I'm a bit obsessed with Moshe Beregovski's collection of old
#Jewish
#folkmusic
(as edited by Mark Slobin) and I thought that over lockdown I might manage to make a really good study of it and record a few tunes. Well, other things took over....
Whether you agree with the protestors' demands or not, attacking unarmed kids (or anyone!) with water cannons is in no way acceptable. Frankly, it just reinforces the protesters' call for greater democracy and accountability.
"I want to say something about why I think
#democracy
matters. It may not be for the reasons you think." A letter from me to my Thai students...
#WhatsHappeningInThailand
LG was asking me how the BBC is funded. Everyone who watches TV in the UK has to pay a license fee. This provides most the BBC’s funding & means it can be our national broadcaster while retaining independence from political interference. It also means it doesn’t have any ads. 1/3
If my long-suffering neighbours had to put up with me learning this yesterday evening, you might as well put up with it too. The White Cockade.
#folkmusic
#fiddle
- but
#scottish
for a change!
I’m retweeting this from Prague where, as a Brit, I can *currently* work with no barriers. I’m part of the team representing the UK at the Prague Quadrennial and the toxicity of Brexit is palpable; it’s a stain on our reputation, and a mockery of our dedication and hard work.
Day Two... Absolutely huge thanks to everyone who came; I loved meeting you all! Sorry my handwriting is so terrible though. Oh and we had a very special surprise guest! Bangkok Book Expo is a wonderful thing.
Great piece from the Southeast Asia Globe on the state of English language
#education
in
#Thailand
, including some words of wisdom from
@LoukgolfLG
.
Here are just a few of the wonderful people I met today but I’d like to thank everyone who came: it was a joy to meet you all. Please let me know what you think of the book!
#DinandDan
(photos:
@BoB_By_BoB
)
And so the journey to the south begins...
A mere 16 hours on the sleeper train to Hat Yai instead of 1 hour 20 by plane. Our act of solidarity with tomorrow’s climate strike. Besides, it’s an adventure. (Hopefully not too much of an adventure!)
Straight woman
@HJoyceGender
, posing proudly with a mutilated progress pride flag, standing over the shreds of the racial, trans and intersex justice elements which have been cut out of it, at the Brighton Kellie Jay Keen event.
The pressure to wear new clothes all the time isn’t just devastating for the planet, it’s also yet another way social media causes feelings of stress and inadequacy. So
@LoukgolfLG
’s
#Wear
วนไป hashtag is good for both the
#EcologicalEmergency
and
#MentalHealth
!
Something I’m not yet used to is seeing books created by people I know (including myself) on the sideboard in my parents’ living room.
#monkeybusinessbypb
#DinandDan
The struggle for
#democracy
, which is also the struggle against unaccountable power, is never over. Thailand shows us how easily democracy can be taken away.
#Solidarity
with all those standing up for a more accountable and democratic world.
I'm rather excited about this, to say the least.
#DinandDan
, my short novel for Thai students learning
#English
, has arrived from the printers. Its educational purpose is to illustrate the correct usage of words they need to learn, although I also hope it'll be fun to read. 1/2
LG’s latest discussion is a fascinating and valuable window onto Thai politics. It’s rare for politicians to be given the space to be thoughtful and talk about big ideas. It’s rare too for them to be free from the combative oneupmanship normally expected of them. Have a watch!
This episode is not about whose English is better. If you are here to listen for mistakes, you might spot some. But if you are here for the content, you might learn something.
ดูจบร่วม #ถกถาม กันได้เต็มที่
👇
It was such a pleasure to work with you lovely people on the Workshop course! Please give me your feedback on
#DinandDan
and always feel free to ask me questions about anything to do with English!
Off to the Essex homeland! We’re only away till Wed but half of this luggage (not including the violin) is presents, or that’s what I’m telling myself...
As it’s Children’s Day in Thailand, here’s the time I was a model for a sculpture (artist: my mum) which can still be seen above the entrance to the former Bluecoat school in Ware.
#happychildrensday
@AngkrizAcademy
Transcript:
PB: Hello, hello, hello!
LG: What are you doing?
PB: Well, we’re gonna have avocados on toast for lunch, so I am mashing up the avocados with a bit of salt.
There’s something a bit absurd about birthdays really; even so, my ideal one probably doesn’t involve getting up before dawn, heading into Brighton for a tech week, then staying in a cheap hotel. On the other hand, I have tea and gorgeous sunrise.
‘Why is this so exhausting?’ asks
@LoukgolfLG
.
‘Well,’ I reply, ‘the trouble with being “woke” is that you can’t just go back to sleep.’
But it’s better to be exhausted trying to make things better than to sleepwalk into injustice. Right?
@AngkrizAcademy
Transcript:
LG: Hello.
PB: Hello.
LG: Is this our home?
PB: It’s not. We may make it look as though we live this way all the time, but I can assure you that we do not.
Wow. So many people have been kind enough to tweet about receiving the new edition of my book! Thank you. I hope you enjoy reading it; please tell me what you think!
#DinandDan
#PaulSaysThis
:
LG and I have started watching a new series called 1899. It’s multilingual and it’s full of unsolved mysteries and apparently impossible events.
I almost never watch
#bbcqt
because it's generally pretty annoying but I'm totally here for
@GreenRupertRead
, and he's as eloquent and alarmingly spot-on as ever about
#ClimateBreakdown
and
#ExtinctionRebellion
. Only civil disobedience brings the scale and pace of change we need.
@AngkrizAcademy
Here’s what I said:
‘This is stuffed courgette from my parents' garden, with beans from my parents' garden.’
Some people were pretty much spot on 🏅 but everyone did brilliantly. 😁🧑🍳👍
And the answer is… 🥁
“We found this cloak, or robe, or whatever it is – this article of clothing – in a wardrobe in my parents’ house. LG is surprised that it’s in such good condition.”
This
@CoopUK
member is one of them. The Co-op needs to do better than fund articles that so badly misrepresent the struggle against misogyny, and that effectively suggest women should be more docile.
LG and I have just arrived in one of my favourite cities, ready for this tomorrow. Come along if you’re at COP26, or catch the livestream on our Facebook page.
@AngkrizAcademy
🔻 LG and I have started watching a new series called 1899. It’s multilingual and it’s full of unsolved mysteries and apparently impossible events. 🔺
Bangkok Book Expo is absolutely packed, and there are so many young people here. It’s completely wonderful to see how alive the culture of books and reading is.
#books
#reading
#thailand
Panto!!!! I do love a panto and
@QueensTheatreH
did not disappoint. All the traditional ingredients served with a local and contemporary twist. Fabulous. All the kids, including the grownup ones like
@LoukgolfLG
and me, were having a whale of a time!
OK everyone. This is the truth about what LGBT kids are put through - are being put through right now, not least in that vile, parent-led hate campaign happening Birmingham and Manchester - and you really should read it.
So in Dorset a hundred years ago, and presumably in other places at other times, you could get a medal for good school attendance. My nan got one every year she was at school, by the look of things. Here are a few.
#familyhistory
I’ll be back at the Book Fair tomorrow, this time with
@LoukgolfLG
. Join us 12:30 in Boardroom 4 for a discussion on ‘making learning magical’. Then I’ll be back at stand W22, in case anyone else wants a book signed!
#DinandDan
We all make mistakes. Especially me when checking my own work! So, despite our amazing editor, the first 2 editions of
#DinandDan
have some typos. 😖 You can download a list of corrections here: Special thanks to the eagle-eyed readers who spotted them! 😍
I used to buy
@yeovalley
yogurt but this gives it a truly bad taste... And undermines their "wholesome" branding. I'll be giving this brand a miss now, unless they stop funding this appalling hatred.
#StopFundingHate
In a week when MPs have had death threats amid escalating vitriol & toxic rhetoric, this is what the Mail on Sunday put on their front page. If you're a
@YeoValley
customer, please urge them to
#StopFundingHate
And here's what I said:
OK, so we're here filming an episode of LG's new show, in which he gets taught how to cook by one of the most legendary chefs in London! The result is this spectacular dish, which is going to be my dinner.
#PaulSaysWhat
Well, a Leicester Square film premiere with Kanatip Soonthornrak, sitting a few metres from Kate Winslet getting emotional, isn’t something I was particularly expecting to happen. But here we are at
#Eating2Extinction
. 1/4
It’s definitely not appropriate… in fact it’s chilling and a bit fascistic.
As an LGBTQ+ person who supports trans rights (and Stonewall) am I also an unpleasant smell? Do I need cleansing too?
Boris Johnson has hopped from breaking international laws that protect peace, to breaking international laws that protect human rights.
Is it too dramatic for me to say: This time, it's personal?
#ECHR
@AngkrizAcademy
OK, I said:
‘My iPad stopped working and I took it somewhere to be repaired yesterday. And it turns out that it can’t be repaired. So today I have picked up a replacement.’
Well done everyone!
Language shapes how we see the world. You can look at the world’s complexity and diversity, and let your language evolve as you expand your horizons. Or you can be a bigot & use language to try and force an outdated or prejudiced worldview onto reality.
#angkriz
@AngkrizAcademy
Transcript:
LG: Oo, what did you cook for me today?
PB: Well, this is a dish with spinach and couscous, and crème fraîche, that I copied from a Turkish restaurant and adapted a bit. And this is like a vegan version, with vegan crème fraîche.
(PS, the original used sour cream.)
Yes, I was nerd enough to bring my copy of Henry IV Pt 1 with me to Shrewsbury so I could do Falstaff's 'honour' speech in situ, and no, I will not apologise.
Massive thanks to
@Ria__Patel
and
@LGBTIQAGreens
for a great inclusion training session with
@thgreenparty
yesterday. Very clear and wide-ranging, and also very welcoming and, yes, inclusive! I strongly recommend it to any local parties who haven’t done it yet.
🏳️🌈💚🏳️⚧️
OK, Team
#PaulSaysWhat
! Here you go:
📚 In my family, we’re all bibliophiles. I don't know how many bookcases there are in my parents’ house, but we have books that are elevating, entertaining, edifying and educational. 📖
What are you reading at the moment?
And it's official! I can stop being so mysterious about why so much of my studio time currently involves drawing bubbles, creating Isadora patches and waving my arms at motion sensors. Very, very excited about this.
📣 We're delighted to announce Carolyn Defrin and Paul Burgess have been chosen to develop a digital artwork for the Tessa Jowell Health Centre to be unveiled this spring.
'Bubble Dreams', an immersive artwork will invite visitors to interact with a digitally enhanced mural.
In exchange, the BBC has to provide impartial news, eduction etc, as outlined in its charter. More here: Personally, I think this is a brilliant model but it does have problems. Political interference is still possible & impartiality is never simple. 2/3
@AngkrizAcademy
And here’s what was said:
LG: What are we up to?
PB: Well, we were going for a walk, but LG was feeling a bit drained, so we are having a sit down… in a park.
Want to feel an amazing sense of achievement for relatively little work? And help future generations have a better quality of life? Plant trees! - with
@LoukgolfLG
💚🌳
The Atlas/Heritage bonfire is set - 'A six-day trip to the US by former Brexit secretary David Davis was partly funded by an American lobbying organisation that is alleged to favour weakening European Union regulations on environmental and food standards.'
@AngkrizAcademy
Here's what I said:
OK, we are walking home from a friend’s party because I fancied some fresh air and English weather. LG just has to suffer.