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Scattered here and there
Nov. 3rd, 2019 04:00 pmThis has been a weird week.
I discovered, after the fact, that Boris Johnson had come to my workplace (or at least one of the departments in the hospital site on which my library is located) for a campaign visit. The press weren't told, most people working in the hospital weren't told, and the people who were there as props to this particular campaign stunt were told they weren't allowed to talk to him. However, the amazing![[twitter.com profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/e0caa790ec10/-/twitter.com/favicon.ico)
SJimons, a medical student at Cambridge, delivered a spectacular, spontaneous rant immediately afterwards, all the more impressive because she managed to say everything necessary with clarity, concision, and righteous anger. You can watch her here. I recognise her from around the library, but have never spoken to her beyond issuing or returning books — next time she's in I must applaud her!
I have to wonder why Johnson was in Cambridge at all. This constituency is a two-horse race between Labour and the Lib Dems, and has been since the late 1980s. Furthermore, it had pretty much the highest Remain vote in the entire country. Unless he was hoping to be booed out of the site by a chorus of angry patients, I'm not sure what he was trying to achieve.
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Yesterday Matthias and I braved the rain and went out to the cinema to watch Official Secrets, which made me a) furious all over again with Tony Blair, and b) have a panic attack in the cinema because one of the characters was threatened with deportation. #migrantlife, I suppose. The film featured just about every British actor ever, and was a competently told political/investigative journalism drama, and I'm glad I saw it, although I hadn't expected to be hyperventilating in a darkened cinema on a Saturday afternoon due to a panic attack!
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I've spent most of today doing calming things: yoga for an hour, gentle amounts of cleaning and decluttering (if anyone in the Cambridge area wants two used desk lamps, get in touch!), and reading Any Old Diamonds by KJ Charles (lovely and cheerful, although not my favourite of her books) while drinking tea. I've achieved some sort of equilibrium, I suppose.
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I know there are at least a couple of fellow Australian migrants subscribed to my Dreamwidth, so the following may be relevant to your interests: ABC iView is now available overseas, provided you download the appropriate app. More details here. I've always appreciated that the ABC removed the region lock on its news streaming channels during elections and similar big political events, but it's nice that we'll have access to this coverage all year round now. I can combine my stress about UK politics with more stress about Australian politics! It's worth noting that although the press release I've linked talks mostly about access to the news and current affairs content, it appears international viewers will have access to all ABC content on iView, including sport, comedy, drama, documentaries, children's programming, and other entertainment.
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I finalised my Yuletide signup yesterday; anyone who hasn't yet signed up has a few hours yet. Details can be found at the![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
yuletide_admin comm.
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I've noticed a couple of new people subscribed to my journal recently — feel free to say hello in the comments if you want to introduce yourselves!
I discovered, after the fact, that Boris Johnson had come to my workplace (or at least one of the departments in the hospital site on which my library is located) for a campaign visit. The press weren't told, most people working in the hospital weren't told, and the people who were there as props to this particular campaign stunt were told they weren't allowed to talk to him. However, the amazing
I have to wonder why Johnson was in Cambridge at all. This constituency is a two-horse race between Labour and the Lib Dems, and has been since the late 1980s. Furthermore, it had pretty much the highest Remain vote in the entire country. Unless he was hoping to be booed out of the site by a chorus of angry patients, I'm not sure what he was trying to achieve.
Yesterday Matthias and I braved the rain and went out to the cinema to watch Official Secrets, which made me a) furious all over again with Tony Blair, and b) have a panic attack in the cinema because one of the characters was threatened with deportation. #migrantlife, I suppose. The film featured just about every British actor ever, and was a competently told political/investigative journalism drama, and I'm glad I saw it, although I hadn't expected to be hyperventilating in a darkened cinema on a Saturday afternoon due to a panic attack!
I've spent most of today doing calming things: yoga for an hour, gentle amounts of cleaning and decluttering (if anyone in the Cambridge area wants two used desk lamps, get in touch!), and reading Any Old Diamonds by KJ Charles (lovely and cheerful, although not my favourite of her books) while drinking tea. I've achieved some sort of equilibrium, I suppose.
I know there are at least a couple of fellow Australian migrants subscribed to my Dreamwidth, so the following may be relevant to your interests: ABC iView is now available overseas, provided you download the appropriate app. More details here. I've always appreciated that the ABC removed the region lock on its news streaming channels during elections and similar big political events, but it's nice that we'll have access to this coverage all year round now. I can combine my stress about UK politics with more stress about Australian politics! It's worth noting that although the press release I've linked talks mostly about access to the news and current affairs content, it appears international viewers will have access to all ABC content on iView, including sport, comedy, drama, documentaries, children's programming, and other entertainment.
I finalised my Yuletide signup yesterday; anyone who hasn't yet signed up has a few hours yet. Details can be found at the
yuletide_admin comm.I've noticed a couple of new people subscribed to my journal recently — feel free to say hello in the comments if you want to introduce yourselves!