Aliki Chapple
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commonmugwort.bsky.social
Aliki Chapple
@commonmugwort.bsky.social
1.3K followers 1.1K following 3.9K posts
Literary translator, actor, early modern drama enthusiast.
Luddite geek. Greek. Truth, justice, and the comics. Mostly in Athens.
(@amaenad from Twitter but more chill)

All photos licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
More on: https://pixelfed.social/CommonMugwort
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commonmugwort.bsky.social
Aliki Chapple @commonmugwort.bsky.social · Nov 15
Hello theatre pals, and everyone. It’s nice to see you here.
I live in Athens now, and I’ve been taking a lot of pictures, relearning my way around the old place.
pixelfed.social/i/web/profil...
An old fashioned metal door with bars and a later metal panel added, with an ancient air con unit or filter in the upper left corner and an even more ancient sheet of corrugated metal, probably once a security measure rolled up above it. The door is set in a stone wall next to a plainer wall, either concrete or plastered. The whole thing is painted exactly the same colour, a sort of pale ochre.
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
commonmugwort.bsky.social
Old Athens: School
#Athens #UrbanPhotography
Colour photo: The doorway of a school, shabby looking, but I think still functioning. Close-up. A grid of metalwork painted pale blue, the wires cut or missing to crate a clear rectangle, through which a shadowy hallway leads to a yellow-lit school corridor work a bulletin board and educational posters.
November 24, 2025 at 6:56 AM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
casmudde.bsky.social
And what does this say about all the social media research based on Twitter/X, which has helped fuel the moral panic about the role of social media in contemporary politics?
viperwave.bsky.social Rocky @viperwave.bsky.social · 19h
The location ID on twitter revealing that 99% of the horrible shit on that website is just posted by people in India honestly soothed me a lot. Its literally all just fake.
November 24, 2025 at 12:50 PM
commonmugwort.bsky.social
I learned, because they are terrorising my cat, resident there until my apartment in Athens is a safe home for him, that there are raccoons on the west coast of Corfu.
Why are there raccoons in Corfu?
a close up of a cat 's face looking at the camera .
Alt: Cat making a frightened wtf face.
media.tenor.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:32 AM
commonmugwort.bsky.social
Old Athens: School
#Athens #UrbanPhotography
Colour photo: The doorway of a school, shabby looking, but I think still functioning. Close-up. A grid of metalwork painted pale blue, the wires cut or missing to crate a clear rectangle, through which a shadowy hallway leads to a yellow-lit school corridor work a bulletin board and educational posters.
November 24, 2025 at 6:56 AM
commonmugwort.bsky.social
Smash the Patriarchy, Charlie Brown: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/u...
Orthodox Church Pews Are Overflowing With Converts
www.nytimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 5:37 AM
commonmugwort.bsky.social
I don’t know why my Bluesky web interface eats the last letter before every punctuation mark, but I am very tired of it.
November 23, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
commonmugwort.bsky.social
Ruins of Athens: Kountouriotika
#Athens #UrbanPhotography
#AbandonedPlaces
Colour photo: framed in the rectangular opening in a security gate, grey-pale blue and dark tarnished metal, the courtyard of a large abandoned institutional building. I think it’s a school. Plain marble steps lead up from the gate to a grassy courtyard backed by a low stone wall. Above the wall, the three-storey building looms on three sides, the ground level sheltered by a porch all around, arched windows on the floor above, a balcony running the perimeter above that, wide rectangular windows and tall narrow doors alternating - classrooms. The building is in pretty good shape, glass in the windows, the pale Athenian ochre colour of the walls largely unblemished. Round the other side, not in frame, there’s scaffolding. Maybe they plan to do something with it. In the foreground on the right, a blue plastic skip with the number 5 on it, a black and white cat, head low, setting off across the courtyard.
November 23, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
andydiggle.bsky.social
So, to recap, just this week...

-- Trump's negotiators adopt Russia's "peace" (surrender) plan for Ukraine;

-- Farage's Reform UK colleague is sentenced to 10 years in prison for pro-Russia bribery;

-- Musk accidentally outs numerous "MAGA" accounts as Russian troll farms.

#RussiaRussiaRussia
November 23, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
stephenkb.bsky.social
The fact that in both 2019 and 2024, the winning party did so with a set of manifesto promises that could not be kept and dissolved upon contact with actual office is something that as an industry we should be much more bothered by than we are.
November 23, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
dieworkwear.bsky.social
Twitter pays people based on engagement (views, retweets, comments, etc). It appears that many MAGA accounts are based abroad and they use AI technology to generate low-effort rage bait.

My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
A Twitter account called Ivanka News tweets an AI image of a young woman wearing Muslim garb. The woman is holding a sign that says "I came here illegally. Should I be deported?" Ivanka News writes: What is your response to this person ?? In the "About this account" tab, it appears the account is based in Nigeria An account called MAGA scope writes: Who, in your view is the great enemy of the United States? Communism, Islam, Democratic Party, or Satan? The account is based in Nigeria. An account called MAGA Nadine writes: You go to work and find this. What would you do? The attached pic is an AI image that shows a microwave. The microwave has a sign that says "For religious reasons, this microwave is now making halal food only." The account is based in Morocco. An account called America First posts an AI image of Tulsi Gabbard. They wrote: How would you rate your trust in Tulsi Gabbard on a scale of 1-10?
November 23, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
nickharkaway.com
Holy Hecate. That is bad.
rahaeli.bsky.social rahaeli @rahaeli.bsky.social · 2d
Oh, God, this is one of those "where do I even start" things, because Roblox is, like, *fractally* fucked. They are terrible at content moderation. A lot of the games are rated incorrectly, so kids can encounter graphic content (sex or violence) out of nowhere --
November 23, 2025 at 8:46 AM
commonmugwort.bsky.social
Ruins of Athens: Kountouriotika
#Athens #UrbanPhotography
#AbandonedPlaces
Colour photo: framed in the rectangular opening in a security gate, grey-pale blue and dark tarnished metal, the courtyard of a large abandoned institutional building. I think it’s a school. Plain marble steps lead up from the gate to a grassy courtyard backed by a low stone wall. Above the wall, the three-storey building looms on three sides, the ground level sheltered by a porch all around, arched windows on the floor above, a balcony running the perimeter above that, wide rectangular windows and tall narrow doors alternating - classrooms. The building is in pretty good shape, glass in the windows, the pale Athenian ochre colour of the walls largely unblemished. Round the other side, not in frame, there’s scaffolding. Maybe they plan to do something with it. In the foreground on the right, a blue plastic skip with the number 5 on it, a black and white cat, head low, setting off across the courtyard.
November 23, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
oldenoughtosay.com
We cannot fix the woowoo until we get rid of the assholes.
November 22, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
commonmugwort.bsky.social
Today, let’s bow before this feline magnificence, enthroned in a work of public art.
#CatsOfAthens #Athens #UrbanPhotography #cats #Caturday
Colour photo. A cat on a folded blanket sitting inside the base of a pillar-like sculpture made of steel beams and stacked sheets of glass. The sculpture is rusty and dusty, the cat black-masked and white- bellied, with a black throat and a small black dot on the nose. The eyes are green and wary.
November 22, 2025 at 6:20 AM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
dirk2112.bsky.social
Ernst Haas moved to the United States in 1951 and soon after, began experimenting with Kodachrome color film. He went on to become the premier color photographer of the 1950s. In 1953 LIFE magazine published his groundbreaking 24-page color photo essay on New York City.
NYC photographed by Ernst Haas NYC photographed by Ernst Haas NYC photographed by Ernst Haas NYC photographed by Ernst Haas
November 22, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
gautambhatia88.bsky.social
Finally out into the world, the labour of many months. My long essay in the inaugural edition of the Alter Magazine on the pasts, presents, and futures of Indian science fiction.

“The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction” —

altermag.com/articles/the...
The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction.
Before Asimov, there was Rokeya.
altermag.com
November 22, 2025 at 6:11 AM
commonmugwort.bsky.social
Today, let’s bow before this feline magnificence, enthroned in a work of public art.
#CatsOfAthens #Athens #UrbanPhotography #cats #Caturday
Colour photo. A cat on a folded blanket sitting inside the base of a pillar-like sculpture made of steel beams and stacked sheets of glass. The sculpture is rusty and dusty, the cat black-masked and white- bellied, with a black throat and a small black dot on the nose. The eyes are green and wary.
November 22, 2025 at 6:20 AM
commonmugwort.bsky.social
Or maybe there’s a difference between the magnetic force of narcissism and true charisma.
November 21, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
gwenynen.bsky.social
Hush! Hush! Whisper who dares,
Aleister Crowley's been kicked down the stairs.

bsky.app/profile/gwen...
karidru.bsky.social Kari Dru @karidru.bsky.social · 3d
It always cheers me up to contemplate the fact that least-worst member of the Golden Dawn, W.B. Yeats, threw Aleister Crowley down the stairs once.

He had it coming.
colindickey.com Colin Dickey @colindickey.com · 4d
Man, everything is so bleak, anyone got a fun fact or little bit of trivia they want to share
November 21, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
dgatopoulos.bsky.social
Bears in the backyard, wolves at the door: Greek villages have a growing predator problem.
By Costas Kantouris

apnews.com/article/wild...
Rural Greece struggles to cope with predator comeback
Populations of brown bears and wolves are burgeoning in Greece, thanks to conservation efforts. But not everyone is enthusiastic about the comeback.
apnews.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
carolecadwalla.bsky.social
BREAKING: Nathan Gill is sentenced to 10 & a half years in prison after pleading guilty to eight charges of bribery from a Russian agent.

The "ultimate source" of the funds came from "a close friend of Vladimir Putin," said Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb.
November 21, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
alexpaknadel.bsky.social
A city of 10 million people now has to move. It won't be the last.
As impossible as it seems, everything happening now will be a footnote to the climate crisis.
thierryaaron.bsky.social Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 3d
'Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday in remarks carried by state media, warning that severe ecological strain has made Tehran impossible to sustain'

#Iran 🇮🇷
Iran president says capital move now a necessity as water crisis deepens
Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday in remarks carried by state media, warning that severe ecological strain has mad...
www.iranintl.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
commonmugwort.bsky.social
Παντού είμαστε:
nickjbrumfield.bsky.social Nick Brumfield @nickjbrumfield.bsky.social · 4d
Another one is the Prime Minister of Siam in 1685 was a Greek adventurer who spent ten years in London; was fluent in English, French, Portuguese, Malay, and Thai; was married to a Japanese-Portuguese-Bengali woman; and who rose to power by successfully disputing a royal deal with Persian traders
November 20, 2025 at 4:37 PM
commonmugwort.bsky.social
Leaf shadow on marble.
#Athens #UrbanPhotography
It doesn’t matter that this is a colour photo. The edge of a dark doorway clad in marble, and a couple of outside steps. Leaf shadow and sunlight dapple it. The pavement outside dappled too. All grey and pale sunlight, white and black.
November 21, 2025 at 6:08 AM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
carlbergstrom.com
I am by no means a prominent public intellectual, but my inbox is increasingly filled with messages from people who have been convinced by sycophantic chatbots that they have discovered revolutionary theories that entirely upend our scientific understanding of the universe.
November 21, 2025 at 2:49 AM