Rowan Davies
@rowandavies.bsky.social
I confidently asked three Lidl workers where the chickpeas were the other day. One of them said ‘I’ve got absolutely no idea’ and one of the others made a limp attempt to help. As I walked around the store it slowly dawned on me that they were just 3 guys in uniform on their lunch break.
December 9, 2025 at 7:18 PM
I confidently asked three Lidl workers where the chickpeas were the other day. One of them said ‘I’ve got absolutely no idea’ and one of the others made a limp attempt to help. As I walked around the store it slowly dawned on me that they were just 3 guys in uniform on their lunch break.
Actual genius, this.
November 13, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Actual genius, this.
God, seeing that cover again! Proustian rush
October 21, 2025 at 8:07 AM
God, seeing that cover again! Proustian rush
Yeah - it’s not (tonally) my personal fave, but they are doing something genuinely interesting, and Rigby is an absolute machine.
September 3, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Yeah - it’s not (tonally) my personal fave, but they are doing something genuinely interesting, and Rigby is an absolute machine.
You probably already know this, but she also used ED to say publicly that Diane Abbott should be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate when all that was kicking off before the election. Seems to have an interesting (in the sense of novel/noteworthy) relationship with it as a comms channel
September 3, 2025 at 4:36 PM
You probably already know this, but she also used ED to say publicly that Diane Abbott should be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate when all that was kicking off before the election. Seems to have an interesting (in the sense of novel/noteworthy) relationship with it as a comms channel
Dunno about health, but as someone who likes veggie food but also likes cheese, honey, butter and eggs, eating out has become incredibly boring. No I do NOT want a huge mushroom literally by itself.
August 4, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Dunno about health, but as someone who likes veggie food but also likes cheese, honey, butter and eggs, eating out has become incredibly boring. No I do NOT want a huge mushroom literally by itself.
That’s fair enough
June 30, 2025 at 8:29 PM
That’s fair enough
Ah there’s a write-up of the article here whyevolutionistrue.com/2024/03/24/w...
Why are men dominant in chess?
Why are men better than women at chess? This is the question that Carole Hooven, author of the excellent book Testosterone: The Story of the Hormone that Dominates and Divides Us, takes up in a new…
whyevolutionistrue.com
June 30, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Ah there’s a write-up of the article here whyevolutionistrue.com/2024/03/24/w...
Carole Hooven wrote an in-depth article about this but it’s now paywalled quillette.com/2024/03/22/w... IIRC she did conclude that there were some innate differences that contributed to the explanation, but I am too hot and cannot remember the details
Why Do Men Dominate Chess?
FIDE’s new policy governing who can compete in women’s categories highlights the persistent sex imbalance at the game’s elite levels.
quillette.com
June 30, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Carole Hooven wrote an in-depth article about this but it’s now paywalled quillette.com/2024/03/22/w... IIRC she did conclude that there were some innate differences that contributed to the explanation, but I am too hot and cannot remember the details
It’s a real public awareness/public interest problem. Related to our collective reluctance to think long-term I suppose.
June 30, 2025 at 3:30 PM
It’s a real public awareness/public interest problem. Related to our collective reluctance to think long-term I suppose.
It’s worth noting, though, that the US got very little credit from the <handwave> left/progressive crowd (I’m one) for its vast humanitarian funding before Musk gutted it. I’ll bet most of them were entirely unaware that the US was so core to those efforts. (I knew about it for work reasons.)
June 30, 2025 at 8:32 AM
It’s worth noting, though, that the US got very little credit from the <handwave> left/progressive crowd (I’m one) for its vast humanitarian funding before Musk gutted it. I’ll bet most of them were entirely unaware that the US was so core to those efforts. (I knew about it for work reasons.)
Richmond - Richmond! - high street is looking very shabby. The alleyways still have plenty of thriving independent shops, but it’s striking how shit the main drag looks. (The Gyro cycle cafe is the best thing about Esher these days)
June 13, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Richmond - Richmond! - high street is looking very shabby. The alleyways still have plenty of thriving independent shops, but it’s striking how shit the main drag looks. (The Gyro cycle cafe is the best thing about Esher these days)
In the time between being granted a place on the meno clinic waitlist and actually having my appointment, I *went through the menopause*. Quite funny in retrospect, but not so funny when I was unable to leave the house because of how heavily I was bleeding.
April 25, 2025 at 9:18 AM
In the time between being granted a place on the meno clinic waitlist and actually having my appointment, I *went through the menopause*. Quite funny in retrospect, but not so funny when I was unable to leave the house because of how heavily I was bleeding.
His Edward VI is unparalleled
April 1, 2025 at 8:15 PM
His Edward VI is unparalleled
They’re definitely wildly misinformed about how much the lead-swinging costs in the scheme of things.
March 17, 2025 at 2:24 PM
They’re definitely wildly misinformed about how much the lead-swinging costs in the scheme of things.
I completely agree with this take, but the reality is that an awful lot of people (not rich people, in my experience, but ‘JAMs’ - swing voters) really *hate* the lead-swinging, which imperils support for the whole system. Starmer hasn’t found the perfect balance because I’m not sure there is one.
March 17, 2025 at 10:08 AM
I completely agree with this take, but the reality is that an awful lot of people (not rich people, in my experience, but ‘JAMs’ - swing voters) really *hate* the lead-swinging, which imperils support for the whole system. Starmer hasn’t found the perfect balance because I’m not sure there is one.
I feel like the establishment of NICE caused lots of politicians to think ‘hmmm, this could save us a lot of earache’. And it sort of has worked with NICE, maybe because people didn’t really expect the SoS to make decisions on individual drugs anyway. But the model is not endlessly replicable.
March 13, 2025 at 3:21 PM
I feel like the establishment of NICE caused lots of politicians to think ‘hmmm, this could save us a lot of earache’. And it sort of has worked with NICE, maybe because people didn’t really expect the SoS to make decisions on individual drugs anyway. But the model is not endlessly replicable.
I know it’s a small thing, but a friend of my son is doing a Masters in atmospheric physics and a crucial part of his dissertation was based on climate stats that were yoinked three weeks ago. He’s not sure what to do. It’s just vandalism
March 13, 2025 at 6:56 AM
I know it’s a small thing, but a friend of my son is doing a Masters in atmospheric physics and a crucial part of his dissertation was based on climate stats that were yoinked three weeks ago. He’s not sure what to do. It’s just vandalism
I did this on a train once, except it was New Order’s Bizarre Love Triangle. The culprits sniggered at me, but they stopped playing their tinny crap which was all I wanted
February 14, 2025 at 4:45 PM
I did this on a train once, except it was New Order’s Bizarre Love Triangle. The culprits sniggered at me, but they stopped playing their tinny crap which was all I wanted
What was the answer??
February 8, 2025 at 7:45 AM
What was the answer??
I go to far too many funerals these days and the standard for ordinary folks (south of England) seems to be about two weeks. Pure anecdotal experience though
January 30, 2025 at 12:31 PM
I go to far too many funerals these days and the standard for ordinary folks (south of England) seems to be about two weeks. Pure anecdotal experience though