IKEA bedroom #365photos2022
My top ten tweets of 2021
Last year I posted my top ten tweets for 2020 and I did the same in 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016. It was interesting to see which tweets of mine were popular.
So looking back first…
The top tweet back in 2016 was this one for #WednesdayWisdom
Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana. #WednesdayWisdom
— James Clay (@jamesclay) May 18, 2016
Whilst top tweet for 2017 was this one from the 2017 ALT Conference and it was my sketchnote of Bonnie Stewart’s keynote on openness.
My sketch note of the @bonstewart keynote here at #altc pic.twitter.com/1ZvARS9R7t
— James Clay (@jamesclay) September 5, 2017
The top tweet back in 2018 was this one about the newly revamped WHSmith at Bristol Temple Meads complete with storage cage!
Ooh nicely spruced up new WHSmith at Bristol Temple Meads Railway Station. Compete with new flooring (no carpet), new signs, new shelving. Original storage cage in shop floor though. cc @WHS_Carpet pic.twitter.com/fJg0EgO6f8
— James Clay (@jamesclay) June 21, 2018
The most popular tweet of 2019 was this one about keeping the old Twitter.
…and we're back!
So you want to go back to old Twitter?
Click More
Click Settings and Privacy
Click About Twitter
Click Directory
Click Home pic.twitter.com/PGMF4WeTFB
— James Clay (@jamesclay) July 25, 2019
Alas the hack didn’t last too long so we have to use the new Twitter.
In 2020, the most popular tweet was this one, with me reminiscing when WHSmith in Bristol went all Dexter.
Remembering that time when WHSmith in the centre of Bristol went all Dexter… @WHS_Carpet pic.twitter.com/V1haxBhJVW
— James Clay (@jamesclay) August 27, 2020
Okay back to the last twelve months, here are my top ten ten tweets of 2021.
In tenth place was a tweet from my #JuneEdTechChallenge which asked us to tweet about the VLE in my life, I referred back to the VLE is Dead debate which had happened back in 2009.
#JuneEdTechChallenge
Day 1: The VLE in my life…Well it's dead isn't it…https://t.co/3AfZcMUKYW
Back in 2009 I thought the VLE would evolve into something at the heart of a student online experience.
Reality was everyone thought I said the VLE was dead…
— James Clay (@jamesclay) June 17, 2021
At number nine was a mention about rebooting a podcast I do on my elearning stuff blog.
Planning to reboot the elearning stuff podcast in 2022. This will be a weekly podcast on learning, learning technologies, digital leadership, and probably some other stuff I am interested in like the intelligent campus. Will be looking for panellists and experts.
— James Clay (@jamesclay) December 7, 2021
At eight was a post to a link about low-bandwith online teaching.
Videoconferencing Alternatives: How Low-Bandwidth Teaching Will Save Us Allhttps://t.co/Bg32jKPax9 pic.twitter.com/RviAPvmiG7
— James Clay (@jamesclay) January 19, 2021
The seventh most popular tweet of mine was a repost of a tweet from a few years ago about the the internet of things and how coffee machines connected to the internet would…. well see below.
The internet of things pic.twitter.com/ramURQV0jg
— James Clay (@jamesclay) September 29, 2021
In at number six was a post of mine about some blog posts I had written about online teaching and learning. It was pinned to my profile for most of the year which probably helped with its popularity.
I have been working on a series of blog posts about translating existing teaching practices into online models of delivery. I have been reflecting on how teaching staff can translate their existing practice into new models of delivery. pic.twitter.com/9cMKpNVyUy
— James Clay (@jamesclay) January 26, 2021
Fifth place was this tweet from me about how ill I had been in October with Covid-19.
Just in case you missed me…
The last two weeks have been awful. Despite being double vaccinated I caught COVID and have been very unwell as a result. It has included visits to hospital and an ambulance trip. Still a long way to recovery.
— James Clay (@jamesclay) October 18, 2021
I didn’t use the Twitter when I was ill, didn’t do very much at all.
The tweet at number four was a shoutout to Lawrie who is a star.
Shoutout to that @Lawrie who is a real star. Just needed to say that.
— James Clay (@jamesclay) October 23, 2021
The third most popular tweet of mine was reminding people that they could wear masks and didn’t need to be told to wear masks.
Remember. Please wear a mask. We don’t need to wait until Plan B we can do it right now.
— James Clay (@jamesclay) October 20, 2021
The tweet that came second was this one about the original Jisc Digital Leaders Programme.
Was this really four years ago today… I guess it was. #JiscDigLead cc @Lawrie @DonnaLanclos
Make sure you like this post… 😉 pic.twitter.com/ysR6Yyc113— James Clay (@jamesclay) May 9, 2021
My most popular tweet of 2021 was this replying to another post about empty shelves. It happens so often in my Sainsbury’s that they have had special shelf fillers printed so the shelves don’t look empty.
It happens so often in my Sainsbury’s that they have had special shelf fillers printed so the shelves don’t look empty. pic.twitter.com/Ji9vP8kSoI
— James Clay (@jamesclay) July 17, 2021
Stuff: Top Ten Blog Posts 2021
In 2021 I published 46 posts to the blog. So how did I do in 2020, well I published 423 posts…
Okay so 366 of those were of the photo a day project I did in 2020, so really I published 57 additional blog posts. In 2018 I published 89 posts to the blog, in 2019 it was 68, though 36 of those were in December.
Most of the top ten are nostalgic posts about the Bristol Harbourside in the 1990s.
The tenth most popular post on the blog was Bristol Harbourside in the 1990s Part Six.
At number nine we have another post on the 1990s Bristol Harbourside, with Bristol Harbourside in the 1990s Part Five.
Eighth post was on the Harry Potter Wizarding World Potions Classroom.
Number seven was my first post on the Bristol Harbourside in the 1990s
Sixth post was a post reminiscing about The Longleat Miniature Railway
Five was my second big post on the Bristol Harbourside in the 1990s
Fourth was Bristol Harbourside in the 1990s Part Three
The post at number three was “I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet. But your kids are gonna love it.” Which was Michael J Fox joining Coldplay on stage in New Jersey in 2016, playing Johnny B Goode from Back to the Future.
The second most popular blog post asked the question “the cafe on tv at weston super mare is it real” which was a post about people Google searching that phrase and ending up on my blog. Now those same Google searches send people to this page rather than the original post on Cyril’s Cafe.
The most popular blog post in 2021 was a nostalgic post about Remembering the Bristol Temple Way Flyover.
Marine Lake
Went for a walk this morning and we walked past Marine Lake and Knightstone Island.
It has been drained and hopefully will be cleared of mud and silt making it a better swimming experience. The work requires permission from a government agency, and if approved will be finished by the summer of 2022.
Happy 93rd Birthday Bernard Cribbins
My first memory of Bernard Cribbins was as Perks in The Railway Children.
Of course he has been in so much more than that, I did enjoy his role in Doctor Who as well.
Another favourite of mine was his narration of the original Wombles.
Happy 93rd Birthday Bernard Cribbins.
1947 Nash Ambassador 436YUP
Then and Now – Kiln House
This is a regular series of blogs about photographs of the same place taken years apart. I quite like those Then and Now comparison photographs that you see in books or on the Twitter or Facebook.
Unlike some of the photographs in this series, this time the now photograph was an intentional photo.
Back in May 2016 I went for a lunchtime walk and saw the building work in the Redcliff Quarter of Bristol. One place caught my eye, Kiln House, where the majority of the building had been demolished, but the facade was retained (it was probably listed).
This is another view of the facade.
The other day I was out for a similar lunchtime walk and remembered taking the photograph (didn’t actually remember when, I had to find the older photograph when I got home). So I took another photograph from a similar (but not quite the same) perspective.
Kiln House is now modern flats, but I don’t know much about the history of the original building.
The day we bumped into Rod Stewart
Back in the summer we were visiting relatives in London. We went on a sightseeing walk around London. We were staying in Kingston so caught the train into London. We changed at Vauxhall and caught the tube to Green Park. The aim was to do something of a quick walk around some central London tourist landmarks.
We first walked through the park to Buckingham Palace. We did wonder why anyone would book a deckchair for the whole day to sit in the park.
We took some photographs of the palace and watched as the Guards standing on duty were inspected.
Military officer was riding around on his horse, quite surreal in some respects.
As we walked to Clarence House, we saw Rod Stewart. It was looking like he was filming a music video.
I stopped to take a photograph or two.
One of the reasons for posting this post, was that the video has now been released.
We then walked around to St James Palace. We missed the entrance as we were on the pavement next to the palace, but it was interesting to see what was originally the home of the royals. Through St James Park, through Whitehall, down to see the Houses of Parliament.
It was then pass Downing Street with a couple of protests. Back through Horse Guards Parade.
We then walked past Admiralty Arch into Trafalgar Square.
Then we caught the tube to Waterloo and then caught the train back to Kingston.