Wednesday, December 6, 2023
River regeneration project - I wrote a few days ago about some bridge building in the local communities here where I am in Vietnam. I created a Twitter thread with pictures. Rather serendipitously this article about the very same river / canal flowed through my feeds yestrday. Lots of interesting history about the area and the wider projects to revitalise the waterway.
It's really tough going here in many places, and these projects drag on for decades, it's very chaotic, funding issues, it's never ending. But there is progress even though on the surface it might not look like it at times. #
Changelog news links - I really like Changelog News Podcast. Of course it's produced with the usual very high quality standards with which they make all of their shows, great story selections, commentary, and context audio clips. The accompanying newsletter is really great too. But if there would be one thing that would make it even better imho that would be including a list of story links in the show notes. I often listen to the show offline, so getting to the newsletter which has the links isn't always possible. Having the links with the podcast would be super useful. #
Belgian character created to add inclusivity to festive season dragged into row - I have many fond memories of St Nicholas / Sinterklaas festival. It was always the christmas season warm up. The christmas before christmas. I agree with the sentiment that the Zwarte Piet character was a little confusing, but I wouldn't say it was overly so. At least for me, it just wasn't the focus. But I could totally see how these days it might be. I also have great memories of the african communities in Belgium. It's a difficult history but it's also perhaps an opportunity. We have had many integration difficulties in the UK too, though it's different for sure, it's a different vibe. It's a long time since I was in Belgium so maybe I'm very out of touch with how things are now. My initial reaction reading this, to be honest, was it felt a little like some floozy was trying to steel St Nicholas, and it's weird because St Nicholas was never about kings and queens. Also I think St Nicholas might have a wife, so I imagine she's probably a bit miffed. I could be getting this confused with Santa Claws though. Anyhow, in this age of user generated content and fan fiction, perhaps this is just the first iteration of an adaptation. These things take years, but the kids these days are very creative, maybe they will eventually arrive at a more modern story. It might even be a fun journey. theguardian.com #