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Jeremy Benson

@jembenson

Adviser @aqaeducation.bsky.social, MAT and @RSPH.bsky.social trustee, ex-senior civil servant; classical music, #LCFC 🦊, England⚽️🏏, walks, photos, words (no politics); husband, father, generally curious https://substack.com/@jembenson πŸ“ Leicestershire, UK

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08.10.2023
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Latest posts by Jeremy Benson @jembenson

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This is the warning on the blood pressure monitor my dad just got.

Exceptional work. Anybody know what the fuck it’s supposed to mean?

Last line is especially ominous

09.03.2026 13:36 πŸ‘ 955 πŸ” 232 πŸ’¬ 82 πŸ“Œ 106
A four-sided clock hanging from a beam beneath the glass roof at Glasgow Central station. There is a clear blue sky above.

A four-sided clock hanging from a beam beneath the glass roof at Glasgow Central station. There is a clear blue sky above.

#Glasgow Central station, taken when I went there a few years ago. Really hoping it’s OK. πŸ”₯

08.03.2026 21:54 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I know the feeling! You could have done both…

08.03.2026 21:41 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

And last year’s are here…

08.03.2026 21:37 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

The real problem though is penalties, because if a penalty is ultimately awarded it invalidates all the subsequent play (even if that includes a goal), and you can end up with absurdities like the Wilson scenario. That’s why I reached the conclusions I did in the post.

08.03.2026 21:35 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

If it helps, there’s a thread of my favourite photos here.

08.03.2026 21:28 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I can see that works for football if/when a goal stops the game (most obviously it would work for offside). But what about potential penalties or red cards which the ref either misses or isn’t sure about? Play could continue for several minutes after a possible incident before a stoppage.

08.03.2026 21:12 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Put it in Your Pocket (feat. Deiah Marie)
Put it in Your Pocket (feat. Deiah Marie) YouTube video by Direct Injection - Topic

Two years ago my son’s (then) band released this. Which I still think is quite fun.

08.03.2026 20:55 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Album cover for the recording of Johann Ludwig Bach’s Leipzig Cantatas on the Ricercar label, performed by the Capella Sollertia conducted by Johanna Soller. The cover picture is part of Der FlΓΌgel einer Blauracke, a picture by Albrecht DΓΌrer (1471-1528), showing the wing of a bird (a European Roller) - mostly green, brown, blue and cream feathers.

Album cover for the recording of Johann Ludwig Bach’s Leipzig Cantatas on the Ricercar label, performed by the Capella Sollertia conducted by Johanna Soller. The cover picture is part of Der FlΓΌgel einer Blauracke, a picture by Albrecht DΓΌrer (1471-1528), showing the wing of a bird (a European Roller) - mostly green, brown, blue and cream feathers.

Strong recommendation for this album of 18 cantatas by JL Bach (1677-1731), a near-contemporary and distant relative of JS Bach. This music survives because JS made copies for performances at Leipzig in 1726. They are gloriously rich, exquisitely simple and often stunningly beautiful.

07.03.2026 09:27 πŸ‘ 13 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Music-hack: Twelve neglected pieces of music that are worth your time I always intended and expected to write about music on this Substack.

As a small contribution to #IWD26, here’s a list I made a while ago of music composed by women that is worth a listen.

08.03.2026 08:41 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A four-storey early-C19th terraced house in Cartwright Gardens in London, with the prominent shadow of a tree climbing up its upper floors, which perhaps looks a bit like a monster.

A four-storey early-C19th terraced house in Cartwright Gardens in London, with the prominent shadow of a tree climbing up its upper floors, which perhaps looks a bit like a monster.

If I said that was the shadow of a monster on that house, you wouldn’t be able to unsee it would you?

08.03.2026 19:39 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0

The notice could be read to imply that she had one large hand and one large foot…! The use of a printed cotton gown as an escape device would also seem to present some intriguing narrative opportunities.

08.03.2026 18:51 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Late stroll. That cloud is the underside of a giant brain, which thinks stratospheric thoughts. A greedy green bin has stuffed itself so full of garden that branches hang out of its gaping grin. Flowers in a vase clutch a window and look wistfully at the flowerbed below.
@imcmillan.bsky.social

08.03.2026 18:28 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I don’t follow Rugby so I don’t know how transferable that is to football. One problem football has with tech is that if there was an offence the game should be stopped, but if not it should carry on. So as far as possible the system should avoid stopping the game to check for a possible offence.

08.03.2026 18:27 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

β€˜Happy to share…’

08.03.2026 16:56 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Would suggest sticking to football - far less stressful.

08.03.2026 08:54 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Music-hack: Twelve neglected pieces of music that are worth your time I always intended and expected to write about music on this Substack.

As a small contribution to #IWD26, here’s a list I made a while ago of music composed by women that is worth a listen.

08.03.2026 08:41 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

8.3.16 Steve McClaren still not sacked as Newcastle manager and may still be manager when they play us next Monday.
#LCFC #Impossible10YearsOn

08.03.2026 08:33 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Am I wrong about VAR? I have always been broadly in favour of VAR. That puts me in a diminishing minority of football fans. When Leicester was relegated to the Championship in 2023, many fans’ reaction was β€˜at least we won...

No, I disagree. The purpose is clear - to restrict the field of play and avoid goalhanging. The problem is that precisely measuring offside is both impossible and unnecessary to meet those purposes. More thoughts here.

07.03.2026 22:30 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Am I wrong about VAR? I have always been broadly in favour of VAR. That puts me in a diminishing minority of football fans. When Leicester was relegated to the Championship in 2023, many fans’ reaction was β€˜at least we won...

I used to be instinctively pro-VAR and wrote this last year to test and challenge my views. I ended up concluding that it’s far more problematic than I’d thought, and should be used only for the most obvious errors - for example the ones that don’t need lines drawing to see that a player’s offside.

07.03.2026 22:10 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Late stroll. A manhole cover is a screwtop on a parallel world below. Pavement cracks wiggle downhill, memories of ancient stoneworms. A car is dragged forward by a long light line across the road ahead. A bike statue on the path marks the bench where its owner sits.
@imcmillan.bsky.social

07.03.2026 19:29 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Yes!

07.03.2026 17:42 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Ooh you’re in a moooood.

07.03.2026 14:26 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I have no skin in the game but fwiw I think you’re going to get over the line in May. Ten years ago I was feeling the pressure too though - happy days.

07.03.2026 13:45 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

How did you resist such an Eze pun…?

07.03.2026 13:41 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Is that the one where he tells the Bob O’Reilly story?

07.03.2026 13:23 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

That one might possibly be a scam, so I’d be careful. I was thinking more of the serious legit email you needed to see which, if AI had any common sense, it would never think was junk…

07.03.2026 12:41 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Until you realise that a critical email must have ended up there… 😱

07.03.2026 12:26 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Album cover for the recording of Johann Ludwig Bach’s Leipzig Cantatas on the Ricercar label, performed by the Capella Sollertia conducted by Johanna Soller. The cover picture is part of Der FlΓΌgel einer Blauracke, a picture by Albrecht DΓΌrer (1471-1528), showing the wing of a bird (a European Roller) - mostly green, brown, blue and cream feathers.

Album cover for the recording of Johann Ludwig Bach’s Leipzig Cantatas on the Ricercar label, performed by the Capella Sollertia conducted by Johanna Soller. The cover picture is part of Der FlΓΌgel einer Blauracke, a picture by Albrecht DΓΌrer (1471-1528), showing the wing of a bird (a European Roller) - mostly green, brown, blue and cream feathers.

Strong recommendation for this album of 18 cantatas by JL Bach (1677-1731), a near-contemporary and distant relative of JS Bach. This music survives because JS made copies for performances at Leipzig in 1726. They are gloriously rich, exquisitely simple and often stunningly beautiful.

07.03.2026 09:27 πŸ‘ 13 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
Black and white photo of two thick-legged wooden tables outside a pub, each with a pair of wooden benches upside down on top of them.

Black and white photo of two thick-legged wooden tables outside a pub, each with a pair of wooden benches upside down on top of them.

Benches on tables.

07.03.2026 09:09 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0