Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
@diffractiongrating.bsky.social
I am Iridescent on Twitter but some random took that here.
François Mitterrand retire bitch.
Paper straw enthusiast. (they/them) 🏳️🌈
François Mitterrand retire bitch.
Paper straw enthusiast. (they/them) 🏳️🌈
Pinned
Another day volunteering at the UCL museum. Everyone keeps asking me if they can fuck Jeremy Bentham's corpse. Buddy, they won't even let me fuck it.
I haven't seen the new Wuthering Heights (or read the book) but I like the Charli XCX soundtrack album.
February 15, 2026 at 12:30 PM
I haven't seen the new Wuthering Heights (or read the book) but I like the Charli XCX soundtrack album.
Reposted by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
He was so real for this
February 13, 2026 at 10:52 PM
He was so real for this
At this point I think the next non Republican president actually needs to put every single Trump official in a Nuremberg trial that ends with John C Woods so what Obama is saying he wouldn't do is them getting off lightly. He's too civil.
@barackobama.bsky.social: "When I was POTUS, I suppose I could have simply unilaterally ordered the military to go into some red state and harass and intimidate a governor or cut off funding for states that didn't vote for me... but that is contrary to how I think our democracy is supposed to work."
February 15, 2026 at 6:34 AM
At this point I think the next non Republican president actually needs to put every single Trump official in a Nuremberg trial that ends with John C Woods so what Obama is saying he wouldn't do is them getting off lightly. He's too civil.
I am extremely glad of this.
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...
Premier announces extra public holiday for NSW residents
New South Wales has the fewest public holidays in Australia, observing only 11.
www.abc.net.au
February 15, 2026 at 3:34 AM
I am extremely glad of this.
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...
Reposted by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
I see Adrian Chiles is visiting
February 14, 2026 at 7:12 AM
I see Adrian Chiles is visiting
I've seen excerpts of this before but not sat down and watched the whole thing. It's beautiful to watch cinema be invented in an hour.
February 14, 2026 at 7:40 AM
I've seen excerpts of this before but not sat down and watched the whole thing. It's beautiful to watch cinema be invented in an hour.
Trip #2 to the Antenna Documentary Film Festival. I never knew Patti Smith played the clarinet. Some of the performances were amazing, some were insufferable. It was well put together as a film.
February 14, 2026 at 7:37 AM
Trip #2 to the Antenna Documentary Film Festival. I never knew Patti Smith played the clarinet. Some of the performances were amazing, some were insufferable. It was well put together as a film.
This isn't cute! Regime opponents only do this when they're very distressed!
INBOX: Rep. Thomas Massie, who has enraged Trump for his insistence on blocking tariffs and releasing the Epstein files according to the law, just issued what is widely known among Chinese dissidents as "a declaration of no suicidal intent" (不自殺聲明), a sign of extreme distress.
February 14, 2026 at 7:32 AM
This isn't cute! Regime opponents only do this when they're very distressed!
Something which in hindsight is very obvious but I didn't think about at the time: reading is a skill that needs practice like any other. The reason I can read a 350 page book (no footnotes) in one evening is not sheer willpower it's that I've got into a regular routine of reading.
February 13, 2026 at 3:29 AM
Something which in hindsight is very obvious but I didn't think about at the time: reading is a skill that needs practice like any other. The reason I can read a 350 page book (no footnotes) in one evening is not sheer willpower it's that I've got into a regular routine of reading.
Minns and Lanyon should resign in disgrace.
February 13, 2026 at 12:30 AM
Minns and Lanyon should resign in disgrace.
The guy behind me on the train has keypad sounds turned on. Why does this fucking feature exist.
February 12, 2026 at 6:52 AM
The guy behind me on the train has keypad sounds turned on. Why does this fucking feature exist.
The vast majority of people I email have the international dialling code in their phone numbers in their email signatures. Except Americans.
February 11, 2026 at 10:48 PM
The vast majority of people I email have the international dialling code in their phone numbers in their email signatures. Except Americans.
I know the UK treasury sucks but the idea of replacing Treasury with Birmingham is something that would get you yelled at for suggesting it on The Thick of It.
🚨BREAKING: Lib Dems announce plan to replace Treasury with new Department for Growth based in Birmingham.
It's time to get Britain growing again.
It's time to get Britain growing again.
February 11, 2026 at 10:50 AM
I know the UK treasury sucks but the idea of replacing Treasury with Birmingham is something that would get you yelled at for suggesting it on The Thick of It.
Reposted by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
I wrote about the Olympics
defector.com/which-other-...
defector.com/which-other-...
Which Other Olympic Mascots Could Italian Stoats Tina And Milo Slaughter In Cold Blood? | Defector
Apologies to all otters, ferrets, badgers, ferret-badgers, weasels, fishers, polecats, wolverines, martens, and grisons, but the mustelid of the moment is the stoat. The mascots of the 2026 Winter Oly...
defector.com
February 10, 2026 at 4:25 PM
I wrote about the Olympics
defector.com/which-other-...
defector.com/which-other-...
Reposted by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Time for my increasingly frequent, 'there's a clear Trend on this chart' joke
February 10, 2026 at 11:16 AM
Time for my increasingly frequent, 'there's a clear Trend on this chart' joke
I am at the Roundhouse to see Wet Leg because I am very cool and I just got ID'd. This was not an IDing everyone situation. Congratulations to me I guess.
February 9, 2026 at 9:14 AM
I am at the Roundhouse to see Wet Leg because I am very cool and I just got ID'd. This was not an IDing everyone situation. Congratulations to me I guess.
Reposted by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Sydney CBD office workers: has YOUR work decided you have to go home because they're suddenly freaking out about the protest against Herzog or us that just my bizarre employer?
February 9, 2026 at 1:06 AM
Sydney CBD office workers: has YOUR work decided you have to go home because they're suddenly freaking out about the protest against Herzog or us that just my bizarre employer?
Reposted by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
"For years, a cottage industry of political observers has contorted itself to obscure and occlude the obvious. That regardless of what others see in him, Trump’s entire political career...cannot be understood outside the context of his bitter, deep-seated racism." (gift link)
Opinion | This Is Just Who Trump Is
www.nytimes.com
February 7, 2026 at 4:49 PM
"For years, a cottage industry of political observers has contorted itself to obscure and occlude the obvious. That regardless of what others see in him, Trump’s entire political career...cannot be understood outside the context of his bitter, deep-seated racism." (gift link)
Saw this yesterday at the Antenna Documentary Festival. Aside from the utter bozos in the row in front FILMING ON THEIR PHONES ruining the vibes, it was wonderfully put together. Super fun to try and work out what country the footage was from. I cried at the Dachau shots.
February 8, 2026 at 7:55 AM
Saw this yesterday at the Antenna Documentary Festival. Aside from the utter bozos in the row in front FILMING ON THEIR PHONES ruining the vibes, it was wonderfully put together. Super fun to try and work out what country the footage was from. I cried at the Dachau shots.
PLEASE can we do the moral panic over CARS????
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
‘Take them away, crush them’: Australia faces an ebike surge that some say poses a health emergency
They offer independence, reduce emissions and congestion. But they are also endangering lives
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 1:01 AM
PLEASE can we do the moral panic over CARS????
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Reposted by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
WHO'S IN THE CAGE NOW BITCH?!?
February 6, 2026 at 11:54 PM
WHO'S IN THE CAGE NOW BITCH?!?
His dad wrote a 1995 biography of Tito which is mostly good up until near the end where he randomly bemoans that Western Europe built such nonsense as the Channel Tunnel, and says Yugoslavia was better than Britain because it didn't employ as many public servants or offer "income support"* (p 337).
February 7, 2026 at 12:26 AM
His dad wrote a 1995 biography of Tito which is mostly good up until near the end where he randomly bemoans that Western Europe built such nonsense as the Channel Tunnel, and says Yugoslavia was better than Britain because it didn't employ as many public servants or offer "income support"* (p 337).
Pile of books to read is sufficiently large I am not allowed to buy anymore till I read more.
Pile of books that have been read is too large, need a better shelving solution.
Oh no.
Pile of books that have been read is too large, need a better shelving solution.
Oh no.
February 6, 2026 at 9:59 AM
Pile of books to read is sufficiently large I am not allowed to buy anymore till I read more.
Pile of books that have been read is too large, need a better shelving solution.
Oh no.
Pile of books that have been read is too large, need a better shelving solution.
Oh no.
Reposted by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987). Grapes, 1979.
In 1979, Andy Warhol created a series of prints featuring repeated imagery of grapes. Unknown to many, each print depicts a different grape variety, although all are uniformly titled “Grapes”.
In 1979, Andy Warhol created a series of prints featuring repeated imagery of grapes. Unknown to many, each print depicts a different grape variety, although all are uniformly titled “Grapes”.
February 6, 2026 at 3:51 AM
Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987). Grapes, 1979.
In 1979, Andy Warhol created a series of prints featuring repeated imagery of grapes. Unknown to many, each print depicts a different grape variety, although all are uniformly titled “Grapes”.
In 1979, Andy Warhol created a series of prints featuring repeated imagery of grapes. Unknown to many, each print depicts a different grape variety, although all are uniformly titled “Grapes”.