Darmon
@darmon.bsky.social
Wanderer in real, virtual & imagined landscapes. Creating books, articles, images, music and travel experiences. Neurodivergent, PhD in socialist heritage. linktr.ee/darmonrichter
Had a real treat at the weekend –
Dubioza Kolektiv at the Exeter Phoenix.
Dubioza Kolektiv at the Exeter Phoenix.
October 6, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Had a real treat at the weekend –
Dubioza Kolektiv at the Exeter Phoenix.
Dubioza Kolektiv at the Exeter Phoenix.
“Matt Berry advertises synths now” are words that my bank account never wanted to hear.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbO1...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbO1...
"How to Orchid" by Telepathic Instruments
YouTube video by Telepathic Instruments
www.youtube.com
October 2, 2025 at 3:23 PM
“Matt Berry advertises synths now” are words that my bank account never wanted to hear.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbO1...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbO1...
In the process of digging myself out of a bit of a hole. Are people mostly here these days? The online landscape feels so fragmented now, it's disorientating.
Here is a photo of my cat.
Here is a photo of my cat.
September 30, 2025 at 3:27 PM
In the process of digging myself out of a bit of a hole. Are people mostly here these days? The online landscape feels so fragmented now, it's disorientating.
Here is a photo of my cat.
Here is a photo of my cat.
This week I'm back in Bulgaria & doing some serious work cataloguing an archive of art & design magazines published from 1960-1990.
There are just under 1000 in total, mostly Bulgarian, but also from Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and the USSR.
More details / photos in the article below.
There are just under 1000 in total, mostly Bulgarian, but also from Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and the USSR.
More details / photos in the article below.
April 7, 2025 at 2:28 PM
This week I'm back in Bulgaria & doing some serious work cataloguing an archive of art & design magazines published from 1960-1990.
There are just under 1000 in total, mostly Bulgarian, but also from Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and the USSR.
More details / photos in the article below.
There are just under 1000 in total, mostly Bulgarian, but also from Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and the USSR.
More details / photos in the article below.
Didn't have a freak snow storm on my bingo card for April.
April 7, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Didn't have a freak snow storm on my bingo card for April.
Reposted by Darmon
A very old Soviet joke, from an especially dark time:
Foxes are fleeing the USSR in droves.
Q: Why are you running away?
Fox: The Soviets passed a new law that they’re going to arrest all camels.
Q: But you’re foxes!
Fox: Yeah, why don’t *you* try proving to the NKVD that you’re not a camel.
Foxes are fleeing the USSR in droves.
Q: Why are you running away?
Fox: The Soviets passed a new law that they’re going to arrest all camels.
Q: But you’re foxes!
Fox: Yeah, why don’t *you* try proving to the NKVD that you’re not a camel.
If you accept that non-citizens have no right to due process, you are accepting that citizens have no right to due process. All the government has to do is claim that you are not a citizen; without due process you have no chance to prove the contrary.
March 27, 2025 at 10:21 PM
A very old Soviet joke, from an especially dark time:
Foxes are fleeing the USSR in droves.
Q: Why are you running away?
Fox: The Soviets passed a new law that they’re going to arrest all camels.
Q: But you’re foxes!
Fox: Yeah, why don’t *you* try proving to the NKVD that you’re not a camel.
Foxes are fleeing the USSR in droves.
Q: Why are you running away?
Fox: The Soviets passed a new law that they’re going to arrest all camels.
Q: But you’re foxes!
Fox: Yeah, why don’t *you* try proving to the NKVD that you’re not a camel.
Heartbreaking to see the destruction in Myanmar. This is Mandalay Palace – my photo from 2017, and now.
March 29, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Heartbreaking to see the destruction in Myanmar. This is Mandalay Palace – my photo from 2017, and now.
Reposted by Darmon
THE BLACK TOWER (1987): Channel 4 aired John Smith's stunning 'architectural horror' short about a mysterious black building which follows a man wherever he goes. A metaphor for depression, it's in the same 'once seen, never forgotten' category as La Cabina.
March 4, 2025 at 8:08 PM
THE BLACK TOWER (1987): Channel 4 aired John Smith's stunning 'architectural horror' short about a mysterious black building which follows a man wherever he goes. A metaphor for depression, it's in the same 'once seen, never forgotten' category as La Cabina.
Reposted by Darmon
The new issue of the reliably fascinating New Eastern Europe magazine includes a longish essay by me, trying to answer a question that I've been thinking about for a long time.
At the outbreak of WWII, Latvia was probably the richest Baltic state; now it's the poorest - why?
At the outbreak of WWII, Latvia was probably the richest Baltic state; now it's the poorest - why?
March 6, 2025 at 5:38 AM
The new issue of the reliably fascinating New Eastern Europe magazine includes a longish essay by me, trying to answer a question that I've been thinking about for a long time.
At the outbreak of WWII, Latvia was probably the richest Baltic state; now it's the poorest - why?
At the outbreak of WWII, Latvia was probably the richest Baltic state; now it's the poorest - why?
Something I wrote in 2020, for a travel writing anthology published by Intrepid Times and Exisle Publishing.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
The Rust Sanctuary
An encounter in the Peloponnese.
substack.com
March 4, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Something I wrote in 2020, for a travel writing anthology published by Intrepid Times and Exisle Publishing.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Reposted by Darmon
Kilnsea Acoustic Mirror was built during WWI to detect Zeppelin airships crossing the North Sea. It still works. I stood where the microphone pole was and could hear a flock of geese.
.
From my Yorkshire Coast Project (link in bio)
#photography #thephotohour #photographersunited #yorkshire
.
From my Yorkshire Coast Project (link in bio)
#photography #thephotohour #photographersunited #yorkshire
March 4, 2025 at 8:57 AM
Kilnsea Acoustic Mirror was built during WWI to detect Zeppelin airships crossing the North Sea. It still works. I stood where the microphone pole was and could hear a flock of geese.
.
From my Yorkshire Coast Project (link in bio)
#photography #thephotohour #photographersunited #yorkshire
.
From my Yorkshire Coast Project (link in bio)
#photography #thephotohour #photographersunited #yorkshire
An impressive archive and map –
"Monumental-Decorative Art in Soviet Estonia"
2021.muinsuskaitsepaevad.ee/en/artworks/
"Monumental-Decorative Art in Soviet Estonia"
2021.muinsuskaitsepaevad.ee/en/artworks/
Artworks - Muinsuskaitsepäevad
Muinsuskaitsepäevad
2021.muinsuskaitsepaevad.ee
March 4, 2025 at 8:16 AM
An impressive archive and map –
"Monumental-Decorative Art in Soviet Estonia"
2021.muinsuskaitsepaevad.ee/en/artworks/
"Monumental-Decorative Art in Soviet Estonia"
2021.muinsuskaitsepaevad.ee/en/artworks/
Reposted by Darmon
Estonia has a mandatory high school course called "Media and Manipulation," where students analyse persuasion techniques, fact-check claims, and recognise propaganda.
March 1, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Estonia has a mandatory high school course called "Media and Manipulation," where students analyse persuasion techniques, fact-check claims, and recognise propaganda.
I often think about those new arrivals in the UK, stepping outside the airport, first time on British soil, and coming face to face with Luton in the rain.
February 26, 2025 at 9:48 AM
I often think about those new arrivals in the UK, stepping outside the airport, first time on British soil, and coming face to face with Luton in the rain.
Reposted by Darmon
Books designed to be read only by human eyes are different from books designed to be read by machines, which is why Google will tell you that the phrase “shake my booty” can be found in an 1863 English translation of Don Quixote.
March 24, 2024 at 9:27 PM
Books designed to be read only by human eyes are different from books designed to be read by machines, which is why Google will tell you that the phrase “shake my booty” can be found in an 1863 English translation of Don Quixote.
Thursday evening in the Druzhba neighbourhood of Sofia, Bulgaria.
February 22, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Thursday evening in the Druzhba neighbourhood of Sofia, Bulgaria.
Reposted by Darmon
Nice read about #ai generated books. #amazon will be even crapper than ever.
@darmon.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/darmon/p...
@darmon.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/darmon/p...
The Nightmare World of AI Book Generators
This will get worse before it gets better.
open.substack.com
February 20, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Nice read about #ai generated books. #amazon will be even crapper than ever.
@darmon.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/darmon/p...
@darmon.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/darmon/p...
Reposted by Darmon
for generations now we've been taught that geopolitics is a finely-balanced dance, where any slip or false move could cause a collapse into nuclear war, and we're now in the process of finding out whether that was all bullshit
February 20, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Reposted by Darmon
Sadly, it has been confirmed. Viktor was a monumental figure whose meaning and inspiration for the Bulgarian game dev scene cannot be overstated.
He was one of the first. This boy who grew up like the rest of us in the commie blocks and went on to direct some of the most influential games ever.
He was one of the first. This boy who grew up like the rest of us in the commie blocks and went on to direct some of the most influential games ever.
According to Half-Life writer Marc Laidlaw and Arkane co-founder Raphael Colantonio, the immensely talented Bulgarian art director Viktor Antonov died recently. 😭 He was only 52.
He worked with Valve and Arkane on HL 2 and Dishonored, but also on the animated movies Renaissance & The Prodigies.
He worked with Valve and Arkane on HL 2 and Dishonored, but also on the animated movies Renaissance & The Prodigies.
February 16, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Sadly, it has been confirmed. Viktor was a monumental figure whose meaning and inspiration for the Bulgarian game dev scene cannot be overstated.
He was one of the first. This boy who grew up like the rest of us in the commie blocks and went on to direct some of the most influential games ever.
He was one of the first. This boy who grew up like the rest of us in the commie blocks and went on to direct some of the most influential games ever.
#FolkloreThursday "Wassail!" comes from the Old Norse, "Ves heill," and means something like: "Be healthy!"
In the cider-producing regions of England – such as Devon, Somerset and Herefordshire – Wassailers visit orchards in midwinter to banish evil spirits and call for a healthy harvest.
In the cider-producing regions of England – such as Devon, Somerset and Herefordshire – Wassailers visit orchards in midwinter to banish evil spirits and call for a healthy harvest.
February 20, 2025 at 11:44 AM
#FolkloreThursday "Wassail!" comes from the Old Norse, "Ves heill," and means something like: "Be healthy!"
In the cider-producing regions of England – such as Devon, Somerset and Herefordshire – Wassailers visit orchards in midwinter to banish evil spirits and call for a healthy harvest.
In the cider-producing regions of England – such as Devon, Somerset and Herefordshire – Wassailers visit orchards in midwinter to banish evil spirits and call for a healthy harvest.
First night back in Sofia for a while.
February 19, 2025 at 11:01 PM
First night back in Sofia for a while.
A little midwinter mirth in deepest, darkest Devon.
Here We Come a-Wassailing
It is time to keep your appointment with the apple tree.
darmon.substack.com
February 18, 2025 at 11:21 AM
A little midwinter mirth in deepest, darkest Devon.
Reposted by Darmon
In memoriam.
www.eurogamer.net/how-viktor-a...
www.eurogamer.net/how-viktor-a...
How Viktor Antonov turned from building cities to planets
Viktor Antonov hasn't built a world like this before.
www.eurogamer.net
February 18, 2025 at 6:26 AM
In memoriam.
www.eurogamer.net/how-viktor-a...
www.eurogamer.net/how-viktor-a...
Hello, people. I have been off social media for most of a year now, as it’s not been a great time lately. But I’m venturing back in. The Other Place is basically unusable for me now – so I’m truly happy to know that in my absence, a lot of you have already found me here! Vive la résistance.
February 17, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Hello, people. I have been off social media for most of a year now, as it’s not been a great time lately. But I’m venturing back in. The Other Place is basically unusable for me now – so I’m truly happy to know that in my absence, a lot of you have already found me here! Vive la résistance.