Patrick Hadfield

Photography, jazz, art, politics, whisky, wine and more.

Edinburgh, Scotland.

Patrick Hadfield (npub1y83…ehwl)">https://justmytoots.com/Patrick Hadfield (npub1y83…ehwl)

Jazz and Culture: https://patrickhadfieldonthebeat.wordpress.com/
Photography: https://patrickhadfieldphotography.wordpress.com/about-2/
My Reviews on LondonJazzNews: https://londonjazznews.com/?s=Patrick+Hadfield
Pronouns: He/Him

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patrickhadfield_at_mastodon.scot@momostr.pink

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Last Notes

2024-10-10 21:51:53

Another batch of photos of tomight's aurora. Pictures taken from central Edinburgh, c10.30pm.
#Edinburgh #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/285/323/828/458/919/original/bb663f9b4f77bebe.jpg
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/285/323/849/894/911/original/ffe56795d4351cf5.jpg
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/285/323/881/530/756/original/c1e5049f734a44c9.jpg
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/285/323/905/141/150/original/d9ea79d4976b8ae3.jpg

2024-10-10 19:35:59

There's a powerful aurora going on just now. These were taken about 8.10pm.
#Edinburgh #aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/284/788/041/322/161/original/01cc373a9a139bf2.jpg
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/284/788/062/625/580/original/ede0ea854014baec.jpg

2024-10-09 14:50:49

Proof that you should never trust my political judgement!
I couldn't have been more wrong.
"Cleverly knocked out of Tory leadership race as Jenrick and Badenoch reach final stage."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cp8l58gp421t

2024-10-06 06:26:02

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personally, I think a better idea is to raise duty rather than minimum pricing.
I believe Scotland used minimum pricing because duty and tax is reserved to Westminster. They had no alternative powers.
With minimum pricing, the additional profits go to the retailer (and perhaps the producer?) rather than being available to spend, say, on addiction treatments.
England wouldn't have this problem, since Westminster could change duty (and, necessarily, the way it works).

2024-09-23 08:18:37

"On encountering the enormous beast a sort of myopia descends on the viewer and you stop seeing the three performers it takes to operate the puppet. All you see is Joey."
Actually, when I saw it several years ago, all it took was a puppet-bird on a stick right at the start of the play. I could see the stick; I could see the man holding it. But it was a bird flying over the stage! Brilliant.
"War Horse – still one of British theatre’s most phenomenal creations"
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/sep/22/war-horse-review-the-lowry-salford?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

2024-09-23 08:12:17

That's Labour's £20bn "black hole" right there. Someone tell Rachel!
"Corporate UK tax breaks to cost £20bn more than they generate, study finds"
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/sep/22/corporate-uk-tax-breaks-to-cost-20bn-more-than-they-generate-study-finds?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

2024-09-20 09:31:58

Ian Dunt on the ridiculousness of Reform UK.
"Reform are freaks. They're not some mystical representation of the authentic national personality. They're twat outliers in an otherwise relatively benign public landscape...
Populists always claim to have this magical link with the true national spirit, with the deep convictions of their fellow countrymen that only they can summon or understand. It's always nonsense, but rarely has it been quite as nonsensical as this."
https://iandunt.substack.com/p/farage-and-his-mortifying-dimwit

2024-09-20 05:21:02

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there was a classic take down of Farage by James O'Brien yesterday. Brutal but all true. (Sorry for FB link, I can't find the clip elsewhere!)
https://fb.watch/uILRA9nqOx/

2024-09-19 18:29:20

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have none of these idiots ever seen a sci-fi film? We know how this ends!!!

2024-09-19 09:15:56

This is a good story.
"Cat that comforts trafficked women in London safe house is feline of the year"
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/sep/18/cat-of-the-year-marley-london-safe-house-trafficked-women?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

2024-09-19 09:05:20

The Guardian view on Israel’s booby-trap war: illegal and unacceptable
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/18/the-guardian-view-on-israels-booby-trap-war-and-unacceptable?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

2024-09-17 17:28:19

The RSNO concert I enjoyed so much in the Festival was broadcast last night - I was out and didn't realise!
Wynton Marsalis's trumpet concerto and Lutosławski's concerto for orchestra were excellent. I thought the conductor, Elim Chan, was superb. And the RSNO showed they can swing, too!
I'll be sure to listen again - I might even give the Schoenberg in the middle another go...!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0022sj6

2024-09-17 15:30:39

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This guide to bird recognition is more my level.
#birds #birbs
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/113/153/596/446/098/768/original/4872c2fda4e2f9af.jpg

2024-09-17 15:26:24

This was shared on a local bird watching group I'm a member of. No, really.
Look Around You - Birds of Britain.
#birds #birbs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnrsxZQc4fM

2024-09-16 08:15:00

AI could be killing the us, not because it's out to get us but because it is environmentally catastrophic. Oh, and the same goes for cryptocurrency!
"from 2020 to 2022 the real emissions from the “in-house” or company-owned data centers of Google, Microsoft, Meta and Apple are likely about 662% – or 7.62 times – higher than officially reported."
"Data center emissions probably 662% higher than big tech claims. Can it keep up the ruse?"
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/sep/15/data-center-gas-emissions-tech?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

2024-09-16 08:07:42

I normally dislike drone photographs - they seem almost too easy. But they're are some truly creative, beautiful images in this collection. I mean they won, did they should be the best!
"Drone Awards 2024"
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2024/sep/16/drone-awards-2024-in-pictures?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

2024-09-16 07:45:32

These guys are absolute heros.
"‘I’ve never been so driven’: Led By Donkeys on mocking Liz Truss, duping Matt Hancock and renaming Michelle Mone’s yacht"
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/sep/16/ive-never-been-so-driven-led-by-donkeys-on-mocking-liz-truss-duping-matt-hancock-and-renaming-michelle-mones-yacht?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

2024-09-15 09:40:24

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Chris Morris and Steve Coogan on the policy to have Sinn Fein's politicians' words bounced by actors...
https://youtu.be/w6UhXivPyw4?feature=shared

2024-09-15 09:38:58

"That Chris Morris sketch", in which The Day Today skewered the policy of denying Sinn Fein's voice, will follow in the reply ...
"‘Counterproductive and silly’: 30 years since the end of the bizarre Irish political voice ban"
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/sep/15/counterproductive-and-silly-30-years-since-the-end-of-the-bizarre-irish-political-voice-ban?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

2024-09-15 08:47:52

Ten years on and I'm still suffering winner's remorse! :(
I'd vote yes now, for many different reasons.
"Ten years after the no vote, can Scotland engineer a case for independence?"
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/sep/15/ten-years-after-the-no-vote-can-scotland-engineer-a-case-for-independence?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

2024-09-13 10:01:18

Astronomy photographer of the year 2024 – winners and finalists
https://www.theguardian.com/science/gallery/2024/sep/13/astronomy-photographer-of-the-year-2024-winners-finalists?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

2024-09-10 08:57:00

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not at all. They fucked it up big time. But Starmer is choosing specific, short term actions and as a result of punching down on some of the weakest in society.

2024-09-10 08:55:26

Lol.
"The report was ordered by Braverman when home secretary, at a time when the Conservative government was accusing police of being biased against the right and too soft on those supporting leftwing causes.
The ploy backfired and the report from the policing inspectorate ends up criticising the former home secretary."
"Sunak and Braverman wrong to lambast Met over Palestine demos, report says"
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/sep/10/sunak-braverman-metropolitan-police-palestine-demos-report?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

2024-09-10 08:46:35

The government's policies on overcrowded prisons and winter fuel payments for pensioners are hurried, simple solutions to complex problems: short term answers to long term questions.
Will they have the guts to come up with long term solutions, requiring reforming public services (and I do *not* mean privatisation!), too?
"The early release of around 1,750 offenders has started despite warnings it is "risky" and could create "more mayhem in communities"."
https://news.sky.com/story/chief-prisons-inspector-warns-of-revolving-door-as-around-1-750-inmates-are-set-for-early-release-13212129

2024-09-10 08:36:52

"Keir Starmer’s apparently off-the-cuff decisions appear to have two aims. One is to show what a tough guy he is. The other is to blame the Tories for his having to be tough."
I reckon this is a big unforced error, which could easily have been avoided. The government is punching down, organising the poorest.
"This winter fuel fiasco will save Labour £1.3bn this year. But it will cost Starmer more"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/09/pointless-winter-fuel-fiasco-keir-starmer?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

2024-09-09 11:16:27

Scary.
"The jet stream may be starting to shift in response to climate change"
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2446877-the-jet-stream-may-be-starting-to-shift-in-response-to-climate-change

2024-09-09 07:52:16

A great picture essay!
"Sights of London’s bus route 66"
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2024/sep/09/sights-of-londons-bus-route-66-in-pictures?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

2024-09-09 07:48:36

I love these stairs, though several look like they'd be deadly to actually use!
"Stairways to modernist heaven"
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2024/sep/09/stairways-to-modernist-heaven-in-pictures?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

2024-09-08 10:06:18

"Anti-racist demonstrators mocked the anti-immigration rally, chanting “there are many many more of us than you”, “where’s Tommy?” and “we are many, we are Glasgow”."
Thousands of protesters turn out for anti-racism rally in Glasgow
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/sep/07/thousands-protesters-anti-racism-rally-glasgow-scotland?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

2024-09-07 15:17:23

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... And I hope there were lots of chants of "there many many more of us than you!" Many favourite demo chant.
#Glasgow #AntiRacist #FuckTheFash

2024-09-07 14:58:58

I had thought about going through to Glasgow for the anti racist demo but I was feeling a bit rough so I didn't.
TBH I'd have expect more - but at least they outnumbered the fascists 10:1!
(Too many leaving it to others, as I did, I guess!)
"two to three thousand people joined the anti-racism rally in George Square, about 10 times the number of people at the rival demonstration."
#StopTheFash #Glasgow #Refuweegees
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20r7wzke97o

2024-09-04 11:01:43

"The cladding was made of highly flammable polyethylene which was added to the sides of Grenfell Tower in a disastrous refurbishment in 2016.
The inquiry found fault and incompetence among almost every company involved in the refurbishment."
#Grenfell #Inquiry
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgedv58e7ygo

2024-09-02 14:25:09

Kemi Badenoch restarts row with David Tennant. Which she's already lost.
My money's on Tennant *every time*.
https://www.thenational.scot/news/24556367.kemi-badenoch-reignites-doctor-who-row-shut-up-swipe/

2024-09-02 08:21:44

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that's a rhetorical question, right?!

2024-08-30 21:24:20

The Lake District. It's a bit shit. (Wholly down to United Utilities and the woeful lack of regulators' bite.)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2kj947gw2wo

2024-08-27 09:48:50

Oasis to play Murrayfield two nights next August. During the Festival. Not the best timing, I'd say...
(I won't be going.)
https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/aug/27/oasis-reunion-confirmed-for-uk-and-ireland-tour-in-2025-liam-noel-gallagher?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

2024-08-27 06:07:51

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we mustn't ignore climate change and our inability to act on it. If I were a young person and I looked at the future I were to inherit, I'd be pretty anxious too!

2024-08-24 11:23:52

"Trump, to no one’s surprise, has ploughed on regardless. He told reporters that he was “very angry” at Harris for calling him weird and was “entitled to personal attacks”.
Harris also appears to have hit a nerve with Trump by comparing her history as a prosecutor with his recent status as a convicted criminal. “Some people say, ‘Oh, why don’t you be nice?’ But they’re not nice to me – they want me to be in prison,” Trump told reporters."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/24/donald-trump-mental-fitness-campaign?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

2024-08-12 06:39:16

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though we don't need to send them abroad. They could be sentenced to community service in the UK. With planning it would be a considerable resource - especially if they were to work in some of the most needy communities.

2024-08-09 20:08:13

Whilst washing my hands in the public loos at Glasgow Central station this morning, a guy staggered in to use the sink next to me. He looked much the worse for wear.
And he started to talk to me. In pure Weegie. I had absolutely no idea what he was saying. I smiled, nodded, dried my hands and left as quickly as possible.
#Glasgow #glasga

2024-08-07 21:06:45

BBC News at 10 leads with tens of thousands anti racist demonstrators taking to the streets throughout England.
It's really heartening.
#NoPasaran! #FuckTheFash
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cy8497l7dx8t

2024-08-07 07:40:01

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to me, they seem like middle aged football hooligans no longer welcome at football matches! I wonder whether the gentrification of the Premier League over the last thirty years has played a role?

2024-08-06 18:28:57

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as someone who grew up in the 60s and 70s, and marched against the NF and for Rock Against Racism in the 70s and 80s, all the flags surrounding the UK prime minister are fucking freaking me out!

2024-08-06 09:37:55

Goodbye to Russia by Sarah Rainsford review – falling foul of Putin
https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/aug/06/goodbye-to-russia-by-sarah-rainsford-review-a-personal-reckoning-from-ruins-of-war-russias-dysfunctional-slide-into-dictatorship?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

2024-08-05 06:32:16

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I'm not sure "tilted" is right - Tory policies favoured the old to a huge extent, so adjustment is necessary!
I reckon there'll be something on pension tax relief, especially at the top end. I can't remember what the Labour manifesto said about the pension triple lock, but that seems expensive. And CGT increases would affect those with gains - mostly the old!

2024-08-04 14:30:03

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not *just* England, then. But why Belfast? I can't help wondering whether simmering sectarian problems were overtaken by racist opportunists.
And of course Scotland also had its own right wing idiots, such as those Rangers fans using Nazi symbols on flags at Tynecastle. :(
https://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/24495820.rangers-flag-nazi-ss-symbol-displayed-tynecastle/

2024-08-02 21:49:23

I heard about medals in the trampoline in the Olympics on the radio news today and I thought "trampoline? That's not a sport!"
I'm now watching the Olympic trampolinists and I'm thinking "OMFG! They are so high! They're *flying*!" Just amazing!
(This is part of an ongoing series of posts in which I express in response to many different disciplines "how do they even do that?!!")

2024-08-01 09:27:40

"With a smirk that does more work than all of Clinton or Warren’s earnest attempts to debate him, Harris meets Trump at the demotic level and states the bleeding obvious: “These guys are weird.” It works because it’s true, but also because she’s doing the thing Trump hates above all other things: she’s laughing at him."
Trump’s usual sexist sneers don’t work against Harris – and to top it off, she’s laughing at him
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/01/kamala-harris-donald-trump-democrat-candidate?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

2024-07-26 21:03:22

They're taking the flame back down the river.
They're going to turn Notre Dame into the flame!

2024-06-18 09:24:45

"Everyone worked out Farage long ago. They know he’s a posh boy playing at being a bit of political rough. That he’s a fraud through and through. A member of the establishment who uses that protection to kick against it. But ... his supporters don’t care. It’s enough for them that the main parties have fucked things up and they want to give them a kicking. Nige likes to claim he’s not a protest vote. But if not that, what is he? He’s just a conduit for people’s rage."
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jun/17/nigel-farages-reform-uk-contract-isnt-worth-the-paper-its-written-on-but-who-cares?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

2024-06-18 07:37:19

You have until 11.59pm tonight to register to vote.
Apparently a third of those entitled to vote for the first time on July 4 have not registered. If you're one of them - or know one of them - please register.
Successive governments have shafted young people. Make sure you have your say!
https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
?

2024-06-16 09:35:28

How to reverse austerity? Scrap some of the tax-relief schemes worth £204bn
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jun/16/reverse-austerity-scrap-tax-relief-schemes-hmrc-economic-growth-super-rich?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

2024-06-07 13:38:57

Garage is in the BBC debate tonight, arranged before he appointed himself supreme leader of Reform earlier this week.
He's up against Penny Mordaunt, Angela Rayner and Daisy Cooper - three women who won't take any of his shit. Plus Carla Denyer who I presume will be equally resilient. (I have to admit to not knowing who she is before!)
I can't imagine he'll like defending himself and his toxic views against four women!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c877v0e86vko

2024-05-22 08:41:36

Oh joy.
"The seemingly “never-ending” rain last autumn and winter in the UK and Ireland was made 10 times more likely and 20% wetter by human-caused global heating, a study has found."
‘Never-ending’ UK rain made 10 times more likely by climate crisis, study says
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/22/never-ending-uk-rain-10-times-more-likely-climate-crisis-study?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

2024-05-04 20:20:01

Saturday night Talisker.
#Caturday #cat #CatsOfMastodon
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/112/384/663/767/840/057/original/1be310c91db3759d.jpg