Roland Bates
@rolandbates.bsky.social
Dad/Grandad
I remember when all this is going to be fields.
Don't rehearse mistakes, unless you plan to include them in the final performance!
Immersion is the only goal. Immersion is the only act.
I remember when all this is going to be fields.
Don't rehearse mistakes, unless you plan to include them in the final performance!
Immersion is the only goal. Immersion is the only act.
Pinned
Reposted by Roland Bates
Remember this fellow?
@rolandbates.bsky.social
@rolandbates.bsky.social
January 22, 2026 at 3:46 AM
Remember this fellow?
@rolandbates.bsky.social
@rolandbates.bsky.social
I will take a picture tomorrow: there's a car which I often see on my walk to work.
Its reg plate causes me to do the following
I take my hands out of my pockets
I say out loud "Rifaea! Pale Queen!"
And if that doesn't happen, my day will be bad.
Its reg plate causes me to do the following
I take my hands out of my pockets
I say out loud "Rifaea! Pale Queen!"
And if that doesn't happen, my day will be bad.
January 21, 2026 at 10:26 PM
I will take a picture tomorrow: there's a car which I often see on my walk to work.
Its reg plate causes me to do the following
I take my hands out of my pockets
I say out loud "Rifaea! Pale Queen!"
And if that doesn't happen, my day will be bad.
Its reg plate causes me to do the following
I take my hands out of my pockets
I say out loud "Rifaea! Pale Queen!"
And if that doesn't happen, my day will be bad.
SOLD. I don't know why, but it's reminding me of "The Wrestling" by Simon Garfield: a book recommended to me by @iammilliam.bsky.social and others as I expressed great fear while the first lockdown approached.
It is not mucking about. There is a whole page of people who don’t like Floella Benjamin.
January 21, 2026 at 10:22 PM
SOLD. I don't know why, but it's reminding me of "The Wrestling" by Simon Garfield: a book recommended to me by @iammilliam.bsky.social and others as I expressed great fear while the first lockdown approached.
PEDESTAL CAMERAS MOFO
I’m reading a gossipy oral history of infighting and intrigue in the BBC’s children’s department, 1967-97. There’s an especially sticky bit when they have only three pedestal cameras.
January 21, 2026 at 10:17 PM
PEDESTAL CAMERAS MOFO
WhatsApp message from my sister about Katherine Mansfield and Gurdjieff.
Text message from Swiss brother about sci-fi.
I am the least interesting of my siblings.
Text message from Swiss brother about sci-fi.
I am the least interesting of my siblings.
January 21, 2026 at 10:16 PM
WhatsApp message from my sister about Katherine Mansfield and Gurdjieff.
Text message from Swiss brother about sci-fi.
I am the least interesting of my siblings.
Text message from Swiss brother about sci-fi.
I am the least interesting of my siblings.
What has Karl Barth ever done for me
January 21, 2026 at 10:06 PM
What has Karl Barth ever done for me
Just finished a very satisfying book group. The Employees by Olga Ravn. Translated by Martin Aitken.
Really focused readers. That was a lot of fun.
Really focused readers. That was a lot of fun.
January 21, 2026 at 10:02 PM
Just finished a very satisfying book group. The Employees by Olga Ravn. Translated by Martin Aitken.
Really focused readers. That was a lot of fun.
Really focused readers. That was a lot of fun.
Book group tonite
January 21, 2026 at 9:13 AM
Book group tonite
Reposted by Roland Bates
Someone did make a formal interview request to interview me about it but it slipped my mind.
You are not alone. I find the continuing silence very ominous indeed
many years later and i still want someone to explain to me what happened at that anne carson “poetry workshop”
January 21, 2026 at 12:14 AM
Someone did make a formal interview request to interview me about it but it slipped my mind.
Come on, somebody just give us the tea on the Anne Carson workshop. It was in 2017. Mucha agua under the bridge. No judgement. Share with the group
January 21, 2026 at 12:05 AM
Come on, somebody just give us the tea on the Anne Carson workshop. It was in 2017. Mucha agua under the bridge. No judgement. Share with the group
You are not alone. I find the continuing silence very ominous indeed
many years later and i still want someone to explain to me what happened at that anne carson “poetry workshop”
January 20, 2026 at 11:40 PM
You are not alone. I find the continuing silence very ominous indeed
Had I but world enough and time,
This coyness, insane TBR pile, were no crime.
This coyness, insane TBR pile, were no crime.
January 20, 2026 at 11:34 PM
Had I but world enough and time,
This coyness, insane TBR pile, were no crime.
This coyness, insane TBR pile, were no crime.
This film is so intense that I nearly didn't read the book, which is even better than the film
Finlay Currie in "Great Expectations" (with Anthony Wager) - BOTD
January 20, 2026 at 11:25 PM
This film is so intense that I nearly didn't read the book, which is even better than the film
David Markson
Market Day in Olde New York, the streets abustle with Brooklyn Writers in their go-to-market best, carts piled high with fresh novels.
January 20, 2026 at 11:21 PM
David Markson
Ten years ago on Shrove Tuesday, I had my head shaved. That was my idea of a haircut back then, two or three times a year.
I have not had a haircut since that day .... sort of thinking I might do it this year.
I have not had a haircut since that day .... sort of thinking I might do it this year.
January 20, 2026 at 11:19 PM
Ten years ago on Shrove Tuesday, I had my head shaved. That was my idea of a haircut back then, two or three times a year.
I have not had a haircut since that day .... sort of thinking I might do it this year.
I have not had a haircut since that day .... sort of thinking I might do it this year.
Reposted by Roland Bates
Reading Ligotti, hearing Ligeti, eating spaghetti.
January 20, 2026 at 11:00 PM
Reading Ligotti, hearing Ligeti, eating spaghetti.
What a fucking WEIRD man. What is one to make of him. Who is he? What is he? Cripes. Lawks. Crivens. NURSE!
January 20, 2026 at 10:57 PM
What a fucking WEIRD man. What is one to make of him. Who is he? What is he? Cripes. Lawks. Crivens. NURSE!
Years ago, this started playing in Django's car, outside Olley's Fish and Chips in Herne Hill. Within fifteen seconds, both of us were desperate for a piss.
I am listening to Sextant.
January 20, 2026 at 10:47 PM
Years ago, this started playing in Django's car, outside Olley's Fish and Chips in Herne Hill. Within fifteen seconds, both of us were desperate for a piss.
I am listening to Sextant.
January 20, 2026 at 10:34 PM
I am listening to Sextant.
Reposted by Roland Bates
Finlay Currie in "Great Expectations" (with Anthony Wager) - BOTD
January 20, 2026 at 10:29 PM
Finlay Currie in "Great Expectations" (with Anthony Wager) - BOTD
I am so on board for this. Goodie! As she might have said.
Iris Murdoch episode now recorded and will be with you this weekend/next week. It was a complete delight. Phew. @backlisted.bsky.social
We haven't recorded the @backlisted.bsky.social episode on Iris Murdoch yet. No sooner had I posted this last month than our guest fell ill. Hoping to reschedule soon. I don't want to have read this lot in vain.
January 20, 2026 at 10:26 PM
I am so on board for this. Goodie! As she might have said.
More fun with mapping.
I honestly think it's poetry which creates mappers.
I can't tell you how poetry works. But it creates so much beyond itself.
I honestly think it's poetry which creates mappers.
I can't tell you how poetry works. But it creates so much beyond itself.
January 20, 2026 at 7:26 PM
More fun with mapping.
I honestly think it's poetry which creates mappers.
I can't tell you how poetry works. But it creates so much beyond itself.
I honestly think it's poetry which creates mappers.
I can't tell you how poetry works. But it creates so much beyond itself.
Me an an' Grise shooting the cheeze breeze
crying here Roland, crying x
January 20, 2026 at 7:25 PM
Me an an' Grise shooting the cheeze breeze