I used to write these lists of random thoughts on my blog to get my creativity flowing by emptying my mind, and I thought they were a perfect fit for wordwrap, as they are too random for my blog now. I realised something as I wandered to the bathroom this morning: I’m becoming better accustomed to cold weather. Over the past few winters we’ve purposely focused on not putting central heating on (because it’s SO expensive now). We do use electric heaters though and they are perfect. I haven’t…

9721/21640I managed to toss off a quick Newsround (not a euphemism) before heading into town to do some podcasts.Ally was in ferocious form remembering old music hall songs and came up with a strange ditty about dirty, dirty pigeons. I don't know how he dredges them up. They certainly surprise me. Later I was sitting in Pret a Manger waiting for my slot at the Podcast Room when I became aware of something under my table. It was a dirty, dirty pigeon. What was he doing inside? And why had he…

A Message For Myself⁠§It feels liberating to step up for myself and make a decision that is focused on my well being and mental health. Even though it was a difficult decision to step away from the familiar, the self-inflicted pressures was not worth it. I would like to think I grew a bit wiser and future me will be proud. I believe we should be our own advocates for choosing what’s best for ourselves as no one knows better that how we feel in ourselves; be it mentally, physically, or…

Looks Unfamiliar with Mitch Benn talking to Tim Worthington about Hippies, Rock Around The Clock by Telex, Dark Angel, Fuzzy Felt, the Scratch'n'Sniff book phenomenon, Star Wars And Other Galactic Funk by Meco and more...!

Estis iomete longe sed nun mi povas skribi al mia konto pleorama esperanta el mia retejo persona Indieweb! Por festi, mi sendos fotojn de mi al la strato Zamenhof en Manso, Francio. #lang_eo #esperanto #Zamenhof #lemans #manso #indieweb #retejoSendependa #programado #dev #webdev #programadoReta

That Stick by Charlotte M Yonge published 1892 This is a later work from Charlotte M Yonge, and not one of her better-known ones. I am reading as much as I can of her (no-one can read all of them, she wrote a phenomenal number of works) for a project coming this autumn, involving The Charlotte M. Yonge Fellowship – Victorian novelist - More to follow on that subject. I have done several posts on her on the blog, she is frequently mentioned, and I did a post on her place in the world: The…

Down with the migraine since yesterday. Strange how I could feel it coming before it does. I suspect the CRM software I’ve been using is causing it (joking) but seriously the only common denominator is the bloody website. My New Yorker subscription continued before I could continue so I’m going to be “cultured” for another month. Recently I’ve cut down so many subscriptions. The only ones I see as essentials: Netflix, YouTube Premium, Spotify Premium, iCloud & ChatGPT. I know people are against…

Nicholas Bate knows how to prioritize: Accept that you cannot do everything. The skill is choosing what to leave undone. Nicholas Bate https://huntergatherer21c.com/2026/10/22/tldr-how-to-manage-your.html

A prepper is a person actively preparing for future emergencies or disasters by stockpiling non-perishable goods and water, batteries, tools, weapons even, learning appropriate skills and basically making plans to ensure their safety and self-reliance when normal systems fail. Preppers are often the object of scorn or ridicule in the media, especially if the people in question are eccentric in other ways too. However, in the last year or so, serious updates from the UK government have suggested…

Risk is a tricky word to pin down. Some people might say “riding a bicycle on the road is too risky” or “I only have a cash ISA because shares are too risky”. Others will think those views are silly. There isn’t a clear line between risky and acceptable. It’s a personal question of what you feel able to tolerate. When it comes to investing, people fixate on the risks of the stock market: What if the market crashes? Will I get the return I expected? How much can I draw down from investments each…

As you may know, SV-POW! uses the excellent Rogue Scholar service to archive all our posts and to allocate DOIs. There’s plenty more going on at Rogue Scholar, and one of the in-progress initiatives is an attempt to categorize scholarly blog posts. Martin Fenner, who created and maintains Rogue Scholar, has tentatively proposed a simple split into seven categories, and is seeking feedback. His seven proposed categories are (and here I quote directly): Research findings. Original results, data…

It’s a big week around here. I have that presenation I mentioned. Plus I have my mini-university lecture and turorial on the Stoics. Plus… the third referendum on separation in my time on this earth. Up there? In the moody light and the sweet way both the faces and the foam are highlighted by CP’s Jeff McIntyre, proof that when the political moment looms more than anything else Canadian politicians need to be seen holding a pint of beer: Albertans are being asked whether the province should…

I’ve been trying to find out what this song is for years (I have it on a mix tape), but nobody’s been able to identify it. But over the last year or so, I’ve been listening to (most of) my albums chronologically, and I’ve now reached 1995. Yesterday, Annie Williams’ Ruby EP started playing, and what do you know: Yes! IT”S THE MYSTERY SONG!!! This EP is the only thing I have by Annie Williams, so perhaps I should get some more stuff by her… The producer is Mark van Hoen, which makes sense — he…

Welcome to the Thursday Pressing Concerns! We’ve got a new compilation from Dazy, plus new albums from The Cat’s Miaow, A Country Western, and Billiam. All of them are out tomorrow except for A Country Western, which came out yesterday. Check them out below, and if you missed Monday’s blog post (featuring Bliss?, Jacob T. Simons, The Knickerbocker5, and Sea Scouts), check that out too. If you’re looking for more new music, you can visit the site directory to see what else we’ve written about…

Who have you seen in concert? This is the sixth update of my concert list since I first shared it in 2008. This helps me remember who I’ve seen. When I first created this list, I was surprised that I couldn’t remember them all! Thank heavens for the detailed tour information people have cataloged on the Internet. Pokey LaFarge in 2026 My first show was Al Stewart in 1986; my second was Iron Maiden in 1987. My eclectic tastes go way back. The Iron Maiden show was so loud that my ears rang for…

Decades ago, when my grandma Minnie Farkas Schwartz left me a diamond-and-platinum cocktail ring in her will, she included a brief handwritten note that the setting was not to be changed. Grandma's wishIt was Grandma's wish that the ring remain as it was when she bequeathed it, for me to enjoy for years and then maybe my descendants to enjoy as well. Looking back, I really wish she had included a story about how she came to have that ring, but she didn't.I was kind of young at the time, and the…

Nahhhh… well not yet at least. However I did go for a pink vehicle. One of my clients who follows my blog and is, let’s just say, quite errr… flamboyant, dared me to paint an Ork pink as pink is his favourite colour. I hope this will suffice haha. Of course I’m not opposed to a pink ork but I just felt a pink vehicle for “vehicle week” of Orktober 2026 would be very cool. I’m quite happy with how it turned out and the contrast between the pink the ultra green skin looks pretty gnarly. Just…

How the government paid a large amount to get rid of a judicial review There is something curious about the reported settlement of the legal action brought by Olly Robbins against the United Kingdom government in respect of his sacking. The curious thing was that Robbins appears to have brought his legal action as a judicial review. To bring a claim by this procedure, rather than as a straight damages claim under contract and/or employment law, was unusual. A judicial review can include a claim…

I'm ashamed to admit that I got really frustrated at work today. A situation made me feel angry, upset and to a point where I'm questioning my value. The reasons for it don't matter, but reactions to…

Anyone who undertakes a general survey of the political and cultural landscape of our time is bound to leave with a sense of apprehension. Throughout the world, we not only observe the rise of political extremism, irrespective of conservative or liberal dispositions, but also the prevalence of a looming confusion, created by a social milieu where knowledge is found in abundance. Although such ubiquity of information has put vast stores of truth and wisdom at our disposal, it has rarely…

It takes time to develop your workspace . . . to establish the version you've created in one or more places and reestablish it in a new one if that's what you have to do. What I have learned through the decades is that being different to be yourself is mostly all that matters. I haven't had a series of machines adjacent to my workbench since I lived in the USA. That's almost 20 years. I mainly had the half a dozen machines to mill wood for my classes of 16 students who need upwards of fifty…

And are expected to drive it. A brief outline of your initial thoughts. Perhaps share your screen and type as you go. An example As an example, for a migration it may be - Target infrastructure design and cost. Cost of migration Changes to ways of working because of the migration These points may change over the duration of the meeting as others chip-in. But it’s the how of the thing that is important. Being collaborative instead of being scared as to what someone may say. Everyone has the same…

This is the second book in Emma Mason’s mystery series featuring retired police officer Midge McGowan. I enjoyed the first, Murder Most Haunted, with a few reservations, so was happy to give this one a try. You could definitely start with this one if you wanted to as it works as a standalone mystery, but reading in order will help you understand the backgrounds of the main characters and the relationships between them. The novel begins with Midge’s friend, struggling pop star Rona, inviting her…

Scribed by Sandre the Giant Released: 9th August 2006 I’ll be honest, if it hadn’t been for one of the more evocative album titles of 2006, I may have skipped over Finnish melodeath icons Insomnium on ‘Above the Weeping World’, because frankly the genre was starting to creak under the number of bands coming out of everywhere. But I’m glad I didn’t, because this was an album that I really took to heart and a band that I’ve followed fondly to this day. Insomnium were never just another Gothenburg…

Fog hanging around today. Sun broke through about 3pm. Car washing H.Doc, K and B1 in the week making 161 to date. Cleared all the lab bins and some rubbish from upstairs. Saw D Massey.

Although I do most of my reading on my Kindle, there’s something I love about visiting bookstores - it’s a lot of fun just browsing the covers and seeing what pops out at you. Lately I’ve found myself wanting to start reading physical books again too, so I’ve started building up a small collection in my Tokyo apartment. Unfortunately English-language bookstores are limited in Tokyo, and I thought Kinokuniya would be my only option - but I was surprised that there are actually a couple of other…

Do you remember the World's Most Notable People Map. On Monday, I decided I'd build a World's Most Notable Places Map, showing locations based on their Wikipedia QRank. I abandoned the project today after discovering the Wikipedia Importance Map.Earlier this month, Wikimedia Enterprise released the Geospatial Wikidata Databset.. This is a large, open dataset that connects geographic features in OpenStreetMap (OSM) with information held in Wikidata, Wikipedia and Wikivoyage.The idea behind the…

1912 mystery/adventure anthology, including the stories of Thorpe Hazell, the Railway Detective.

Latest links… We may think that we lose something significant when AI beats us to a discovery — if we do, Daniel Greco says, that seems to imply we gained something significant, too “Once upon a time there were a couple of handsome naturalistic philosophers working in and around the philosophy of fiction” — thoughts on new directions in philosophy of fiction, from several philosophers What is the debate over whether transwomen are women even about? — Katie Zhou argues that it’s about which…

CLONE COMMANDER CODY (Utapau) The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Walmart Exclusive 2-Pack Item No.: No. G3192 Manufacturer: Hasbro Number: #413 Includes: Blaster rifles, removable jet pack Action Feature: n/a Retail: $39.99 Availability: August 2026 Appearances: Revenge of the Sith Bio: On Clone Commander Cody's orders, the 212th battalion's specially trained clone paratroopers searched - to no avail - for their missing former commander, Obi-Wan Kenobi. (Taken from the cardback.) Image: Adam's…