Startled at the weather forecast for tomorrow, which contains the first use of * for this season. Now wondering if I should get the saddle out of the attic, for putting on the tauntaun before venturing to Aldi in the morning. #Worcestershire #Hoth #SlightExaggeration

Professional video by a commercial operation in Sweden - latitude 64° north - who use the -30°C/-22°F winter climate in their process of making strong cider/apple wine. (this is somewhat different from home or farm made scrumpy in 1970s/80s rural Worcestershire) www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eVS...

Current reading: Why we thrive beneath a northern sky - genomic signals of selection in apple for adaptation to northern Sweden (2024) by Skytte et al. Much information on genetic testing of apples, and viability of cultivar growth in climate-affected high latitudes. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Your last saved meme is your moral philosophy

Collecting some of the eclectic stationary and pens from various drawers, with a quiet determination not to purchase any more for a while. At least. I accept this resolution will inevitably fail.

Wondering what the cat is destroying downstairs at {checks} 5:33am, but too sleepy comfy to get out of bed to find out. So long as the cat hasn't yet levelled up to starting house fires (give it time) I'll deal with it during daylight.

The training orchard I volunteer at loaded me up, a lot more than what’s in the picture , I only got 1 this year from my baby tree but otherwise locally seems to be a good year.

Recently re-read Clive Barker's Weaveworld (1987). If fulfilled, this - and some other AI products, but especially this - is Shadwell's coat. The inside lining reveals that, or whom, you lost and most grieve for, returned to life. Manipulation to the deepest increment of depravity.

I think we need an addition to the human right act; the right to STAY DEAD. All these AI incarnations of dead actors and people is totally unethical on the level of our very souls

Rewatching "Thirst Trap: A Corporate Love Story" (Simpsons 35:4) a parody documentary of the Elizabeth Holmes / Theranos story. So many good lines; the one about the owner of Twitter having to sell it "after his self-driving rocket crashed into the International Space Station" is *chef's kiss*.

(1/5) Unimpressed with retro #totp this week, so spinning an alternative. Tell Me Why (The Riddle): Paul van Dyk and Saint Etienne, with Sarah Cracknell of the group on vocals (2000). www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJSD...

Sayonara, Japan. Thanks for all your kindness, your sento, your seafood, your fast trains and your warm toilet seats.

I get this doing tours of our collection for kids and you have to explain what a photographic negative is because none of them have any idea.

Just helped cousin's Gen Z son do his homework, by explaining Green Shield Stamps. The homework title is "Historical ways of buying goods in England". I feel 104 and am returning to my desert cave, if anyone else requires more information from "bygone ages".

(1/3) Looking at the short and longer range forecasts (with the usual pinch of salt for the latter), it seems today will be the last autumnal day before we abruptly shift into a wetter, colder, season. With this in mind, and without waterproofs, clocked up 7 miles strolling round the village lanes.

(1/2) It was a close call, but I did not purchase the reduced price packet of 50 slices of Gouda cheese. +ve: It's 50 slices of Gouda cheese. It's (suspiciously) cheap: £5.59 for a kilo of cheese. The use by date is several months away. -ve: Needs to be eaten within 3 days of opening. Challenging.

All the cool kids seem to have job or promotion interviews tomorrow, or are hearing news of bids or applications, or are planning to propose marriage. Hoping everyone gets what they want, need and desire. (tomorrow I'm going to Waitrose for a rye bread; that's the extent of my short-term ambition)

Been polling various friends and colleagues this evening, and the concept of reading a book with your partner. SO, loved one, FWB et al at the same time has been 100% rejected. Responses include worst kink ever, silly, fast track to divorce, no they read too slow/fast, & I'd rather have an affair.

Eight long months, two thirds of a year. Seasons have come and gone; the days, lengthening then, shorten now. But still, Mr Pigeon struts outside. And still, the cat is furious at this continuing arrogance, this display.

Age yourself with gaming

On the subject, if Tesco do run this specific Christmas ad on TV, then ... this is pouring petrol on the bonfire of simmering resentments in some traditional family get-togethers. First YT comment: "Do you actually understand Christmas is supposed to be joyful?!" www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMUW...

(1/3) As opposed to that Waitrose Christmas ad, Tesco have several short ads focused on awkward family situations. Some of which are on-point. "It me". First Christmas back from University, using words and pronounciations not usually heard in rural Worcestershire. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOJm...

The live webcam at the "Santa Claus Village" near Rovaniemi in Finland is showing snow, plenty of visitors, and a temperature of -2: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp4R...

Watched the Waitrose Christmas Ad, with Joe Wilkinson and Keira Knightley. It's *4 MINUTES* long. Styled like a Richard Curtis rom-com. If you're into that then you'll like this. By coincidence, 4 minutes is also the warning time we get before nuclear annihilation. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWeY...

Current reading: Orchard systems offer low-hanging fruit for low-carbon, biodiversity-friendly farming (2025) by Wyckhuys et al. Long but non-technical read, with an extensive reference section. Orchards in the wider context, and discussion on alternatives to pesticide use. doi.org/10.1093/bios...

I really need to get to bed, but I just poked my head out the back door again. This is the view from my deck. All of this is looking south. When the geomagnetic storms are like this, the oval overshoots me and stretches into the US, which is why so many are seeing it tonight. #aurora

The couple from last December are still reassuringly alive, as they got on the bus earlier. Their subject matter from last December is still reassuringly dead.

It's off to an engaging start, and wondering if Pluribus will emerge as the cerebral dark humour sci-fi TV of this decade.

And dream of catnip.

(1/3) Nearly dawn; peering out of the library window. The spider I've named Toby lurks, weblingering. Overnight email has brought very good news. I can finally wind down a side project of several years administrative wrestling. And begin another which has been prowling 'round the back of the mind.

Enjoying North Woods, by Daniel Mason. Shades of Centenniel (1978), but more on the rippling impacts of little, unseen to human, events - an acorn here, a beetle there. Liking how the writer (so far) subtly manipulates the timeline. Going to need to re-read on completion; my book of this winter.

Red Sky at Night, Someone's Guy Fawkes bonfire has gotten a little out of hand. Anyhoodle...

The periodic urge to visit Tokyo, wander down Shibuya streets, visit the Ghibli Museum, and eat in tiny places, struck again today. As it's done for many years. Regretting not submitting, on Animal Crossing research, for the DiGRA 2007 conference; would have been ideal. dblp.org/db/conf/digr...

Christmas cake number two out and cooling.

I'm done with this century.

{checks} 50 days to Christmas. Or, 7 weeks tomorrow. Which also means: - 52 days (27th December) till chocolate Easter eggs start appearing in the shops - 8 weeks today, it's New Year's Eve - 26 and a bit weeks till David Attenborough is 100 - 74 years and 8 weeks till we're done with this century

Halloween sunset 10 years ago, across the toposcope on Beacon Hill, Leicestershire. Wishing you health, warmth, and good food, in the year ahead. May you quietly thrive, succeed in that which matters to you. And journey with kindness, a friend to flower and tree.

Deciding on putting one joke in this postgraduate application. The main document has a word limit of 800, so it'll have to be snappy. As it's to an ancient redbrick university, going to type it in Latin. This may not be my smartest idea of the year. #ConsiliumStultum

All Hallows' Eve, Samhain, and All Saints' Day feels an appropriate time for some background Hauntology. Especially as - academic deadline pressure - I'm not participating in the usual Druidic and Pagan shenanigans. Boards of Canada - Beware the Friendly Stranger www.youtube.com/watch?v=POqb...

Turning on the tele to see Tim Burgess of The Charlatans, looking annoyingly young, and trying to explain Hauntology to Charlie and Naga.

Give it a few weeks and "Call me Andy" will be in Sandringham Wetherspoons at 9am, claiming he never wanted to be a Royal anyway, and telling every functioning alcoholic he has the inside track on a great Crypto deal if they want to put some readies up front and be in...

Monsters walk amongst us.

Last night I watched over 100 pelicans feed just off the coast after sunset. Here's one of them. 17 frames taken from a sequence of 44 over 2.5 seconds. Incredible dinosaurs!!! 🪶

Day 2 in Japan and I have seen wonders already.

lusty friend: maaan, check out them cakes... the cakes:

Am I the only person who finds it unnervingly distracting to be watched while I'm trying to read a book?

Remembering some of the crap I was told when young. Which included: - wearing a vest is the best protection from pnemonia - swans will break your arm - touching a hedgehog will give you shingles - Americans don't eat vegetables - sleep with wet hair - wake with a cold/flu - margarine is delicious

Irresponsibly posting my location on social media

It’s not moonshine its “unaged bourbon” it’s not being a hobo with seasonal employment it’s “van life” that’s not a trailer it’s a “tiny home” it’s not piecework it’s the “gig economy” - culture is the thin wedge to make survival strategies of the poor sound like fun fads

43 years ago today, readers the world over opened their newspapers and gazed upon cow tools for the first time. happy birthday cow tools. you look great.