Hey, if your reading this I hope you are well. Wherever you are in the world and whatever device you are reading this on right this second, I hope you are doing OK fellow internet person. I mean it. I'm tired. This week has been a lot of work, and never feeling like there is enough time in the week to do things. I miss the weird hours I used to work. This Mon-Fri thing, with normal office hours might not be all that it's cracked up to be. One of my team I am in charge of handed her notice in…
You know what, I was kind of busy last week with my OCC project, and I was also building a website for a friend who is opening her own doctor's office, and so I completely forgot that my blog turned three years old last Thursday! Well I actually didn't completely forget, but I was convinced that the date of my first post was July 19th, while it was actually July 9th. Whoops. The human brain is weird, I still remember the birthdays of people I haven't seen or spoken to in 25 years. But then…
Today we have a rather strongly themed monthly round-up for June’s models. Yep! Every one of June’s completed models are from a single faction in a single game. Not that I didn’t also work on a bunch of other random things, but the completed stuff did manage to be tightly focused. Not that I didn’t also work on a bunch of other random models over the course of the month as the most common way I paint models isn’t actually painting a few from start to finish, but chipping away at often up to a…
In the discourse around beer, one often sees it noted that the simplistic veneration of ever-bigger numbers, common a decade and more ago, has subsided. The IBU race is over, and conscientious beer drinkers, some of them even in the US, have come to recognise that stronger beer is not automatically better than weaker beer. However, I think there are still vestiges of The Old Ways to be found, including the exponential growth of IPA subgeneres: double was followed by triple for no rational…
For years, the above has annoyed me: It’s the padlock to the attic storage. Every time I go up there to stash something away, I have to put that something down in order to unlock that stupid padlock. Opening it requires holding it with one hand and using the key with the other hand. And, I mean… the lock is just there to discourage kids from rummaging around — if somebody wants to do some looting, they can just pull off the netting easily with their hands. Or gently kick the door in. But it’s…
July 17, 2026 Why yes, I take photographs of all kinds of seemingly random things when I travel! I take a lot of food pictures, to send home to Belovedest. It reassures him that I am indeed eating (as if I ever skip meals!), and more importantly during this trip, that I was well-hydrated. Breakfasts are a key part of my day… And because it was hot when I was there (not the SUPER hot that they’re having, but hot enough for me to need a lot of breaks): I don’t take photographs of people in Paris…
Funny old week here, it seems much longer than it has been despite it being shorter! I was travelling back from Bath and last weekends wonderful holiday on Monday, and since have been finishing off a number of commissions. I suppose the throughput has made it feel busier than normal - grab a drink and a biscuit and let’s take a look…00-12, my idea to use the new Hornby TT train set chassis under a 4mm body, has been around for several months. I’m still not quite there with release, the Manning…
One more week at number one on 23rd January 1988Throughout the Autumn of 1987 and the winter of 1988, "Birthday" was the single which just wouldn't lay down and die - modest sales of the record dripped in week after week, which meant very little in "big chart terms" but remained enough to be a threat to the Indie Number One spot. The week it happened to reclaim the top spot in January is also a very quiet one, so sorry, but it won't take us long to peer beneath at the new entries in the lower…
Up at 9a.m. A nice morning. Warm and sunny. Cut dead roses from the big bed. Started with a bad back. Went to the pub at night. Saw Nick.
Happy Friday! I have two Leftuggies™ for you today. This first one is date-stamped "May, 1967", and seems to be taking place during a parade featuring members of the Horseless Carriage Club. I thought that the HCC stopped participating in Disneyland events long before 1967, but here we are. It would be fun to have old flivvers putt-putting up Main Street again, but I suppose the logistics (or crowds) might make it impossible. The boy to the right is holding a pinwheel with Mickey's likeness, I…
Now some itches can be ignored. A mosquito bite, perhaps. The urge to reorganise the tackle shed, if you've finally admitted you're never going to use that bent bankstick again. But the itch to spend an evening chasing a mythical Warwickshire Avon weir-pool barbel? That's the sort of thing that keeps you staring out of the window every ten minutes while convincing yourself the weather forecast has probably changed since you last checked it.Unfortunately, England had a World Cup semi-final to…
Well, coming into today's session, I immediately noticed that after a long two weeks of a lot of upheaval, writing for myself every day, and training for this god damn marathon more than I have ever trained for anything in my life; that I had approximately nil to write about. But, I am a stubborn person and have started to learn the tricks of the brain when it comes to being able to force creativity. So, I fired up our trusty bearblog.dev Discover page in search of some inspiration and serial…
I have, so, a camera, several cameras, but that does not make me a photographer. Dau.II otoh has a bit of an eye. She was down to the Déise in June, being handy. We seized the moment between chores to clamber over a headland that is only accessible for an hour each side of low tide. You can tel it's low tide because the tide mark is halfway up the rocks:Credits: Dau.II for the crisp picture; me for the tacky sentiment. We've been beach-combing together for at least 20 years, but we aren't in…
I set out this afternoon to cast a question which already had an answer. Sometimes this happens, sometimes it happens frequently. Retrocausality is a mind-bending and often times headache-inducing subject but there is a way to approach it without hurting yourself (maybe, I'm not promising anything).
I stopped photographing for many years. Nothing dramatic happened; it was a slow fade. I’d go out with a camera, walk around, come back without a single frame worth keeping. Eventually I stopped going out at all. The problem wasn’t burnout or crisis. It was worse: complete indifference. Danger de mort I tried the usual remedies. Looked at photobooks, scrolled through exhibitions online, forced myself to shoot anyway. None of it worked. The books were impressive but kept their distance. Forced…
It has been 10 days since my friend has passed away. The widow posts a few pictures of how she misses him. I miss my fried too. Instead of dwelling in the past, I rather honour him by living my best. When he was alive, we would talk about staying fit and learning the latest fitness protocol. He is gone now, but I am determined to stay in the path. I wish I could share my latest health report with him. I can only take this journey alone. The best way to honour someone's death is to live life…
“Successwise, you’re better off being good at two complementary skills than being excellent at one.” —Scott Adams Writing and arranging music and DJing go hand in hand. I don’t know how I at all did one without the other. DJing taught me song form intimately. I knew it, but I didn’t know it. Every time I DJ, my writing and arranging ear gets a little sharper. I’m able to consider what the crowd may or may not like for the situation the music is being created for. Things like this... DJing has…
Wow, did I ever lose track today. I almost forgot to do my daily post! First, the cuteness. Batman and Sprig like to hang out together. I draped that scrap yarn blanket over the “porch” of the cat house so it could drain and dry after a rain, and the cats enjoy it so much, … Continue reading Almost forgot!
I've never been fussed by model coaching stock. Wagons are much more interesting, and far more interesting to build too. The paintwork is easier for a start. Recently, I found my first coach model. It's a Lima MK1 in my favourite blood'n'custard livery. The thing has been through the wars. Almost certainly operated on our very first layouts, even before The Cawood Wistow and Selby line. At some point, the couplings have been removed, but not replaced by Sprat & Winkles. I seem to remember this…
How do you get rid of a bad case of The Hics? Brother, I don’t know about you, but in my neck of the woods it’s all about the junk science moves. Yes, when your diaphragm starts spazzing, it’s time to keep cool, keep calm, keep collected and try one of these: 1. The Backwards Sip. Tilt your neck to your chest and drink upside-down from the wrong side of a glass of water. Wet bangs, stinging eyes, and a drippy forehead means you did it right. 2. Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice. Some people say…
Here’s what’s happening in the thriving tech scene in Tampa Bay and surrounding areas for the week of Monday, July 20 through Sunday, July 26! This list includes both in-person and online events. Note that each item in the list includes: When the event will take place What the event is Where the event will take place Who is holding the event This week’s events Monday, July 20 Tuesday, July 21 Wednesday, July 22 Thursday, July 23 Friday, July 24 Saturday, July 25 Sunday, July 26 Monday, July 20…
Had events unfolded just a bit differently, America's most famous highway might have followed another route entirely—or carried a number like U.S. 60 or U.S. 62. Somehow, I doubt Bobby Troup's song would have been quite as catchy if it had been called (Get Your Kicks on) Route 62.How U.S. 66 got its name is actually one of the more interesting—and surprisingly little-known—chapters in Route 66 history. Here's how it happened.A New Way to Number HighwaysBefore the 1920s, most long-distance roads…
Graphic Red, Lululemon – New York, New York My wife and I went into a Lululemon on 5th Avenue, and they were celebrating the US Open Tennis Championships going on at that time. They even had a game set up on the second-floor balcony. I noticed some very graphic red tennis outfits and a matching staircase. It was great for a visual pop. The store was sufficiently bright inside that the Camp Snap took fantastic pictures. As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve found a way to soften the overly sharp…
Get your Q Tips out of the bathroom and meet me back here. You're going to learn how to hand pollinate plants. Because our friend the bee can only do so much and certain plants are notoriously bad pollinators. I'm looking at you cucurbits. This is our friend the bee. You may know him by...Read More
“‘Most kinksters don’t want to buy their shit from some random place on the Internet.’” Adult stores, AI, and adult verification. Read my report from educational seminars at the 2026 Adult Novelty Manufacturers Expo.About I My Book | Consulting I X I Instagram I LinkedIn I Email
Instead of the forecasted 20kn of wind, much of the night was hovering around 10kn. While this did hurt our day distance, it did make for smoother motion. As consequence, we both got pretty good sleep. In the morning the wind picked up again, and we’ve been barreling through the big and now a bit splashy waves towards Tahiti. Skies have remained leaden, giving little solar output. At least the hydrogenerator helps some. Point Venus 73NM, 253°. Distance today: 100NM Lunch: pea soup Engine hours:…
Tennis ball rocker feet on my KICKR CORE 2. Last winter, after getting a Wahoo KICKR CORE 2 trainer and designing some variable height feet to level the bike I kept thinking about tennis ball feet. These provide a bit of give, allowing the trainer to rock and pitch a bit, reportedly making it more comfortable to ride. (And yes, for some reason I sat on this post for half a year before finishing it up.) I’ve never really noticed an issue with the static positioning of any of my trainers, but…
(As I’m sitting down to write this, I’m noticing the report and quote I’m reacting to — spotted on Facebook a week or so back — is actually from back in March, during Spring Training, and not at all recent. That said, I’m pressing on and writing it anyway, because I need a July article, and we’re coming out of the All-Star break, so baseball is topical!) Scrolling through Facebook a week or so ago, I spotted a quote, attributed to umpire Richie Garcia, about the Automated Balls and Strikes…
