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158/365: Eastern edge of Wyre Forest
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Well, on the outskirts of it, at least. The Wyre Forest is a pleasant place on a warm day, given the shade it provides. Here's a photo from near the eastern edge of it at Coppice Gate. As you can see, this afternoon was pretty much cloudless, and although the air itself wasn't uncomfortably hot, we're at the peak of sun strength with UV up to 8 (as high as it can get here) so I was careful to keep to the shade as much as I could. This particular location has no facilities bar a small car park and a simple map board, so it isn't usually very busy. That was the case today -- I only saw one person walking her dogs all the time I was there. The lack of rain is starting to tell, though, as you can see from the yellowing of the grass here.

Also, have a meme question I noticed somewhere:

What is an unusual form of transport you have used?

(The original says "transportation", but I ain't American! :P )

To many people, I suppose "steam train" would count, and I've been on those masses of times -- but it's not unusual to me. That being so, the obvious answer is "hovercraft". Back in 2007, I flew (you don't sail a hovercraft) from Portsmouth to Ryde on the Isle of Wight (and back) with Hovertravel. That route remains operational and is the only regularly scheduled year-round passenger hovercraft service in Europe.

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157/365: The White Swan, Bewdley
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It is twenty years to the day since more than 50 people were killed and nearly 800 hurt in the London bombings, caused by extreme Islamist suicide bombers. This was the first Islamist suicide attack in Britain, as well as being the deadliest terrorist attack since the Lockerbie bombing in 1988. It was a terrible shock at the time, all the more so because the targets were public transport vehicles: three London Underground trains and one double-decker bus. At first the news was simply of a "power surge" on the Tube, and it took a couple of hours before it was fully clear that it was something more sinister than a simple fault.

On a happier note, someone on my list here asked me recently whether the White Swan pub in Bewdley was still around. I said yes to them at the time, but here's some visual evidence! The White Swan was for a long time a slightly down-at-heel pub -- not dangerous or anything, just rather shabby and tired -- but it's had a substantial makeover in the last year and has gone significantly upmarket. It's recently started to sell itself more on food than beer, and the patio area at the back has been given a good polishing up as well. It's at the top of Load Street, Bewdley's main street.

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I have such mixed feelings about the proscription of Palestine Action in the UK. I absolutely cannot stand the organisation itself -- and I'd said that even before the ban -- which has often come over as one of those self-indulgent middle-class "look at meeeee!" groups (see also Just Stop Oil). I'd go so far as to say PA has probably harmed the case by putting off so many moderate people, just as happened when fringes on Palestine marches started actively supporting the Iranian regime recently. It's also ludicrous to say, as I've already seen happen, that the ban on PA makes it "illegal to protest the genocide". That's ridiculous and no more true than saying the Provisional IRA's proscription made it illegal to protest against British forces' brutality in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

What gives me pause is that, unlike for example the Provisional IRA, Palestine Action have not actually been violent in their actions. The best known thing was when they broke into an air base and trashed the engines of some planes. As far as I can see, all the other groups who have been proscribed -- PIRA, various neo-Nazi thugs, and indeed Hamas -- are actively violent or repressive. I tend to feel that in a democracy the bar for making it illegal even to express support for an organisation (and doing that with PA is now a criminal offence) should be extremely high. As it happens I don't want a US-style near-free-for-all when it comes to free speech. I wouldn't, for example, want to allow the level of commentary on ongoing trials that exists there.

But yeah. I deeply dislike PA and think they've done far more harm than good to their avowed cause. I also deeply dislike the arrogance of some on that slice of Palestinian protest who insist on pushing their way into so many other protests and marches (even some unrelated ones such as LGBT or disability-rights events) "because genocide". I'm deeply suspicious about these "grannies being arrested" stories, because I suspect that was what PA wanted to happen. As I've said before, it's also curious that so many of these people just happened to be against providing support for Ukraine. There's at least a suspicion that they just shout for anyone who's against Israel/the US/"the West" in the same way ultra-lefties lionised Stalin in the 1950s.

But even all that said, actually making it a criminal offence not just to join PA but to express support for them? However much I dislike them myself, that's where I get uneasy.

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153/365: J. F. Kennedy memorial mosaic mural, Birmingham
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I was in Birmingham again today for some cardiology screening at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Routine stuff and nothing to worry about, but it did mean a bit of a trek on the trains. The city centre was very busy with Black Sabbath fans from all over the world who'd come for the band's last-ever concert tomorrow, so I walked down to Digbeth (where the coach station is) and passed the J. F. Kennedy memorial mosaic mural. This isn't the nicest part of town and I wasn't keen to linger, and as you can see the mural surrounds have sadly seen better days, but it seemed appropriate to post it on 4th July! The text on the right is a JFK quote: "A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on." The Presidential Seal on the mural incorporates real gold. The original mural by Kenneth Budd was commissioned by Birmingham's Irish community and appeared in another location in 1968; because of major road developments it was removed in 2007, but this new version was unveiled in 2013 with the help of Kenneth Budd's son Oliver.

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152/365: Victoria Road Cemetery, Cradley Heath
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I nipped up to Merry Hill this morning, and although it was a slow start weather-wise, things improved quite a bit later on. Today's photo is of Victoria Road Cemetery in Cradley Heath, not directly attached to a church but an overflow space for Christ Church in nearby Quarry Bank. Despite initial appearances, the location pictured here is in a very urban area -- you can just see the houses in Victoria Road itself beyond the trees to the right. The cemetery had newly mown grass, but it otherwise seems a little on the neglected side, with a lot of plants growing over graves as seen here. On the plus side, its relatively untouched nature makes it a little oasis for wildlife, although I didn't see anything interesting during my brief visit.

As for the Merry Hill part of the day earlier on, the main downside was that I managed to drip brown sauce (from a bacon butty) onto my white polo shirt. Go me. Fortunately Merry Hill is a biggish shopping centre, so an emergency Primark run sorted out the immediate issue. (Basic cotton T-shirt, quite a pleasant teal colour, £2.50.) Whether the brown sauce will come out of the polo shirt is a good question, but I have reasonable hopes. It fortunately wasn't an expensive shirt in the first place -- though not quite as cheap as the T-shirt I bought today! -- so I'm not going to expend vast amounts of effort on it. I can always keep it for doing gardening in or something if the stain doesn't disappear.

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149/365: Sunset towards the Wyre Forest
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A very warm (27 °C) day today, but disappointingly cloudy, which made it feel very humid and uncomfortable. I had enough time for a pint of perry at lunchtime, which was nice -- Wetherspoons is doing a Craft Cider Festival, and perry qualifies as it's pear cider. Specifically, I drank Midnight Special from Mr Whitehead's, a Hampshire company. A new one on me: medium-sweet and easy drinking, and although you wouldn't call it especially complex it did slip down well on a very warm day in the beer garden. My photo from today is of sunset during a short walk I was taking on the western fringes of Bewdley. This photo was taken at 9:56 pm, and I'm looking towards the Wyre Forest on the horizon.

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148/365: Derpy Hooves on a muffin, Worcester
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If you've been here a while then you'll probably know this first bit -- but if you're newish to this journal and are surprised by my subject line, then please read on: in the very specific context of the My Little Pony fandom, "Derpy" is the appropriate term here. It's the first name of the grey pony standing on my chocolate muffin. Although you can't see it in this profile view, she has wall eyes (originally an animation error) and is generally considered the fandom's mascot. There's a fairly detailed story behind why "Derpy" is almost universally accepted, which I'll happily repeat if anyone would like me to. But suffice it to say that in an MLP fandom context as applied to this specific pony, it is not only not a slur, it is the preferred name for her for the large majority of disabled Pony fans -- including for use by us non-disabled fans. I don't use the word anywhere else, but I do use it in Pony fandom without qualms.

As to why she's standing on my chocolate muffin... this is a photo from the MLP fandom meetup I went to today in Worcester. Derpy canonically loves muffins. I am very fond of them as well. I am also very fond of Derpy, though that's pretty much universal in the fandom. "Bolero" is the name of the café we use, a place which has been extremely good to us for some years now and which I thoroughly recommend. By the way, the character you can just see on the bag to the top left is Nightmare Moon. She was banished to the Moon (canonically "in the Moon", in fact) by her sister for a thousand years after trying to impose eternal night. Because, you know, kids' cartoon. :P