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Ian Whitney

@iancwhitney.bsky.social

280 followers 120 following 3.2K posts

I do one thing very well and therefore assume all of my opinions are impeccable, no matter the subject.

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Pinned

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · May 16

Pinning this mainly to remind myself:

Hmm that looks like an American Problem. Sucks to be them, I guess. Hope they sort that out but not my rodeo.

Reposted by Ian Whitney

Patriciajaydee @patriciajaydee.bsky.social · 10h

The rikishi are taking-in the town and doing what we all do when in London.
Seeing the sights, admiring the parks, shopping on High Street, taking tea at Fortnum's, using the olde phonebox, eating Chinese, and having a terrific time.

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Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 7h

(the training, by the way, was very good and very interesting)

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 7h

I've been doing dementia training today and I don't want to be contrarian about this but dementia? Not a fan!

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Reposted by Ian Whitney

Tom Studans @maximumwelfare.bsky.social · 12h

SXSW Sydney

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Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 14h

New e-training horror show: automated narration with computer voices. THAT often leaves weird gaps or STRANGE emphasis.

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 1d

An Order of Australia for any training course which provides transcripts instead of mandatory videos. I can read and learn so much faster than a slow paced video!

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Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 14h

'highbrow' (for lack of better word) comedy is basically dead across multiple genres- literary fiction, theatre, opera, music. It lingers on- somewhat- in prestige TV. I have no idea why.

Occasionally I try some of the Wodehouse Prize finalists and they're rarely genuinely, laugh funny.

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 16h

Every time I now see a cosy crime cover I muffle a scream. They even all have the same jacket design now. And may I introduce you to this latest horror. www.harpercollins.com.au/978146071910...

Murder at the Castle

Miss Merkel is on the case!The #1 Germany cosy crime bestseller which features the crime-busting retirement adventures of the former German Chancellor, Angel...

www.harpercollins.com.au

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 16h

Yes but also rip your mentions

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Reposted by Ian Whitney

Lilly Dancyger @lillydancyger.bsky.social · 16h

YA shouldn’t exist as a separate category—it infantilizes teenagers who can/should just read regular books for adults. And don’t get me started on adults reading YA…

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 1d

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

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Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 1d

A foundational text

Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 1d

Gonna start a thread of articles I re-read every time I have an excuse, because after this thread I am thinking a lot about @cormacmccafe.bsky.social‬'s "No Yanks on the Thread" piece.

Feel free to add your own.

I Should Be Able to Mute America

The rest of the world should not have to know the name Bari Weiss

www.gawkerarchives.com

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 1d

That is one of my foundational online texts, along with this one.

theoutline.com/post/7295/bu...

Listen up bitches, it’s time to learn incorrect things about someone you’ve never heard of

Why do people love yelling about random historical figures online and how do we stop it?

theoutline.com

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Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 1d

I am going to make an exception for the performers in the NDIS Code of Conduct video who are genuinely entertaining BUT NOT the filmed segments that follow each of their skits.

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 1d

An Order of Australia for any training course which provides transcripts instead of mandatory videos. I can read and learn so much faster than a slow paced video!

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 1d

I do not need long lingering landscape shots of the Australian landscape! Save me some time!

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 1d

An Order of Australia for any training course which provides transcripts instead of mandatory videos. I can read and learn so much faster than a slow paced video!

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Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 1d

This remains one of the greatest examples of French contemporary culture.

the babahuck @tylerhuckabee.bsky.social · 2d

In 2004, Parisian police were conducting a training exercise in the french catacombs and found, after moving past a desk and a tape playing audio of snarling dogs, a fully functional movie theater and bar. When they returned 3 days later, the equipment was gone, with a note: “Do not try to find us.”

Members of the force's sports squad, responsible
- among other tasks - for policing the 170 miles of tunnels, caves, galleries and catacombs that underlie large parts of Paris, stumbled on the complex while on a training exercise beneath the Palais de Chaillot, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower.
After entering the network through a drain next to the Trocadero, the officers came across a tarpaulin marked: Building site, No access.
Behind that, a tunnel held a desk and a closed-circuit TV camera set to automatically record images of anyone passing. The mechanism also triggered a tape of dogs barking, "clearly designed to frighten people off," the spokesman said.
Further along, the tunnel opened into a vast 400 sq metre cave some 18m underground, "like an underground amphitheatre, with terraces cut into the rock and chairs".

There the police found a full-sized cinema screen, projection equipment, and tapes of a wide variety of films, including 1950s film noir classics and more recent thrillers. None of the films were banned or even offensive, the spokesman said.
A smaller cave next door had been turned into an informal restaurant and bar. "There were bottles of whisky and other spirits behind a bar, tables and chairs, a pressure-cooker for making couscous," the spokesman said.
"The whole thing ran off a professionally installed electricity system and there were at least three phone lines down there."
Three days later, when the police returned accompanied by experts from the French electricity board to see where the power was coming from, the phone and electricity lines had been cut and a note was lying in the middle of the floor: "Do not," it said, "try to find us."

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Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 1d

Bluesky is also still years behind where Twitter was during that period. Australian content here is still minuscule- it is really noticeable, for example, around elections. As bad as 💧auspol could get at the old place, it did fuel a larger system (if only via dunking!!).

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Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 1d

Huh! www.azcentral.com/staff/936112...

Lane Sainty

Lane Sainty is the Storytelling Moments Reporter at The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. She writes about interesting people, places and events across the 48th state. Her stories often capture the ...

www.azcentral.com

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 1d

I love this kind of stuff. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S5V...

How a real pool appears live on stage during The Lady From The Sea at the Bridge Theatre

YouTube video by OfficialLondonTheatre

www.youtube.com

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 1d

I deleted the original because it was escaping containment but on this one we are going to have to disagree.

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 1d

My first response was "huh?" but once it's explained... yikes. Plus, as below, it also includes my pet hate of Online American Food Gatekeeping Discourse.

bsky.app/profile/nute...

Nute @nutedawn.bsky.social · 1d

Not the main point here, which is as Revan says just gutter anti-Semitism, but it does make me genuinely aggravated how utterly ignorant and uncurious these people are about very basic concepts of how cuisine travels and how food history works, which are really interesting topics!

Doc Revan @docrevan.bsky.social · 1d

Okay I guess people are fine with being antisemitic on main

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Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 1d

yeah, it's sub optimal. I didn't get the reference when I first saw it but then enough people have gone... uh, maybe rethink this one... and it's still up. So best case, weird joke gone astray. It is, of all things, to do with gumbo.

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Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 2d

Australia really is the last port of call for any failed wash-up from the US who was within breathing distance of the White House.

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 2d

That's the Australian Way!

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Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 2d

I think Parnell's sole purpose is the House Liberal. Hewson is the same for Schwartz Group, but at least Hewson has some actual achievements to his name.

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Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 2d

I would love to see their subscriber postcode data.

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