Leon Markham

@JacobAShell I mean that sounds a lot more like “Italian e-commerce sucks” than “trains suck”. And next time - ask your German friends how to buy train tickets - they know what’s up.

The European passenger rail system is very cool, but I remember having this horrible experience in '22 where I bought an Italian rail ticket to go from Munich to Rome, and purchased it online. Was told after I completed the purchase that "it was only valid if printed, and it could only be printed at an Italian printer" (I was in Germany). The Italians wouldn't let me return the ticket. Germans I knew rolled their eyes and said I should have just gone to a German train station and bought the ticket there, in person, and that buying anything online, esp from Trenitalia, is bad. 100 euros down the drain. The point of the story is that yes the EU rail system looks cool on a map. And if you go Point A to B inside of one country (e.g. Munich to Hamburg), things usually go very well. But when doing multiple countries, you can wind up back in a situation from early 20th century where you're dealing with various border-bureaucrat "Kafka traps." You'd think the whole point of the EU would be to streamline this, but no, apparently the only point of it is to deprive nations of sovereign control over labor flows.

@zackangelo @paulg @Seanfrank 100%. I was at an event where an American guest asked “why do British people love Ridge so much?” - I was like, taste it???

@paulg @Seanfrank Best wine in the US imo

Ridge wallet fans everywhere you look

@paulg @Seanfrank Best label, Optima font is *gorgeous*, first major producer I think to put *all* the ingredients on the label, to the extent it would be illegal in France. All the varietals listed, including % by the 70s at least. Labels virtually unchanged in 50+ years. Flawless.

@Seanfrank Uh, sorry but

@paulg Ridge the winery with the best design and wine in the United States , or Ridge the manufacturers of surprisingly good carbon fiber wallets?

Brands I love: Lego, Leuchtturm, Oxford University Press, Pentel, Schöffel, Aqualung, Paradores, Staedtler, Birkenstock, Braun, Knoll, Patagonia, Herman Miller, Iittala, L.A. Burdick, Artemide, Aman, Thames & Hudson, Yeti, Rimowa, L.L.Bean, Timbuk2, Eschenbach, Ridge, Maui Jim.

@nazzobetweeting This annoys me but annoys me less than people choosing JFK over Newark

i was reading a book by a british author that takes place in NYC and the author wrote “the flight from London landed at LaGuardia Airport” like no. no, it didn’t. no it did not do that.

@2thegreat166318 @LeahLibresco Deliberately hesitating and sounding nervous before your strongest point that you had to miss out some of your best evidence for to hit the word limit…chefs kiss

@LeahLibresco In my tutorials, I'd approach with the greatest trepidation the one line in my paper I wasn't sure about, but I needed to hold my 'thesis' together. I would buck myself up and hope I didn't sound hesitant, but my tutor could smell weakness: "What evidence do you have for ..."

"Some professors have for many years been giving oral examinations in the old Oxford and Cambridge tutorial style, where students read their papers aloud, and the professor interrupts to ask questions like 'What do you mean by that word? What does that phrase mean?'"

@paulg Writing on behalf of your stupid readers - don’t give up on us yet.

An encouraging thought about AI: If the most influential readers of my essays in the future are AIs, and AIs are smart and rational, I don't have to worry about the way stupid or biased readers will react to what I write. I can safely aim high.

@paulg See also group calls on WhatsApp. Has anyone ever actually intended to make one?

There's a kind of feature that gets used more by accident than on purpose, and for some reason splitting screens is this kind of feature, for me at least. MacOS, vim, and now Chrome all have screen-splitting, and I only ever do it by accident.

Always a pleasure to work with the brilliant @elitistreview

@Mike_G13 @SkyNews Ha I mean - of all the global bands with their following, Queen is the one that owes the least of its success to the US market. It was only really Wayne’s World that rehabilitated them in the eyes of the American audience.

@SkyNews He didn't say that decades ago, when the crime rate was worse, but he made his money from the U.S. So now he can be political.

Queen won't tour in US because it's 'a dangerous place' trib.al/JebplB4

@rohindhar Sure - and what are people using Waymo for? Traveling to / from places of work? Places they spend money?

Interesting Hacker News comment that Waymo fares basically pull the money out of the local city And send it to the San Francisco bay area

@NaijaGoldaMeir @Adrian_Hilton Did you watch it?

Its very upsetting. Sometime ago, I wanted to watch "North and South", the Richard Armitage version. I could not find it on BBC iplayer but found it on Prime Video pay-to-watch. Why do I pay TV license to support the BBC and yet I have to pay to watch a BBC production? All BBC back catalogue should be available on demand.

I have said before (as have others) that if the BBC were to make available its substantial back catalogue, it would solve its funding in perpetuity. Millions would be happy to pay the equivalent of the licence fee for access to it all. Issues of cost and rights are surmountable.

@coe62 @British_Airways The website works! But yeah - BA IT is comical.

Come on @british_airways This has been happening for days and I can't use my BA app on android phone . Clearing cache, data and force stopping the app does nothing. Your tech is beyond poor. Please fix this!!!

@patrickc Knowing there are police in a particular spot reduces the incidence of a crime, not just the detection. In the UK speed cameras have to be clearly visible. Some non-functioning speed cameras are left in place to increase traffic safety.

The "police ahead" feature in mapping applications is peculiar. What exactly is the point here? Do we want road safety enforcement to be better or worse? Should these applications also provide notifications for ticket inspectors on public transit?

@elitistreview I mean - that's pretty much made my day!

@humanleon you got a like from Ridge Vineyards!

Just published on the elegant, elative Elitistreview: 2018 @RidgeVineyards by Leon Marks - elitistreview.com/2025/10/03/201…

@basilYam @michaelcurzi what feels rude is what you mean, not how you say it, imo. This is the least rude way to say it. I mean imagine - you can't shout "did you MMM me? Did you - did you really MMM me?"

@michaelcurzi Ok yes that works. I feel rude not saying more but mb that’s just my problem

I wish there was a pithy phrase that meant "I hear that you think this. I neither agree nor disagree. This is your thought, and I really have nothing to do with it."

@michaelcurzi @basilYam came here to say this

@basilYam 'Mm'

This is what the internet was made for. I was today years old when I realised I need to build a home gym...

@lydialaurenson I think there’s also something about conflict vs ignorance framing. One definition of narcissistic behavior is that it’s essentially antagonistic - therefore one needs to use conflict framing when engaging. Therefore avoid / minimize / repel.

I don’t really know what to do for the worst cases though, except (a) stay as far away from them as possible, and (b) share info with people who seem like they can use it well, and (c) pray for us all

Watching my baby grow into a toddler, while learning about extreme narcissism, leads me to ponder how many narcissists apparently never outgrew infantile/toddler coping mechanisms A few thoughts that follow from this: - Healthy people often feel an urge to protect narcissists…

New on Elitistreview: Team Elitistreview's highlights - elitistreview.com/2025/12/31/win…