sanguinity

mdlbear

Today I am thankful for...

Eleven years with a wonderful, cuddly cat. Thanks, Ticia. I'll always love you.
Solensia (injectable arthritis medicine for cats).
Bronx finally (hopefully) learning to keep his claws to himself, and not to nip so hard.
Finally getting the hang of the Sigvaris Doff N Donner, which makes putting on compression stockings somewhat less annoying.
Our immigration lawyer/law firm.

Current Mood: grateful
Current Music: maybe Eurofilk tonight

camberville_beyond_feed

https://mailchi.mp/bostonglobe.com/british

June 11, 2026

Read online

A newsletter for the people (and turkeys) of Cambridge and Somerville.

A Thursday to watch soccer

It was a cold December night in Boston and I was standing on the second floor of a stunning Beacon Hill row house, drink in hand, chatting amiably with an interesting assortment of people. "What a great holiday party," I said to my wife, just as the British Consul General to New England walked to the middle of the room at his residence and, with some assistance, lit a cake on fire. Yes, on fire.

Technically, it was a Christmas pudding that was flaming on a platter in David Clay's hands, but the tradition was still a great shock to a parochial Camberville fellow like me. As I chatted with Clay about everything from his time teaching English in Sudan, to the tech behemoths near the British Consulate General's office in Kendall Square, to the power of soccer to bring people together, I surmised he is a most interesting dude, able to explain across-the-pond life to us Massachusetts types. So in this week of World Cup fervor, with Scotland playing Haiti in Foxborough this weekend, I headed to his office yesterday to talk soccer, er, football.

Before his posting in Massachusetts, Clay worked on the United Kingdom's response to the Gaza war from 2023 to 2024. He previously oversaw the UK's relationship with Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates; earlier, he worked as a diplomat at the UN; before that, in Egypt; and before that, in Libya during the revolution in 2011. Our fun and interesting conversation, edited for concision and clarity, is below.

British Consul General to New England David Clay MBE. (Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff)

What does a consul general do?

Four things.

Trade and investment. Helping British businesses who want to enter the market here and across New England, and helping US businesses that are thinking about investing in the UK.

Science and tech. That's helping build research collaboration at a pre-commercial state. The areas we're particularly focused on are more frontier technologies like quantum, engineering biology, AI for health, fusion.

Consular. That's helping British nationals who get themselves into trouble in one way or another in New England.

The final area is around press, politics, and public affairs. So, helping to tell the story of the UK's relationship with the US and New England, in particular. We've done lots of fun work around the 250th anniversary of the Revolution, where I've become a bit of a professional loser. That's been a great opportunity to tell the story of how the relationship has gone, from 250 years ago, being all about conflict, to today, it being the closest of alliances.

The consulate had been in Boston a super long time. Why did you move to Kendall?

There's been a British consulate here since 1790, so 236 years. For almost all that time, we were based in Boston. We moved out to Kendall Square, I think it was about 20 years ago, very much with the idea that we wanted the consulate to be close to all of the innovation that was happening around [here]. And I'm very happy to be in Cambridge, to be so close to all of the innovation that you have coming out of the universities, the life sciences ecosystem.

Part of Clay's office in Kendall Square. (Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff)

As a parochial American who doesn't fully understand the spark of soccer that lights up the world, can you explain what it means to people in the UK?

The UK is the home of football. It's been a really important part of our national culture for over 100 years. The first English and Scottish clubs were there at the end of the 19th century. The game has been played for longer.

I grew up in England. It's what all the kids were doing every playtime. When I was at school, the kids would play football throughout the year. Occasionally a little bit of cricket, maybe in the summer. But it's hard to overstate just how central football is to growing up in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, in all the parts of the UK.

There's this amazing ecosystem of clubs across the country. Everyone thinks about the big Premier League size, the Liverpools or the Manchesters. I grew up supporting my small local club called Colchester United. I used to train once a week just outside the ground. I used to go with my dad.

For many people in Britain, it's such an important part of growing up. You remember going with your parents when you were young, you grew up with a particular club that you follow through your whole life. Every four years you get to watch your home nation play in the World Cup if they're able to qualify, which is the pinnacle of football. It's very much woven into the fabric of the country and the experience of growing up there.

A soccer ball, with Clay in the background. (Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff)

Talk to me about Scotland fans.

It's the first time Scotland's qualified for World Cup in 28 years, so this is a huge deal for Scotland. One of my neighbors from my street back outside of London is Scottish, and he's coming out here. He's in his 50s, and he said, "This could be the last time I get to come and see Scotland in a World Cup game." It's a lifetime experience for many Scotland fans, in particular. I'm anticipating they're going to be very present and visible in Boston and across Massachusetts. There will be lots of kilts, lots of bagpipes, lots of Tennent's [beer] being drunk.

A few final questions. Can you explain that flaming dessert at your holiday party?

Christmas pudding, traditionally it's doused in brandy and then set alight as the crowning moment of the Christmas dinner.

Is that something from your childhood?

Actually in my family, we didn't do it.

[laughter] I know you did your research before coming here. What's surprised you about Cambridge and Somerville?

I mean . . . Fluffernutter sandwich! [laughter] I tried my first one a couple of weeks ago. And it's quite, quite a taste sensation.

	Joshua Miller Cambridge/Somerville Editor

Would that Porter shopping plaza by any other name be as sweet?

1960 photo: Cambridge Historical Commission. 2025 photo: David L. Ryan/Globe Staff

Camberville reporter Spencer Buell tells us about the big rebrand of the plaza, which has long been an anchor on the Cambridge/Somerville line. It's now . . . The Mix Porter Square.

🍺🍺🍺 In other square news, Spencer tells us about the "open container districts" coming to Cambridge square near you. Could make for a lively summer!

Beyond our backyard

Camberville is always interesting but here's some other news:

🌲Big Cambridge energy here: Tiny forests are a growing trend in Mass. and beyond.
🚇 I have wondered about these seats: The new Red Line seats are drawing complaints from riders. Here's why.
🏙️ Local city gets NYT treatment: A Catholic mayor commissioned statues of saints. Residents revolted.

One trivia thing

Thanks to the many of you who wrote in answering the trivia in last week's newsletter, including reader Susan B., the first to correctly identify a tranche of Assembly and environs.

And now, this week! Here's a 2023 image of Cambridge and/or Somerville from above. Know where this Camberville spot is? Send me an email.

More updates from Camberville

🥙 Interesting Instagram look at the history of those cool tiles (above) inside the now-shuttered Harvard Square Clover.
🍽️ She wowed Martha Stewart. Now she's got her own Somerville restaurant.
💊 GSK to buy Cambridge-based cancer-drug developer for $10.6 billion.
🚗 A 92-apartment building proposed for Rindge Avenue is bringing its developers a familiar kind of Cambridge whiplash: residents willing to see a project undone for its lack of off-street car parking.
🦃 'Gang of turkeys' on Mass. Ave coming at a biker.
🤖 Big Harvard/MIT presence here: How 16 top economists think AI will change the job market, and how to prepare.
🔥 Firefighters battled 2-alarm fire at apartment building in Somerville.
🫛 This fully vegan all-day café has long been a hit in Southie; now it's in Cambridge, too.
⚽ Somerville to let businesses extend operating hours during World Cup.
💡 Mitsubishi Electric opened its first US digital transformation hub in Kendall Square last week and will employ 120 people across project management, research, engineering, and development roles.
🍾 BTW, if you missed it last week: The Globe's Best of the Best lists are filled with great Somerville and Cambridge (and Boston) spots. Really fun to peruse.

Parting shot

Barry Chin/Globe Staff

Cambridge Rindge & Latin players celebrated an intense 10-8 win over Natick last week in the second round of the Division 1 baseball tournament.

Copyright © 2026 Camberville & beyond, The Boston Globe, All rights reserved.

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https://mailchi.mp/bostonglobe.com/british

sorcyress

Hey. Don't give up. The world is slowly getting better.

It's taking me several days of background processing, but it all hit me this morning, this particular moment from Monday night at the RSCDS Boston AGM. Because in the process of thanking me for my service to the branch/exec, especially vis-a-vis gender stuff, Linda McJ accidentally let a "she" slip out.

And like a dozen? so many more than just me, resigned, half under my breath! people chanted "they" at her in response and she apologized and kept going and holy wow, there were enough voices, distributed enough through the crowd that there's no way this was just a few of my weird queer friends. This was a lot of you.

This group of largely non-queer dancers made sure to keep my pronouns correct. And yeah sure fine, some of them collectively don't always get what that means, like, I know for some people it's "Kat's a girl with a weird preference" and not actually any understanding of genderqueerness. But they're respecting that weird preference. They're taking the first step forward, the one that opens you up to being able to understand more later, and they're taking actions that respect me.

It's been a, uh, _wild_ week as we close out the school year and I haven't had space to process this proper --I don't even really have that space or time now, but it struck like a bolt as I was getting ready, and so I'm taking these five minutes to write this and cry a little.

Because maybe the hobby I love so much can actually love me back.

~Sor
MOOP!

andrewducker

1. Fully autonomous drones have killed human soldiers for the first time: (tags:drone war Ukraine Russia death )
2. The stamp duty hike didn't backfire. That's the problem: (tags:tax UK housing )

rebeccmeister

Last night at 2 am, the house thermostat read 83°F. That, apparently, is the temperature/humidity threshold where I now wake up from overheating. I actually recently finally got one of those Aranet4 carbon dioxide sensors, which also records temperature and humidity, so soon I'll have more specific data to play with, but the house thermostat is an okay starting measure. (the Aranet4 is also currently in the bedroom with S, who is still sleeping, and I'm not sure I can connect with it from further away)

S basically won't help with the strategy of opening up windows and airing out the house at night, so when I got up this morning I did as much of that as I could. The morning outside temperature is 68°F (and HUMID), and after 1.5 hours of airing out the house is back down to *checks thermostat* 80°F.

annikusrex is arriving on Friday, and these are temperatures that will cause someone who is not acclimated to wilt. It's not perfect, but I was realizing we have 2 room AC units nowadays, the older freestanding one that turns on and off with a clunk, and the newer window unit. So this year I'll set up the back room with its own refrigeration unit.

I also closed up some of the blinds on the front porch - can't hurt.

The weather forecast for today and tomorrow includes heat advisories, as daytime temperatures will climb up above 90°F. But there are also severe thunderstorms both afternoons, so overnight temperatures should once again get back down into the 60's.

It's looking like AKW and I will have a rather warm bike expedition up to Montreal. I'd better pack plenty of sunscreen, plus sun shirts and my Da Brim ridiculous helmet hat. I guess at least that means we're likely to be warm enough at night?

When I go to Arizona in July, it will be interesting to see where my research students demand we set the thermostat. The last time I brought students, they wanted the thermostat at a point where I slept under the sheets, and I think even under a light blanket. I guess they aren't as familiar with the game of Thermostat Chicken.

matsushima posting in

thankfulthursday

What are you thankful for this week?
· Photos are optional but encouraged.
· Check-ins remain open until the following week's post is up.
· Do feel free to comment on others' check-ins but don't harsh anyone else's squee.

Current Mood: frazzled

oursin

Happy birthday,

angevin and

spaceoperadiva!

beccaelizabeth

I read about Doctor Who being out until they find new people to make it.

I suggest they use the Piper reveal to be the Bad Wolf turning up to rewrite time a bit and take a new angle on the same TARDIS team.

Annoy everyone.

nanila posting in

awesomeers

It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished! Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

dine

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

ysabetwordsmith

This year I'm doing Community Thursdays. Some of my activity will involve maintaining communities I run, and my favorites. Some will involve checking my list of subscriptions and posting in lower-traffic ones. Today I have interacted with the following communities...

* Posted "News" to

liberal.

* Posted "Books" to

library_community.

* Commented on "A thought experiment" in

linguaphiles.

* Posted "Linguistics" in

linguaphiles.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith posting in

linguaphiles

Here are some language preservation resources ...

The Language Conservancy

Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages

Mayan Languages Preservation & Digitization Project

The National Museum of Language

Current Mood: busy

soranews24_feed

Posted by Casey Baseel

https://soranews24.com/2026/06/11/trigun-legacy-cafe-coming-to-two-japanese-cities-this-summer-to-salute-series-original-form/

https://soranews24.com/?p=735011

Humanoid Typhoon to hit Shibuya and Namba this July.

Trigun Stargaze, the sequel series to Trigun Stampede, was released earlier this year, and while there’s fun to be had in the CG-reimagining of the adventures of Vash the Stampede, for many fans there’s just no substitute for the original hand-drawn Trigun manga and 1998 anime TV series.

So now there’s a Trigun Legacy Cafe coming to Tokyo and Osaka.

Hosted by Chugai Grace Cafe, a themed restaurant subdivision of department store Marui, the cafe will be saluting Trigun and Trigun Maximum, the renamed-for-publishing-purposes extension of the manga by creator Yasuhiro Nightow. Though it’s simultaneously opening in both Tokyo’s Shibuya and Osaka’s Namba neighborhoods, the two Trigun Cafes will have slightly different menus. The image above shows the lineup for the Tokyo branch, and below is the selection for Osaka.

There’s some overlap between the two. For example, you can get Vash and Wolfwood “visual mocktails” at either branch…

…and the same goes for the $$30 Million Donuts, Smokey Black Forrest Parfait, and Plant-inspired Twins Birthday drink, which comes with an art card and gives you the bulb-like container to take home.

However, the Opening Animation Salmon Sandwich and Bride beverage are exclusive to the Tokyo branch.

The Tokyo branch has regular restaurant seating, while the Osaka branch is takeout-only. However, you won’t want to breeze through too quickly, since both cafes will also have attached merch shops with items like pin badges, acrylic art bocks, and polaroid snapshot-style art cards.

If you’re looking for something practical, the shops will also have calendars, key chains, and tote bags.

Once again, the lineup is a little more extensive in Tokyo, though, as only the Tokyo branch will have plastic mini posters, IC card stickers sized to go over Suica and other rail pass cards, and “art cookies.”

And of course, this being a Japanese anime cafe, customers will also get illustrated coasters for ordering food and drink items from the menu, with separate sets available for the first and second half of the cafe’s run.

The Trigun Legacy Cafe will be open from July 3 to 26 at the Chugai Grace Cafes in Tokyo’s Shibuya Modi and Osaka’s Namba Marui buildings.

Related: Trigun Legacy Cafe Tokyo official website, Trigun Legacy Cafe Osaka official website
Source, images: PR Times
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

https://soranews24.com/2026/06/11/trigun-legacy-cafe-coming-to-two-japanese-cities-this-summer-to-salute-series-original-form/

https://soranews24.com/?p=735011

kelly_chambliss

It's book meme time! Stolen from

therealsnape

( Get Your Red-Hot Book Meme Here! )

settiai

In tonight's game, ( the rest under a cut for those who don't care. )

And that's where we left off.

Current Mood: accomplished

flamingsword

I think I am in love with the ghost of Andrea Gibson, and need to buy some of their books.

Andrea Gibson — “For Jenn”:

At 12 years old I started bleeding with the moon
and beating up boys who dreamed of becoming astronauts.
I fought with my knuckles white as stars,
and left bruises the shape of Salem.
There are things we know by heart,
and things we don't.( Read more... )

I’m going to try to catch up on people’s journals as much as I can tonight. If I don’t react to your important post with so much as a <3, please assume I did not see it and drop me a link so i can stay in touch with the things you feel are important bits in your life?

olivermoss

I've talked a bit about this, but we've now got numbers. 60-80% of PWHL ticket buyers have never been to a live NHL game. It's a a new market, expanding hockey. It's not cannibalizing the NHL market or other markets. It's also different fans with different expectations. Interestingly, the mostly-female Pdub market isn't interesting in family-friendliness. NHL games/teams put a high emphasis on being for the whole family, but Pdub fans are there to see high levels of skill and competition.

soranews24_feed

Posted by Oona McGee

https://soranews24.com/2026/06/11/starbucks-japan-releases-new-torori-drinks-exclusive-to-7-eleven-convenience-stores/

https://soranews24.com/?p=734900

A new limited-edition drink you can’t even get at Starbucks.

Competition is fierce amongst Japan’s top three convenience store chains, 7-Eleven, Family Mart and Lawson, but right now 7-Eleven is edging ahead of the competition with a new tie-up Starbucks drink that you can’t get anywhere else, not even at Starbucks.

Called Fruity Cheers Torori, this new beverage comes in two flavours, Strawberry Berry Bergamot and Mango Passionfruit, with each one blending the rich aroma of fruit with the creamy smoothness of milk and the refreshing finish of tea for a perfect summer pick-me-up. One of its other key features lies in its name, as “torori” is Japanese onomatopoeia for something with a thick, smooth, rich, and velvety texture, and that’s what this drink promises to deliver.

The Strawberry Berry Bergamot blends milk with the refreshing citrus aroma of bergamot, the delicate fragrance of jasmine tea, and the sweet tartness of strawberry and blackberry. The result is a vibrant, fruity beverage with a rich strawberry aroma and a satisfyingly smooth texture.

The Mango Passionfruit features rich tropical aromas of mango and passionfruit, and blends it all with milk and black tea to create a luscious taste experience. The sweet, full-bodied fruit flavors and creamy richness are said to “unfold with every sip”, delivering a refreshing sensation that captures the spirit of summer.

According to Starbucks, this new series was created with the goal of bringing the Starbucks experience into people’s busy everyday lives through a convenient PET bottle format. Carefully developed by fine-tuning the balance between fruit, milk, and tea to achieve a rich, fruity flavour with a refreshing finish, these drinks are said to be the perfect companion for a summer afternoon.

With bright, colourful packaging and layered graphic elements, the cheerful design is sure to grab your attention when the drinks are released on 16 June. They’ll be available at 7-Eleven stores nationwide for a limited time, priced at 214 yen (US$1.33) each.

Source, images: Press release
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

https://soranews24.com/2026/06/11/starbucks-japan-releases-new-torori-drinks-exclusive-to-7-eleven-convenience-stores/

https://soranews24.com/?p=734900

thisaintbc posting in

ds_c6d_bigbang

Sorry for the late announcement - June crept up on us!

The third live chat for the 2026 Big Bang will take place on Friday/Saturday, June 12/13. We are offering two different chat times:

Chat 3A will start at 8pm Chicago time on June 12 (What time is that for me?)
Chat 3B will start at 2pm Chicago time on June 13 (What time is that for me?)

Chats and check-ins take place on our discord server. We encourage you to check out the server in advance of the chat - and, if you'd like, to use it to hang out and support each other even outside of the officially scheduled chats! Everyone is welcome, whether you're a participant, beta, cheerleader or just want to chat about due South and other C6D fandoms.

Sign ups for the Big Bang remain open! For primary sign ups you can make 20k fics or equivalent art/craft/vids/podfic.

suzume posting in

intoabar

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sometimes sanguine, sometimes sanguinary

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Thankful Thursday

⚽ The diplomat in Kendall

Joshua Miller
Cambridge/Somerville Editor

The hobby I love...

Interesting Links for 11-06-2026

Thermoregulation [status]

אַ דאַנק (11 June 2026)

(no subject)

Wilderness years again for the TV show

Just One Thing (11 June 2026)

munch munch munch yum yum yum

Community Thursdays

Linguistics

Trigun Legacy Cafe coming to two Japanese cities this summer to salute series’ original form

Book Meme!

Aurendor D&D: Summary for 6/10 Game

Symphonies and rivers

(no subject)

Starbucks Japan releases new “torori” drinks exclusive to 7-Eleven convenience stores

Big Bang Chat #3

Fic: Swimming Lessons (The Hunger Games/Final Fantasy XII)

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sometimes sanguine, sometimes sanguinary

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Joshua Miller Cambridge/Somerville Editor

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Joshua Miller
Cambridge/Somerville Editor