Ron Manton

@ronmanton

Unit of capitalist production. Never TPFP. Aspiring musician. Keeper of wolves.

188 Siguiendo254 Seguidores1669 Publicaciones

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Ron Manton@ronmanton· 20d

The night I turned purple at a #Supergrass gig. (Always read the label.)

A human face, turned purple by stage lighting, staring back into the camera.

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Jul 2

Which, tangentially, reminded me of tucker at Catz.

A St. Catharine's College, Cambridge meal book 10 pence voucher. I used to buy books of these containing vouchers of various (small) denominations which could be exchanged in college for tucker. The voucher features "10p" in bold green text alongside the College emblem, a shield with catharine wheel. Underneath is "St. Catharine's College" and "Meal Book", in green block capitals.

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Jun 26

Double espresso. Slightly lacking focus, as is its drinker.

Dark golden, foamy double espresso. Musetti collection art motif cup, white saucer and silver teaspoon (unused). All resplendent on a granite counter top. Ominous jug lurking behind.

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Jun 20

Honestly, I'm a bit lost in "The Warning" at the moment. Reconnecting with my heavy side... Listening to "Kerosine" from the Seattle aftershow on YT. @thewarningaust.bsky.social

Dany Villarreal of "The Warning" playing a fab. green shark pattern Paul Reed Smith guitar. Black boots, denim? short culottes and a black cut-off top. Stage rigging in the background and a patch of blue sky above.

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Jun 12

Would dearly love to return to Oz soon for the Sydney Hockneys. Maybe this, one day: "A closer Winter tunnel, February-March (2006)". #AGNSW collection #Hockney

A David Hockney landscape painting depicting a canopy of trees lining a rural road in the centre (apparently Rudston Road near Burton Agnes); Hockney referred to this as "The Tunnel" because the branches form an overhead arch. The piece has immense scale and vivid colours - including bright greens and pinks.

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Jun 8

But not too late... 📷 craiyon.com

A grim-faced character, made of a triangle of Swiss cheese. It holds a knife, spear-like, in the right hand. Night has fallen, and in the background is a sinister forest; a bright moon, probably also made of cheese, shines above, and clouds scud across the starlit sky.

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Jun 1

Striking Capital Brewing Company signage with a fresh Art Deco feel, Australian Hotel, Sydney.

Signage for the Capital Brewing Company, a craft beer brewery based in Canberra, ACT. The sign features a distinctive Art Deco stylised design using slim, fresh red letters and hatching on an enamel white background. The word, "CAPITAL" appears in the centre, inside a triangular border; the height of the lettering increases and decreases either side of an axis of symmetry formed by the capital I. Below the base of the triangular design is "BREWING Co.", enclosed in its own red rectangle. Above the triangle, red line hatching fans out, left and right, to the top of the design. This beauty is to be found at the Australian Hotel Sydney, NSW.

Ron Manton@ronmanton· May 26

Haven't spun this one up for a while. Too long. #MusicSky #SonnyRollins

Cover of my LP "The Sound of Sonny" by the legendary jazz saxophonist and innovator, Sonny Rollins (1930-2026). Sonny is pictured playing tenor sax close up to a studio microphone. He stares in front, taking a breath, a study in concentration, fingers poised over the keys. White cravat with polka dots and a very groovy mauve/lilac and white checked shirt complete the scene. My personal favourite from the record is a version of Cole Porter's "Every Time We Say Goodbye".

Ron Manton@ronmanton· May 20

My Rowohlt edition. Umschlagentwurf Werner Rebhuhn (Hans Quest als Beckmann in der Uraufführung von «Draußen vor der Tür» in der Hamburger Kammerspielen, 1947) 📷 Rosemarie Clausen

Black, sinister cover of my edition of Borchert's masterpiece, "Draussen vor der Tür" (Outside at the Door). A grainy, black and white image of the character Beckmann (played by Hans Quest), angst-ridden, bespectacled, dressed in black, light catching one side of his slightly tilted face - from the original theatre production, Hamburg, 1947.

Ron Manton@ronmanton· May 18

Katja Hoyer. Je mehr, desto besser. #BookSky

Cover of Katya Hoyer's 2026 work, "Weimar, Life on the Edge of Catastrophe." Cover photograph M-Verlag Berlin, A. Schulze/Alamy stock photo. A figure of a man, dark-suited, with hat and cane, strides in front of the parliament (?). Nazi flags hang down from the front of the edifice. The book's title, "Weimar", is in large red text. The photo is monochrome. Sinister.

Ron Manton@ronmanton· May 8

Great photo. The sky was not quite as blue for me, but no matter. Love Barangaroo. Love Sydney.

Ron Manton@ronmanton· May 5

Natur hinter dem #Stacheldraht.

Blaue Glockenblumen und grüne Blätter im Hintergrund hinter einem Strang grauen Stacheldrahts.

Bluebells and green leaves in the background behind a strand of grey barbed wire.

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Apr 25

By night.

Night scene. George St., Sydney, NSW. In the centre, tram tracks and a light rail service approaching, headlights on. Either side, lampposts rise from the pavements. Shop fronts, tall buildings. In the foreground, coloured paving stones (red, purple, black, blue) and small, concrete cubes (seats or some sort of urban art installation?).

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Apr 24

Sad to hear of Michael Tilson Thomas's death. I remember him at BBC Proms #61 in 2015. What a night of superlative music making. He was one of the greats, whose loss will be deeply felt across the classical music community. #MTT #SFSO

Page from my BBC Proms Programme booklet (season 121, 31st August 2015, Royal Albert Hall, London). On the menu that night:

Charles Ives "Symphony New England Holidays - Decoration Day"

Béla Bartók Piano Concerto No.2 (soloist, Yuja Wang)

Beethoven Symphony No.3 ("Eroica") San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas

Brahms Hungarian Dance No.10

Best "Eroica" I have ever heard.

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Apr 21

Got it today! Excited. "Prophecy - Prediction, Power, and The Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI" By @carissaveliz.bsky.social #NowReading #BookSky #PhilSky

Front cover of "Prophecy" (21/4/2026) by Carissa Véliz, Associate Professor in Philosophy, Oxon. Cover illustration and design by Oliver Munday. The front cover has an image of what looks like a surveillance camera, a spherical white ball with a circular glass lens and a red LED (denoting recording is active). The camera is mounted on a black cylindrical base. The cover theme colours start from lemon yellow at the top, graduating through greens to mid-blue at the bottom. The title is rendered in bold, black block capital letters. Beneath it, the subtitle, in hand written black script, reads: "Prediction Power, and The Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI".

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Apr 20

Morning walk. Some thoughts on the past.

A stone Celtic cross on a plinth in a country churchyard. Dappled sunlight falls on what looks like yellowish York stone. All around it flows a sea foam of purple bluebells. A few yards behind, in the near distance, stand other gravestones, stone crosses and memorials. The Celtic cross has an ornate, "twisted rope" (knotwork) motif carved into the circle, left and right arm, and the upper part of the main upright limb. The overall colour palette is purple, warm yellow stone, sunlight and shade, and green foliage and grass.

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Apr 18

Bright lights, big city. #Sydney

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Apr 18

Sipping espresso and trying to guess the number of olives in the jar. #Alltag

A glass jar with a black screw top, containing yellow, red and orange coloured olives in oil. The jar is resting on the counter of my local coffee shop, along with a food and drink menu. Behind is another jar of green olives. The counter is made of some sort of beige coloured, polished stone; the stone contains veins of black, grey and ochre. Light reflects off the neck of the jar.

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Apr 16

I love the smell of valve amplification in the morning. Smells like victory. #Fender #PlayItLoud

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Apr 14

#Kookaburra. A Balmoral resident of my acquaintance. Waiting patiently for fish scraps at the serving hatch. Mosman, NE Sydney.

A Laughing Kookaburra perched patiently on the toughened glass safety wall of a first floor walkway. Behind and below is a grey, corrugated tin roof soaking up the gentle, early afternoon sunlight. A verdant panoply frames the far edge of the roof. The Kookaburra has a whitish breast and head, and mid-brown wings mottled with striking sky blue patches. A watchful eye and rapier sharp, kingfisher-like beak points towards an invisible serving hatch in the expectation of fish scraps.

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Mar 26

Happy birthday Kyung-Wha Chung. Belter of a concerto this. A favourite at college (now some distance away, to be brutally honest), and saw a live performance in the Sydney Opera House 🇦🇺 in 2023 with Emily Sun and the SSO under Mark Wigglesworth. #NowPlaying #MusicSky

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Mar 21

It's been a multimeter sort of a day. Dug out my physics notes on simple electrical circuits to keep my ageing car on the road. I know there's only so much time in life, but fixing things is a real pleasure.

Front of my BlueSpot multimeter. An orange plastic case with green LCD display (top), a rotating selector switch in the centre (for DC/AC voltage V, current A resistance Ω, etc. measurement), black lettering and two connector leads (red +ive, black -ive COMmon or ground...in simple terms).

Always consult a qualified person. Yeah, right.

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Mar 19

Never lasts more than a week or so. Planted in memory of my Father.

Vibrant mauve petals of my magnolia tree, planted in memory of my Father. Behind is the greenery of the back garden.

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Mar 17

Harry Palmer: "Let's get out of here. I've got some fiction to write." And what fabulous fiction it is. When you get up there, Len, hope you have the right security clearance. #LenDeighton (1929-2026). #BookSky

Disintegrating cover of my copy of the Len Deighton spy thriller, "Funeral in Berlin" (1964). The cover's background is plain white. At the top is the author's name in black block capitals; underneath it, the title in blue capitals. The cover image shows a silver-barrelled automatic revolver ("I prefer my automatic", "The Ipcress File"), over which lies a funeral wreath of blood-red flowers. A plaudit from the "New York Times" reads, "A ferociously cool fable. Even better than 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'".

I've loved the "Harry Palmer" spy novels and films starring Michael Caine. When you get up there, Len, hopefully you have the right security clearance. Len Deighton 1929-2026.

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Mar 12

Using my qualification in stating the obvious, and looking at a map of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, it's hard to see how transiting shipping can be protected. You don't need military sophistication if you can disrupt 16-20% of global oil supply and scare off maritime insurers. #USPandorasBox

Part of my wall map of The World, focusing on the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. On the eastern side, Iran (purple) has a long coastline, stretching from Abadan almost to Gwadar (Pakistan). To the west lies Saudi Arabia (orange), the Gulf States, and Oman (green). Yet again, we see the power of geography and oil.

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Mar 9

"Last Summer Things Were Greener". #Supergrass

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Mar 9

Strom und Natur im Nebel. #PhotoSky

Dark grey steel of an electricity pylon rising into the mist; insulators crackling and fizzing in the cold, damp air. A few yards away an ancient tree stands in silence - watching. Triangular versus dendritic.

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Mar 2

If you want to educate yourself about #Iran, this is a good place to start. (Much has happened since its publication, so any additional sources welcome.) It was recommended to me by an Iranian friend. This morning I was thinking of his family in Shiraz, Fars ostan. #WindsOfWar #BookSky #HistorySky

Front cover of "A Modern History of Iran" (2012, Cambridge University Press) by the neo-Marxist modern historian Ervan Abrahamian (1940-). The cover shows an illustration of everyday life in the capital city, Tehran. We see a multi-lane highway, gridlocked with traffic which is stopped at overhead red lights. Silver street lights and trees flank the thoroughfare. In the background, modern buildings rise: a tower under construction and a high-rise building with light grey squares of cladding and two huge portraits of (I think) Reza Shah Pahlavi and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Feb 26

Amongst the wreckage of my life I found this discount card for a lovely (Irish) boozer, "The Porterhouse", in Surry Hills, NSW. Sadly, it's no longer with us, but, according to broadsheet.com.au is to rise again as "The Continental". Hope so. An attractive corner building on Campbell and Riley.

A picture of "The Porterhouse" on the corner of Campbell and Riley Street., Surry Hills NSW. I love these corner plots. Although it is closed up and has seen better days, the building remains very attractive: cream, simple, square-faced, with a sort of Regency air to it. There are 3 floors, a ground floor verandah, and what look like plain sash windows. On the left of the picture some small trees rise from the pavement to roof level.

Ron Manton@ronmanton· Feb 26

Soon be Spring, so here's some sacred and profane, courtesy of the London Symphony Orchestra and conductor Claudio Abbado - oh, yes, and Igor #Stravinsky. Giving this #vinyl a spin for the first time since college, and, happily, it's in perfect condition. #NowPlaying #MusicSky