africa #tanzania #internationalcatday
August 8, 2026 at 4:14 PM
“What are you looking at?” 26 July 2026. #photography #wildlife #safari #africa #tanzania #internationalcatday
It’s very sad but I was so pleased when I saw my first Tibetan one I took a photo.
December 3, 2025 at 7:58 AM
It’s very sad but I was so pleased when I saw my first Tibetan one I took a photo.
It is at once familiar and yet very foreign. I first visited in 2009 and found the British relics fascinating. There were still coins with the Queen’s head on circulating. But the scaffolding is all made of bamboo and you turn a corner and find a beautiful Chinese temple next to a skyscraper.
November 22, 2025 at 10:20 AM
It is at once familiar and yet very foreign. I first visited in 2009 and found the British relics fascinating. There were still coins with the Queen’s head on circulating. But the scaffolding is all made of bamboo and you turn a corner and find a beautiful Chinese temple next to a skyscraper.
Was with it up until this point. This seems…optimistic.
November 13, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Was with it up until this point. This seems…optimistic.
You can see the shadow of the camera unit mounted on top of the car at various points. But the council clearly have added a new “Unsuitable for motor vehicles” sign *and* post at some point after 2011 at the Wendover end.
November 3, 2025 at 8:05 AM
You can see the shadow of the camera unit mounted on top of the car at various points. But the council clearly have added a new “Unsuitable for motor vehicles” sign *and* post at some point after 2011 at the Wendover end.
Presumably they were trying to drive down this.
October 29, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Presumably they were trying to drive down this.
As an alternative to American negging, may I suggest Chinese social media posts glorying in our fine food. “M&S Rice Pudding: overseas students must try this masterful product.”
October 19, 2025 at 8:10 AM
As an alternative to American negging, may I suggest Chinese social media posts glorying in our fine food. “M&S Rice Pudding: overseas students must try this masterful product.”
It’s very smart, isn’t it. I went on the day it opened; I assume the area around the eastern exit has changed quite a bit now.
October 18, 2025 at 4:11 PM
It’s very smart, isn’t it. I went on the day it opened; I assume the area around the eastern exit has changed quite a bit now.
Was wondering what the fuck was wrong with Nottingham for a moment.
October 6, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Was wondering what the fuck was wrong with Nottingham for a moment.
Social media is ruining tourism for the rest of us, part 94.
China now takes this to another level: in Yunnan, you can’t move for the number of people in costume posing for semi-pro photographers.
China now takes this to another level: in Yunnan, you can’t move for the number of people in costume posing for semi-pro photographers.
September 28, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Social media is ruining tourism for the rest of us, part 94.
China now takes this to another level: in Yunnan, you can’t move for the number of people in costume posing for semi-pro photographers.
China now takes this to another level: in Yunnan, you can’t move for the number of people in costume posing for semi-pro photographers.
A gem for you, @mrtrellis.bsky.social. Inevitable, apparently.
September 23, 2025 at 11:01 PM
A gem for you, @mrtrellis.bsky.social. Inevitable, apparently.
People even seem to go up it when there can’t be much to see at the top. I’m also wondering how they take photos. If I were to go up - which I wouldn’t - I would not be letting go to take a photo.
September 23, 2025 at 12:16 PM
People even seem to go up it when there can’t be much to see at the top. I’m also wondering how they take photos. If I were to go up - which I wouldn’t - I would not be letting go to take a photo.