Sir Almaviva
@ilcontealmaviva.bsky.social
Lover of trams, classical music, maths, tea and cats. Member of the cycling lobby. 🇮🇹 immigrant in 🇬🇧. Refugees are welcome, racists are not.
Lover of "Italian Effeminacy and Italian Nonsense" (i.e. opera, according to Jonathan Swift)
Lover of "Italian Effeminacy and Italian Nonsense" (i.e. opera, according to Jonathan Swift)
Pinned
Let's see if I can keep it up, but I am going to try to do a thread with all the books I read in 2025, starting from the following post.
Immigrants being blamed for inflation is new to me.
Fed Governor Stephen Miran: "Cutting down net migration to 0, potentially even negative because of the deportations that have been occurring, I think is very deflationary."
November 14, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Immigrants being blamed for inflation is new to me.
Wagner-Die Walkure-"Leb wohl,du kunhes, herrliches Kind!"
YouTube video by Gabriella Alù
www.youtube.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:20 PM
The Home Office sending emails asking for feedback about the visa application process "not considering the outcome" (!). Is there anyone out there whose visa got rejected, who therefore lost thousands of pounds and who is going to say "yeah, but the service was impeccable, 10/10"?
November 14, 2025 at 6:31 PM
The Home Office sending emails asking for feedback about the visa application process "not considering the outcome" (!). Is there anyone out there whose visa got rejected, who therefore lost thousands of pounds and who is going to say "yeah, but the service was impeccable, 10/10"?
If I had £1 for each car* I see running a red light at the junction near my house, I would have a good amount of money.
*At least 1 a day, more like 1 each time I find myself at that junction waiting to cross
*At least 1 a day, more like 1 each time I find myself at that junction waiting to cross
November 14, 2025 at 5:17 PM
If I had £1 for each car* I see running a red light at the junction near my house, I would have a good amount of money.
*At least 1 a day, more like 1 each time I find myself at that junction waiting to cross
*At least 1 a day, more like 1 each time I find myself at that junction waiting to cross
I forgot my wokest opinion of all, a truly radical one in today's world: "Immigrants are people"
1) Golf courses should be transformed into either public parks or public housing.
2) All streets should have trees.
3) If a road is large enough for two lanes in each direction, it should have a large, protected bike lane on either side.
4) Elementary school teachers should be paid a lot
2) All streets should have trees.
3) If a road is large enough for two lanes in each direction, it should have a large, protected bike lane on either side.
4) Elementary school teachers should be paid a lot
"my least woke opinion is---"
That's enough. We've had enough people indulging in the "thrill of a little conservatism", as a treat. Of considering reactionary thought to be a salacious and taboo in a world descending into reactionary mania.
Give me your MOST woke opinions. We're bringing it back.
That's enough. We've had enough people indulging in the "thrill of a little conservatism", as a treat. Of considering reactionary thought to be a salacious and taboo in a world descending into reactionary mania.
Give me your MOST woke opinions. We're bringing it back.
November 14, 2025 at 4:48 PM
I forgot my wokest opinion of all, a truly radical one in today's world: "Immigrants are people"
1) Golf courses should be transformed into either public parks or public housing.
2) All streets should have trees.
3) If a road is large enough for two lanes in each direction, it should have a large, protected bike lane on either side.
4) Elementary school teachers should be paid a lot
2) All streets should have trees.
3) If a road is large enough for two lanes in each direction, it should have a large, protected bike lane on either side.
4) Elementary school teachers should be paid a lot
"my least woke opinion is---"
That's enough. We've had enough people indulging in the "thrill of a little conservatism", as a treat. Of considering reactionary thought to be a salacious and taboo in a world descending into reactionary mania.
Give me your MOST woke opinions. We're bringing it back.
That's enough. We've had enough people indulging in the "thrill of a little conservatism", as a treat. Of considering reactionary thought to be a salacious and taboo in a world descending into reactionary mania.
Give me your MOST woke opinions. We're bringing it back.
November 14, 2025 at 2:44 PM
1) Golf courses should be transformed into either public parks or public housing.
2) All streets should have trees.
3) If a road is large enough for two lanes in each direction, it should have a large, protected bike lane on either side.
4) Elementary school teachers should be paid a lot
2) All streets should have trees.
3) If a road is large enough for two lanes in each direction, it should have a large, protected bike lane on either side.
4) Elementary school teachers should be paid a lot
Reposted by Sir Almaviva
Give a man a fish and someone with a thousand fishes is going to bitch about people getting free handouts. Teach a man to fish? Yeah, that person with a thousand fishes is going to bitch about that too.
November 14, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Give a man a fish and someone with a thousand fishes is going to bitch about people getting free handouts. Teach a man to fish? Yeah, that person with a thousand fishes is going to bitch about that too.
I see this a lot online when people say "The nightlife/atmosphere in place X was much better back then" and I'm always like "Was it? Or is it just that you were 20 at the time?"
"What is certain, and felt instinctively by almost everybody, is that things cannot go on in their present way" – The Times, May 1975
“It is difficult to imagine a previous period when such an all-pervasive hopelessness was exhibited at all levels of British life” – Professor Stephen Haseler, 1975
“It is difficult to imagine a previous period when such an all-pervasive hopelessness was exhibited at all levels of British life” – Professor Stephen Haseler, 1975
November 14, 2025 at 10:36 AM
I see this a lot online when people say "The nightlife/atmosphere in place X was much better back then" and I'm always like "Was it? Or is it just that you were 20 at the time?"
The Labour government:
November 14, 2025 at 7:06 AM
The Labour government:
Was "being increasingly nasty to immigrants and asylum seekers" in the Labour 2024 manifesto? I am asking because they don't seem to have any problems with it, unlike with increasing income tax. Probably because a lot of immigrants can't vote, so the government is fine not treating them as people.
November 14, 2025 at 6:57 AM
Was "being increasingly nasty to immigrants and asylum seekers" in the Labour 2024 manifesto? I am asking because they don't seem to have any problems with it, unlike with increasing income tax. Probably because a lot of immigrants can't vote, so the government is fine not treating them as people.
Bonhoeffer is one of my personal heroes. Tucker Carlson is a Nazi, so he clearly does not like him.
Tucker Carlson has hosted Hitler apologists on his show. Now he says Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor who tried to kill Hitler, was not being Christian. He isn't making a theological argument. He's just morally inverting World War II and the Holocaust, to make space for their villains to rise again.
November 13, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Bonhoeffer is one of my personal heroes. Tucker Carlson is a Nazi, so he clearly does not like him.
#NowListening to this recording, which contains some beautiful music.
November 13, 2025 at 9:26 PM
#NowListening to this recording, which contains some beautiful music.
A "congestion charge" (as the name suggests) is about congestion, not the type of engine. An electric car (though better in other ways) causes as much congestion as a non-electric one.
Phasing out concessions for electric vehicles makes no sense at all at a time when we still need to drive forward the transition to net zero
We shouldn’t be recouping costs by penalising those individuals and businesses who are doing their bit by going electric.
www.standard.co.uk/news/transpo...
We shouldn’t be recouping costs by penalising those individuals and businesses who are doing their bit by going electric.
www.standard.co.uk/news/transpo...
Sadiq Khan hikes congestion charge to £18 and slashes electric vehicle discount
Central London drivers now face annual C-charge hikes in line with Tube fare increases
www.standard.co.uk
November 13, 2025 at 2:09 PM
A "congestion charge" (as the name suggests) is about congestion, not the type of engine. An electric car (though better in other ways) causes as much congestion as a non-electric one.
I saw a Guardian article saying that Reform has been "accused of racism" which is a bit like saying that the sun has been accused of being bright, or that apples have been accused of being fruits.
November 13, 2025 at 10:48 AM
I saw a Guardian article saying that Reform has been "accused of racism" which is a bit like saying that the sun has been accused of being bright, or that apples have been accused of being fruits.
🤯
November 13, 2025 at 9:06 AM
🤯
'Racist, lunatic politicians': does Glasman own a mirror?
Victoria Derbyshire has apologised after she failed to challenge a Labour lord when he branded the party leadership under Jeremy Corbyn as 'racist, lunatic politicians'
Victoria Derbyshire 'sorry' as Labour lord makes 'shameful' Jeremy Corbyn jibe
www.thenational.scot
November 13, 2025 at 7:26 AM
'Racist, lunatic politicians': does Glasman own a mirror?
One of the most gut-wrenching moments in all of opera.
Puccini: Madama Butterfly, Act III: Con onor muore – Tu, tu, piccolo iddio!
YouTube video by Mirella Freni - Topic
www.youtube.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:24 AM
One of the most gut-wrenching moments in all of opera.
The Spectator is the posh version of the Völkischer Beobachter
Spectator running a piece by Daniel Hannan which leans heavily into the inferred idea that you're not necessarily British if you come from a migrant background, even if you were born and brought up here.
November 12, 2025 at 10:41 PM
The Spectator is the posh version of the Völkischer Beobachter
Reposted by Sir Almaviva
Holy shit, just learned about the typewriter art of Montserrat Alberich Escardívol, a Catalan typist. Using an extra wide typewriter and 180 color ribbons, she built up elaborate images from simple characters like 'm' and '.' and ';'. Here is her typewritten painting of the Cathedral of Barcelona.
November 12, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Holy shit, just learned about the typewriter art of Montserrat Alberich Escardívol, a Catalan typist. Using an extra wide typewriter and 180 color ribbons, she built up elaborate images from simple characters like 'm' and '.' and ';'. Here is her typewritten painting of the Cathedral of Barcelona.
God, that's grim.
November 12, 2025 at 9:28 PM
God, that's grim.
This is beautifully put
Identity is a matter of layers not fractions
November 12, 2025 at 6:37 PM
This is beautifully put
The inventor of the umbrella: "I've invented something that can protect you from the rain!"
Most British people: "I can see no use for this bizarre object"
Most British people: "I can see no use for this bizarre object"
November 12, 2025 at 5:29 PM
The inventor of the umbrella: "I've invented something that can protect you from the rain!"
Most British people: "I can see no use for this bizarre object"
Most British people: "I can see no use for this bizarre object"
[As someone who has a PhD in maths — mathematical analysis to be precise] I've long thought maths is in some way part of the humanities, it is a form of art, which allows great creativity, though bound by the constraints of logic. It's like writing a fugue or a canon.
When I’ve talked to people who do really advanced math, they’ve basically crossed back into the humanities through high-level abstraction and do not sound like these freaks at all because it’s not simply the aesthetic of competence for them.
November 12, 2025 at 12:02 PM
[As someone who has a PhD in maths — mathematical analysis to be precise] I've long thought maths is in some way part of the humanities, it is a form of art, which allows great creativity, though bound by the constraints of logic. It's like writing a fugue or a canon.
When you start learning English as an Italian they hammer it home that "caro" according to the context can mean "expensive" or "dear" and that the two are not related.
When you become more proficient you learn that "ti costerà caro" is "it will cost you dear"
When you become more proficient you learn that "ti costerà caro" is "it will cost you dear"
November 12, 2025 at 11:11 AM
When you start learning English as an Italian they hammer it home that "caro" according to the context can mean "expensive" or "dear" and that the two are not related.
When you become more proficient you learn that "ti costerà caro" is "it will cost you dear"
When you become more proficient you learn that "ti costerà caro" is "it will cost you dear"