Scenes. || Scenes 2. (h/t, Darleen) || Quality time. (h/t, Damian) || The somewhat extended shipping forecast. || Their internet connection is faster than yours. || Cat distraction of note. || Birds on public transport, a thread. || Otters versus butterfly, a battle of wits. || When amphibians attack. || Dog balloons. (h/t, Samizdata) || She does this way better than you. || Neighbourly decisions. || There goes the neighbourhood. || Today’s word is glamorous. || Luxurious and inviting. (h/t, Dicentra) || This, on Renaissance fertility weasels, is one of these. (h/t, Things) || Long shot. || Chemistry. || Made of sand. || “Modern toilet restaurant.” || Four-dimensional toy box. || And finally, lunchtime interruptus.

An open thread, in which to share links and bicker.

I’ll set the ball rolling with some lunchtime blues and a memorable encounter.

Oh, and added via the comments, some weird scenes. 

And as some of you may be shopping from home a little more than usual, please bear in mind that any Amazon UK shopping done via this link or the search widget top right, or for Amazon US via this link, results in a small fee for your host at no extra cost to you.

It helps to keep this place here.

For those in need of further diversion, the Reheated series is there to be poked at. 

And so, Dr Louise Raw, a suitably woke BBC-employed writer and historian, denounces “virulent class prejudice” as a self-evidently bad thing, and then, in the very next tweet, is publicly amused by the thought of “rich, white, middle-aged men” being killed in disproportionate numbers, complete with smiley-winky face. 

And when other Twitter users point out this contradiction, with varying degrees of liveliness, our woke historian and BBC employee doubles down and dismisses those objecting, en masse, as “fascists,” “neo-Nazis” and “right-wing” crayon-eaters. Presumably on grounds that no-one else, none of her enlightened leftist peers, would register a contradiction. Or anything unsavoury. 

Update, via the comments: 

It’s worth taking a moment to ponder what it must be like to inhabit a milieu in which public expressions of racial disdain are not only aired with expectations of impunity, but also as a marker of status. A way of signalling one’s social credentials and general modishness. And being so accustomed to this environment, so steeped in its values, that, when challenged, the obvious response is to construe any demurral – all of it, wholesale – as the work of “neo-Nazis.”

It’s a complicated dance. Quite a contortion.

Via [+] in the comments.

Crank the volume for some inter-species punishment. || Today’s word is interloper. || Today’s other word is ambition. || His is better than yours. || Hey, DJ. || Pattern detected. || Apology of note. || Assorted Peel Sessions. || Concerned pet. (h/t, Damian) || Angela Lansbury paired with teapots. || Unexpected nesting. (h/t, Julia) || Headline of note. || Star Wars, “The original radio drama,” 1981. || Do bear this in mind. (h/t, Dicentra) || You have mail. || Farmland. || From Everest. || Scenes. || Got length. || At last, iridescent chocolate. || Assorted string quintets. || Contrasting attitudes. || Hours of fun for lockdown evenings. || And finally, a quiz for all the family: Antidepressant or Tolkien Character?

Wisdom of the woke:

So, to recap. You should, like, totally get Big Sexy with whomever – even people you aren’t attracted to, apparently – but if your sexual and romantic appetites are insufficiently niche and radical, and more or less in line with mainstream leanings, then you should probably assume that there’s something wrong with you. Please update your files and lifestyles accordingly.

Ms Fabello and her throbbing feminist brain have been noted here before.