Hi team,
Welcome to the thirty-fourth installment of Furloughed. Maybe it’s a newsletter about things I’m doing while furloughed, things you can do, or both.
I’ll be brief this week because it has been BUSY.
I saw my grandad and it was lovely and I picked apples and greengages and went in the sea. I hadn’t seen my grandad — or the sea — in two years!
Then I had a new friend over and made loads of falafel and hummus and tahini sauce.
And we went to meet some wonderful friends.
Then my partner arrived and was preparing to walk up a mountain, so we went to Go Outdoors — which is my happy place because it means adventure and travel.
Then I had a big rest.
Then I was over at a friend’s taking her crumble made with the apples and doing the night shift with her and her two-week-old baby.
And all that is why this newsletter is a little late.
I now have just one and a half weeks left of furlough, so perhaps there are only one or two editions of this newsletter left. Or perhaps I’ll transform the project or start something new. Or email you haunted emails. Or ones about train travel.
Things to watch
Short things
The government needs to get in the sea but you gotta laugh tho…
And a teacher greets children as they choose to be greeted in the morning…
And thanks to a lovely colleague for this…
Series
Mainstay recommendations are City of Ghosts and Waffles + Mochi. And We Are Lady Parts.
Tbh I’ve just watched loads of Gilmore Girls while knitting.
Documentaries
Watched another of those Netflix Explained things. About plastic surgery and how now people want to look like an amalgamation of body attributes from around the world.
Films
I don’t think I had time this week! Oh wait! I watched some of Hot Fuzz on Netflix.
Things to read
Murders of environment and land defenders hit record high
“Corporations need to be more accountable and they need to take action. Especially since the people who inhabit these places never really share in the riches they produce: colonialism is still running strong, even if it’s dressed up with corporate logos or hidden with offshore bank accounts. Meanwhile, the rest of us need to realise that the people killed each year defending their local places are also defending our shared planet–in particular our climate.” — Bill McKibben quoted by Jonathan Watts
20 meat and dairy firms emit more greenhouse gas than Germany, Britain or France
Across the world, the report says, three-quarters of all agricultural land is used to raise animals or the crops to feed them. “In Brazil alone, 175m hectares is dedicated to raising cattle,” an area of land that is about equal to the “entire agricultural area of the European Union”. — Sophie Kevany
Books
It arrived!
Feel good
Fossilised long-legged giant penguin identified as new species
“The penguin is similar to the Kairuku giant penguins first described but has much longer legs,” Thomas said. That’s why it’s been called waewaeroa, which is Māori for “long legs”. Having legs this long would have made this species much taller than other ancient giant penguins, and it is estimated that it was about 1.6 metres long from toe to beak tip and 1.4 metres tall when standing up. This, in turn, would affect how fast it could swim and how deep it could dive. — Sofia Quaglia
Scientists find evidence of humans making clothes 120,000 years ago
The team also found a whale tooth, which appeared to have been used to flake stone. “I wasn’t expecting to find it since whale remains have not been identified in any Pleistocene contexts in north Africa,” said Hallett. — Nicola Davis
Things to listen to
Podcasts
Mainstay recommendation is this Blindboy podcast with Emma Dabiri. And more Blindboy - How to Solve the Housing Crisis. And a podcast about doughnut economics.
Listened to a couple of scary ones this week but in the morning so I didn’t freak myself out too much…
Music
Radio 6 played this this week and though it just reminded me of my Dad because he loves Fairport Convention, Pentangle etc. etc. my visitor enjoyed it so here it is…
Join a union and find your local mutual aid
You can join a union to help protect yourself and others. And your local Mutual Aid group.
UK government ‘failed to consider gender’ in its response to Covid pandemic
Sustainable Suppression
Avoid the three Cs - Confined. Crowded. Close-contact settings. Mask up.
Here’s Independent Sage’s vaccinations FAQ, if you or people you know have vaccine questions. They have also put out a document about the continuing need for support measures.
A video on how to ventilate a room
After two million deaths, we must have redress for mishandling the pandemic
People to listen to
When I say trans, I also mean escape. I mean choice. I mean autonomy. I mean wanting something greater than what you told me. Wanting more possibilities than the one you forced on me — Travis Alabanza quoted by Shon Faye
Things to do
Sign this petition: Ban urban and garden pesticides to protect bees, other wildlife and human health
Make a Corsi cube to filter a room/ set up a crowdfund to make them for classrooms
Send me any fun things to do or look at you see so I can include them!