Let's try and keep this mostly pictoral. A tour of Harrow School buildings with The London Appreciation Society. Arrive Harrow-on-the-Hill station, turn right, buy a Tesco meal deal, pass 1970s shop with moulded cement brick façade on upper floor. There are few examples of these across London, such as in Portobello Road market which is now a Tesco store.Up Petersborough Rd. Literally 'up' – it's a hill. The hill. Harrow Hill. Sat on a bench for a lunch munch and admired the view. Near the top,…
The vibeMotivated.I have that excited, slightly impatient feeling that comes when I want to build things again. Ideas are starting to feel more real, and I keep wanting to see how far I can take them. There is a good kind of momentum right now, and I want to make the most of it.Highlights💻 I finally upgraded my 14-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro to a 16-inch M5 Pro MacBook Pro with 48 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage. I have been getting deeper into AI work and dabbling in app development again, so the…
This is a p.s. to the last post – ‘Cows do not f*ck’ about anthropomorphising. It now transpires most of the post was getting the meaning back to front! No apology if it was part of your reading… it has led us here and to what perhaps AI can ever ‘do’ – teach us what is really worth ‘knowing’? Came across the phrase ‘rat race’ via morning reading ahead of journaling [‘Meeting Life’ by J. Krishnamurti]. It may remind me which way round ‘anthropo-ing’ goes: rats simply move. I do not know whether…
Day Ten in Nagoya. No new kyujo to report. As I mentioned over on social media, Nikkan Sports is reporting that the Japan Sumo Association plans to cut back on its Jungyo tour dates from next year, from 90 tour dates to something around 70. Chairman Hakkuho has told the Jungyo Department to make the … Continue reading Nagoya 2026: Day Ten
A repeat of an article I first published on 30 July 2009. I’ve expanded and updated it. I signed off the air for the last time in 1994, capping a nine-year side career on the radio. People still sometimes ask me if I miss being a disk jockey, and for a long time I always wistfully answered yes. But not anymore. It’s not that I would be rusty as heck after all these years – and boy, would I. It’s that radio has changed drastically, and it just wouldn’t be any fun for me today. I listened to a…
As much as EDC (Everyday Carry) is basically a pastiche of performative masculinity, it remains true that some things are genuinely useful to have on you. One of these things is a pen. Just as the pen is mightier than the sword, so is it more useful. Despite what the EDC bros might believe, I almost never, going about my normal life, have the need to stab, slash, or otherwise cut things. I do quite frequently need to write things down, however. In my day job, having a pen somewhere within reach…
import { Image } from "astro:assets"; import december from "@images/posts/lifenotes-49/december.png"; ✨ Highlights I went to see Nilüfer Yanya with my friend Rachael, she’s really good! I managed to get my ADHD care transferred from a private clinic to the NHS 🎉 Went to a fun Christmas comedy evening and to drag bingo with my friends. My mum came to stay with me over Christmas 🎄 And then we went down to my sister's in Devon to celebrate her birthday 🎈 🎮 Played/Read/Watched Shrinking season 2:…
This will be a shorter newsletter than usual, so I’m glad that I’m not attempting to charge anyone for it… Long-standing readers of this blog, especially those who stuck with the ‘Twelve Days in the Year’ series, will be aware that I’ve been struggling for some years with chronic fatigue of some sort, which was if not caused then certainly exacerbated by my second bout of COVID in 2020. Well, I now have that AND a regular tendency to fall into a black pit of despair at any thought of my job.…
Titus Salt (1803-76) was born near Leeds, educated in Wakefield and served an apprenticeship with a wool-stapler in Wakefield. He moved to Bradford in 1821 with his parents & siblings at 18. In his years in Bradford he worked with William Rouse & Son, learning textile manufacture. Titus’s father, Daniel, founded a Bradford business as a wool-stapler. In 1824, Titus joined his dad’s business, Daniel Salt and Son, expanding with a spinning business in Thornton Rd in 1834. By then Bradford was a…
TIG FROMM The One, The Only Droids Basic Figure Item No.: Asst. 71760 No. 71830 Manufacturer: Kenner Number: n/a Includes: Collector coin, baton Action Feature: n/a Retail: $3.79 Availability: ca. Fall 1985 Appearances: n/a Bio: The leader of an underworld gang of thugs and cutthroats who prey on the weak and helpless of INGO. (Taken from the packaging. The cartoons had bios.) Image: Adam's photo lab. Availability: Click here to buy it at eBay now! Commentary: I was feeling uninspired, so I…
The lofi girl was right Sometimes, fighting for a change isn’t worth it. You try. Again and again. And as hard as you can. You see the problems. You feel their weight. And you have solutions to propose: clear, practical, good ones. So you speak up. Naively, you assume others will care. Why? Because you believe in something simple: that people value integrity. That a company thrives when its employees do.
Garden jobs. Quiz night. The Odyssey. Eating out. Some good walks. Still hot and sunny. Everything is parched. Panorama from Sugar Loaf summit Computer admin Tuesday morning, once I’d surfaced. Another sunny, breezy day, RW here cutting the hedges. Scything in progress, and hedge trimmed Oven glass door glueing seems to have worked – although we’ve not used the oven yet. Pottered around outside for a couple of hours in the afternoon, turning one of the many old dustbins into a new compost bin,…
With the ‘lights on’ over Cwmbach in recent weeks I’ve recognised I would need to do something about the fresh grey ballast vs the cinder ballast used in the sidings. Procrastination set in - I dislike weathering ballast and certainly not the airbrush - but the need for some gentle modelling to occupy a busy mind over the weekend resulted in this…It is done. It wasn’t as hard as I feared (how often do we as modellers finding ourselves uttering those words). It looks good and I’m released to the…
I don’t know how we got into Czech movies, but this is a little gem! An exceptionally funny and nonsensical comedy! I need to dig deeper into this treasure chest. Rating: 🤯Hey, thanks for reading my blog via the RSS feed! Feel welcome to get in touch!
I listened to the audiobook… and, once finished, I immediately ordered a physical copy. This is one of those books you need to reread every now and then, or at least it left me a very strong impression. Rating: 😍Hey, thanks for reading my blog via the RSS feed! Feel welcome to get in touch!
This post contains mentions of sex and suicidal ideation. My other selves are not the problem. The problem is The Not Knowing. (Huge caveat: I’m lucky enough to not have daily blackout amnesia but instead lesser daily amnesia between us, and none of us commit crimes behind each other’s backs. Some individuals with DID go through this, and they have a right to disagree with my above sentence, and to speak about their experiences. But this is my blog and I’m discussing my own experiences here.)…
A lovely vegan sushi restaurant Z found. One does not simply fly from Denver to Taipei… because there are no direct flights. So this year we decided to fly from Denver to Tokyo first, and then, after a few days, move on to Taipei. My wife is the only one among the three of us who has ever been to Japan. (1) The life-sized blue whale statue outside the science museum; (2) the model train at the Railway Museum We spent a few days in Tokyo first, visiting places like the National Museum of Nature…
A nasty, dull day with rain at times but warm. Washed Doc’s car and cut some more of the privet hedge. Nell gone to Dot’s for the day.
You can see why I had to post today's photos as a pair! They're not super exciting, it's fun to see this groovy gal posing next to the beautiful Sub Lagoon, filled with Bombay sapphire gin. I blink in about 90% of the photos taken of me, so I feel a camaraderie with this girl. I'll bet dad waited too long, fiddling with some knobs or something.The second try came out perfect! Knobs were properly twiddled. The girl's short hair, Op Art dress, and frosted lipstick all say "1967" to me.
A: No. Councils should be allowed to drive homeless families to breakdown. Councils have a duty to house homeless families as safely and securely as they can. They certainly do not have a duty to make life as hard as they can for people in need. In my latest podcast, we return to Hackney council – and the council’s ongoing attempts to evict a disabled and autistic 8 year old boy and his family from their council home. As regular listeners will know, the council wants to evict the family and put…
Perfume PosseSummer Skincare in the Heat As I finish this up on Monday we’ve just gotten a new prime minister. We’ve had a number of them in the past few years. Anyway, one must remain hopeful. I prefer being able to change leaders when needed. Our… Continue Reading → Perfume PosseSummer Skincare in the Heat
LONDON A-Z O is for Osidge Osidge is a loosely-defined 1930s suburb in north London, marginally in Barnet. It started as one big house and is now thousands, sloping down to the Pymmes Brook in a generally overlooked manner. It's a product of the extended Piccadilly line, expanding to the west of Southgate station, and is often marked on maps some way from where it actually began. It's been home to a grocery magnate, a noted meteorologist and a kohl-eyed singer. And yes it rhymes with sausage,…
Both the source and the goal. The origin and the final destination. The road itself and everything in between. The all and the nothing. All condensed, but not confined, to exactly one.
Tuesday 21st July 2026 It was many years ago when, knowing my love of scenic bus routes as well as the West Highlands of Scotland, blog reader ‘Tarkaman AC120’ recommended I take a ride on Sheil Buses route 506 between Fort William and Kilchoan. It’s been on my to do list ever since, not least because the route comprises just one return journey a day along an amazingly scenic route as well as involving a ferry crossing over the Corran Narrows. The timetable has just an outward journey from…
Watching the sun set behind tall palm trees at the Manhattan Beach Pier. パーム・サンセット マンハッタン・ビーチ・ピアで、背の高いヤシの木々の向こうに沈む夕日を見ている。
My partner adopted Astro some months ago. He already had another cat at home. At first, they didn't get along but now they are within five feet of each other. Now I hope they can cuddle together soon. Don't get me wrong, they still have issues with territory or getting too close to each other. I think Astro being a one-year old cat, he still has that kitten energy that he always wants to play. Franklin is an older cat. He's not much for playing around but more fore hanging out and doing his own…
Players Capt. Minnow Blux (Oldhawkeyes) Castrucci Frankfurters (Jay_zer0) Dr. Aarav Papadopoulos (Epistellar) Summary(Thank you to Epistellar for keeping session notes.) It has been three weeks since the Krongu crew departed for the industrial world of El Zocalo. Two more Krongu employees from the El Zocalo branch office were activated: a dissolute and prematurely-aged doctor, and an extraordinarily hearty rake with a background in aquatic piracy. The crew decided to follow up on investigating…
Ian Bogost on the Post Games podcast disucssing his new book: My wife plays not like Candy Crush, but one of those match three mobile games that are Candy Crush clones, not obsessively, but regularly, right? While we’re watching TV or whatever. And what is she doing? Why is she doing that? What she’s interested in is the same thing that makes people want to knit while they watch TV. It’s something to do with your hands. I’m just manipulating something. I’m moving around. I’m feeling the…
I said we were lucky with the weather, and this is true. Except for the day we ascended Snaefell. Knowing how fickle things can be 2037 feet up, we tried to pick a day when my sister might see the view. The trouble is, you don't really know. Although the webcam looked OK, by the time we made it up there, things were more reminiscent of my Dad and my first few visits, 33 years ago. Manannán's Cloak had descended, and there was no view. You can recreate this at home by glueing cotton wool on your…
The final whistle blew and Spain is the new FIFA 2026 World Cup winners for the next four years. It was great getting to watch the World Cup this year as the family was more into the games than previous years, so we watched a lot of soccer. We followed USA, France, and Argentina through the tournament. First, you always root for your home country and enjoy watching the other teams play as well. There is a lot of hype around Lionel Messi coming back to play in this World Cup this year. He’s had…
