Matt Ballantine

@ballantine70

Sociologist. Musician. Technologist. Dad. Current side project: randomthebook.com "Someone called Matt Ballantine" New Scientist, June 2026

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Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· 29d

Best door knocker I've seen in a while...

A door knocker which bashes a bronze head.

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Jul 4

A thing I've built using Claude.

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Jun 30

Strong The Boss vibes

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Jun 23

We've recreated the reflecting pool in miniature.

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Jun 8

Something appears to have exploded in Lambeth...

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Jun 3

Complete the headline. Wrong answers only.

Hertfordshire man left with 'life-changing penis burns' on flight pursues...

Watford Observer

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· May 30

Strong Sendak vibes...

The cover image from Where the Wood things are. A grumpy monster sitting under trees. A boat on a lake.

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· May 29

Fitzrovia is a place. A quarter is a measurement. They don't need to be combined.

Hoarding with the words fitzrovia corner

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· May 21

I think everyone deserves their own Blue Plaque. experiments.mattballantine.com/blueplaque/

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· May 17

Pick a Bond from photos you already have in your phone

A derelict shed with the numbers 2007 in white superimposed on top

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· May 14

Sorry, not sorry... experiments.mattballantine.com/orderorder/i...

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· May 2

Well this gives me a chance to repost probably my favourite ever photo...

A seagull in flight reaching food food held almost by a person's hand.

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Apr 24

A rather fine Jay sitting on a fence with a tree in the background.

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Apr 24

Haven't done a #CoffeeRorschach in a while. What do you see in the foam this morning

The foam on top of my coffee this morning. This doesn't really work if you have vision issues.

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Apr 9

Random the Book is now in boxes and heading on its way to the UK. You can order a copy at securityblendbooks.com

510 copies of our book, in big cardboard boxes, in the back of a lorry.

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Apr 6

I'm being shown adverts for fighter jets on LinkedIn. Not sure if this is general pr, or for personal use given (waves arm) all that's going on...

A Lockheed Martin advert for an F-35 fighter jet on LinkedIn.

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Mar 29

From now on, this is the only way I will travel:

An old white Fiat with a boat fender on the front, presumably because it parks between trees.

The same Fiat with a fender on the back too.

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Mar 17

People were starting to wonder if the balustrade has been a good idea after all.

a safety sign from The Royal Institution. It's a pretty clear set of "don'ts" regarding their balustrades (the railings or pillars supporting a handrail).
The sign lists four specific prohibited actions to keep everyone safe:
Do not lean on the balustrade.
Do not climb on the balustrade.
Do not sit on the balustrade.
Do not drop anything over the balustrade

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Mar 8

Of all the things about modern technology that gets on my nerves, pointless bloody gamification is up at the top. Energy and effort was put into creating something that I neither knew nor cared about. And it treats me like a toddler doing potty training. "Ooh look. Matty read some books."

Another pointless gamification nick nack from Kindle.

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Mar 3

The collection of @willsh.bsky.social Artefact Cards I have in the kitchen for mini recipe reminders.

Seven small pieces of card on a hitch surface, each with a list of ingredients.

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Jan 16

Saw this and thought "wow, an estate agents inspired by jazz legends". Turns out it's just the founders' names.

Estate agents board for "Miles and Bird".

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Jan 9

Here's a fucking idiot.

Clip from the guardian... "His justification? "If we don't do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we're not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor," Trump said."

A map of the Bering Strait, where the US and Russia are 56 miles away.

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Jan 8

Actually, @theguardian.com, no thanks. This is so grim. Snuff news.

Screen shot of The Guardian app with the words "Video Watch the moment woman fatally shot by ICE agent during Minnesota raid"

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Dec 23

But it's doing good for the economy! Oh. Hold on. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63bc25...

Summary of social and economic costs of gambling in the UK. About £1.2bn

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Dec 21

Random the Book pre-sales go live tomorrow morning...

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Dec 7

Another window opens on Random the Advent Calendar experiments.randomthebook.com/adventcalend... Today's window is number 2, and it comes with a free snowflake simulator!

A snowflake on a green and red background.

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Dec 6

Here's a thing that @sonofsuntzu.bsky.social and I made. Pre-orders open soon. More details at randomthebook.com

The first full printed prototype of our book. It's 2 inches of A5-sized Cardstock. The front cover has a 4x5 grid of images taken from the book.

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Dec 4

It told me I was 73. The bastard.

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Dec 3

Day 2 of Random the Advent Calendar, and we open window 11... experiments.randomthebook.com/adventcalend... If you squint, 11 is 2 in Roman numerals. These kinds of coincidences are what happens when you really get into randomness. Anyway, today we explore why we stick cash into Christmas Puds!

Close up of a six pence piece, coloured a festive red.

Matt Ballantine@ballantine70· Oct 27

This, from @adamgrant.bsky.social's Originals probably won't help, but might explain...