2022 horror novella. Alex Easton has returned to what's left of the ancestral home, a hunting lodge in Gallacia. The caretaker has died, but nobody quite wants to say how…

Große Bilder, große Gesten, großes Ego: Jörg Immendorff war kein Künstler, der sich dezent im Hintergrund hielt. Kommunist, Beuys-Schüler, Kneipenwirt, Professor und irgendwann Freund des Bundeskanzlers. Ein Lebenslauf, bei dem die Berufsberatung vermutlich kurz das Zimmer verlassen hätte. In der Retrospektive „Immendorff“ im Kunstpalast Düsseldorf kannst Du vom 25. September 2026 bis zum 10. Januar 2027 entdecken, was hinter diesem öffentlichen Image steckt. Rund 120 Werke aus fünf Jahrzehnten…

Two or three posts ago I visited an old back road in Swanzey on a rainy day, complaining that the day was so dark I couldn’t see any of the tree colors that I knew were there. On this day though the sun was shining brightly and wow, could I see the tree colors. Many of the trees out here are black birch (Betula lenta,) which is also called sweet birch or cherry birch. The “cherry” birch name comes from its bark, which along with its leaves can fool you into thinking you’re seeing a wild cherry…

What is a song by an artist you don’t usually like? Never been a fan, even if her hips don’t lie, and I struggle with her voice I think. Sure a lot of her music is catchy but, I dunno, how do you quantify something like this? However, my 5 year old has recently “discovered” this song (it features at the end of Zootropolis) and I’ll happily admit it’s fab. “Try Everything” by Shakira Listen on Apple Music Your browser does not support the audio element. Listen to Gordon McLean's Apple Music…

Those fireworks you heard two weeks ago were part of the fiery but peaceful celebration triggered by the announcement that MPorcius Fiction Log had read and blogged about at least one story from each issue of Weird Tales printed in 1926. We've rested on our laurels enough and now the machete starts swinging again as we begin working our way through 1927. Today, the January 1927 number, which has a pretty good monster cover with a fully clothed damsel in distress (somewhat amateurish but…

I’m not enjoying this. That isn’t to say I don’t find the time at the bench restorative, just that I’m doing jobs on a list, to get me somewhere I am excited about…Sometimes I wonder if we’re honest about our Modelmaking. There will inevitably be moments where we’re less than enjoying things - and yet we wax lyrical about this and that… unless it’s ballasting.That is something I enjoy and everyone else feels is socially acceptable to admit not enjoying, more to describe as something to be…

Welcome to your weekly ttrpg newsletter! This week on the blog I wrote Giving Feedback in a Game and Twilight Sword, A First Review. Most popular other articles were Dungeon, Inc., A First Review, Dolmenwood Resources for You, Running Red Dragon’s Tale, Good Adventures and Great Adventures and Player-Led Upbeats. As always, if you like this newsletter and want to receive it in your email inbox every Saturday, please subscribe, and feel free to pass it along to a friend. Table of Contents…

this website is now listed on 1kb.club and 1mb.club. both are maintained by brad adding your own site is done via email and you don’t even need an account browsing both clubs i found websites which i added to my feed reader and others i removed by sending a patch sorry brad — more emails incoming…

there's a movie showing tonight, and my best friend has the lead role. i've been looking forward to it for a couple weeks, and if i had any kind of long-term memory that would be months instead. i remember how excited she was to be part of it during filming. i'm thinking about not going to see it after all. i feel like i cant keep up. for every two steps i take forward, everyone else takes three. is that my fault? maybe. probably. i could blame other things too, i suppose. disability, mental…

Hello from my home in Helsinki! This is NordLetter #128, a weekly newsletter on living and walking in Finland. To follow the series, you can subscribe here. A new NordLetter will land in your inbox every Sunday. Not a fan of newsletters? No problem! You can read previous editions here. You can also subscribe to the RSS feed. You can reach out to me by replying to this mail. I am also posting on Mastodon. Grey skies and sun peeking through Grey skies abound.Yellow trees dot the landscape.A tram…

sometimes you just have a bad day. because you had a bad dream; because someone isnt keeping promises; because you miss your friends; because it all feels pointless because sometimes you just have a bad day. i dont understand it and i dunno if i'll ever know how to get through these, not without some kind of anger or self harm or lashing out at someone, and i hate it a bit. but they happen. and you survive them. and maybe tomorrow will be better.

Every Saturday we round up the best writing about beer from the past week. This time, we’ve got 80/-, simmer and sip and (the absence of) bog myrtle. First, some brewery ownership news: Rebellion Brewery in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, has become employee owned after its founders began the process of exiting the business. The BBC article we’ve linked, by Jamie Morris, considers the question of employee ownership more broadly, with evidence from Abbeydale in Sheffield suggesting it improves employee…

Here are three random scans of random places (or things) around the country. First up is this scan from a black and white negative, showing a place called the Pioneer Motel, which is attached to "Pioneer Fine Food" (breakfast, lunch, dinner - EAT). I thought that finding the location of this place would be pretty easy, but I had no luck. How about YOU? There are a LOT of Pioneer Motels.Next is this photo from June, 1967. I had no clue as to where this is, but luckily that sign behind the VW…

Moneyball (2011)

First prophesied by Nathen Musculon during a bad trip, Granchula is the most esteemed reptile among its kind and most feared by man. Granchula lives in the sea. It comes out only when disturbed and leaves destruction in its wake. 16HD AC -3 #Att: 2 (Stomp 3d6 / Atomic Breath 12d6) Alignment: Neutral Move 360' (120') Morale 11 Save as Level 12 Fighter Special: 1) When Granchula moves around, everyone within a 6 mile radius must Save vs Stone or fall flat 2) Granchula will form a psychic…

Dear friend (or future me), It’s cloudy this morning, which after weeks of heat feels like a favour from somebody. It’s a little humid, but bearable. I’ve brought my tea out to the step and forgotten it, so it sits cold beside me, and I drink it anyway. I keep promising to tell you about Letters to a Young Poet, and I keep waiting until I have a proper opinion of it. I don’t have one yet. It’s short, just ten letters from a poet not much older than the one he was writing to, and I think I’ll be…

a list, in order of my trying them: "bio oil" what my surgeon recommended and i tried to stick with as long as i could. i used it exclusively the first few months, when i was meant to apply it 3x a day but it smells so bad to me. literally makes me kind of sick. over time i've used two small bottles and i don't intend to go back. sweet almond oil basic! unobtrusive! idk if it's good for scars, certainly wasn't specifically engineered for that in contrast to the previous oil. if it gets boring -…

The post that follows has been sitting here in Pika drafts since July, written in a moment of inspiration but never posted because, well, I was probably too busy tidying up my notes in Bear or updating different logs to ever finish or post it. But I’m newly inspired to write after a cleanup and reset prompted by my latest blog post. In July, while on vacation, I was browsing in an op shop and found a little booklet called A Short Guide to a Happy Life by Anna Quindlen, only 50 pages long, most…

There remains a political undercurrent to everything, and the arts cannot escape. Once again, no book is genuinely free from political bias. The opinion that art should have nothing to do with politics is itself a political attitude. George Orwell, Why I Write (1946). Nor should they. One side aspect of "the arts" is the commercial part that actual creators handle somewhat (often entirely

I find that the idea to disappear from existence, wiped away from peoples memories, and to erase the impact you've had to others, to be a captivating idea. Unfortunately for this idea, I like attention. I expect to be praised even after death. I expect that the time I’ve had with these individuals will help them rise up to be who they truly are. I expect them to be one with the Earth in a way I could never be. I expect people to reach great heights because of what I’ve said and done. And yet I…

An end of week recap “That country where it is always turning late in the year. That country where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist; where noons go quickly, dusks and twilights linger, and midnights stay. That country composed in the main of cellars, sub-cellars, coal-bins, closets, attics, and pantries faced away from the sun. That country whose people are autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts. Whose people passing at night on the empty walks sound like rain.” – Ray Bradbury…

Yesterday I had a pretty bad day. So for today, I thought I would like to write about something positive. And it just so happens that I had another chat yesterday, with the same person, that is still rolling around in my head. Let me start by saying that my boss is not actually a bad guy. I think in another time and space, we might even have been friends. But with the power difference being what it is, I never followed up on that. Anyway…in an attempt to make me feel better about my struggle…

This last week I did an extended weekend trip with some friends to Nasu in Tochigi Prefecture. Had our fill of dairy products. Cheesecakes, yogurt, and milk. The milk tasted to me more like the milk I’d have in the US, than the more creamy that tends to be sold in Japanese supermarkets. We did a little bit of hiking and checked out the zoo and safari park in the area. I got to feed a giraffe and an elephant. It was neat! Bit blurry, but whatever. Saw the falls and wanted to go home and paint. I…

I think I am in flow state for my reading recently, whatever that means. I finish books in a span of usually 2 days. If they are shorter I sometimes finish them within a day (morning + evening commute + after dinner). Also read widely. Start of year was domestic suspense, psychological thrillers. Mid-year when I was in a bad space (unemployed) was dark books. Then I just read a bunch of introspective books, alongside horror and absurd things. I am going to save the actual summary (which books I…

Source Jones notes that plenty of people in the literary world “lament that the only books that sell now are faerie or dragon or elfpunk porn.” The Real Selling Point of Romantasy Summary How Sarah J. Maas became the queen of romantasy In Depth The state of the book and publishing industry has changed for sure.

Baked Apples one of the comfort foods we like to enjoy in the autumn when the temperatures start to drop and apples are coming fresh from the orchards. This is when Apples are plentiful and at their best. We don't mind having the oven on, and they are delicious and very easy to do. Baked apples make for a lovely breakfast treat or a dessert for after your dinner. I think they are very homey and comforting. You can bake just about any apple, but today I chose to use Pink Ladies as that is what I…

The government is keen that we Be Ready. They're not 100% definitive on what to be ready for, but it includes severe weather, national emergencies and prolonged periods without water and/or electricity and/or gas and/or internet. Flooding is one of the most serious weather-related events and you probably know if you might be susceptible to that, but the entire nation could be at risk from cyber-related power failure, the Russians cutting our undersea cables, a solar radiation event, a nuclear…

There was... enormous interest, to say the least, in questions and answers about polling. And what it boils down to is that we can do a quick job, or we can do a good job. We choose the latter, so we will have a lot of questions and answers about polling tomorrow, along with some reader comments on polling. The questions and answers will be divided into four basic categories (though we reserve the right to add more, as we whip things into shape): The Art of Polling, Incongruities and Errors,…

If there is one thing positive I can say about Colleen Hoover's Woman Down, it is that it is so easy to read. It is told in such simplistic language. Which is always good, unless... Unless your story is so shitty. I don't even want to talk about how the prose feels like just screen directions in a script. Supposedly an"erotic suspense", excuse me CH is the suspense in the room with us? SPOILERS DO NOT READ FURTHER Scorned author cough self insert cough, Petra Rose, got backlash after some drama…

I decided that it would be interesting to read Secret Wars in the lead up to the movie next year. Turns out there are two of them and I read the older, likely less relevant one. The 1984 event was one of the first major crossover events that Marvel ever did and it was in connection with a Mattel toy line. This really does show as the whole event is just an opportunity to smash all of Marvels biggest toys together. It's flimsy but there is some enjoyment to be had from the silliness of the whole…