Here's my cat Lincoln, looking insane. He's a very weird, stressy cat, with some odd behaviours, but underneath it all he's a massive softie. He loves cuddles, if he decides the time is right. I thought it was high time I posted something cute, for a change! The Norwegian flag is a souvenir. #Cats

Tommeh Ten-Names gets 110,000 coked-up drunken louts to parade and attack coppers for him, and the BBC's all over it. The Stop Brexit campaign held several marches with way more attendance, including one in 2019 with at least 700,000, with no violent disorder, and the BBC pretty much ignored them.

Can't believe that I've only just found out about this protest, but better late than never! Chances are that it will be huge - I really hope so. If you disagree with the UK government welcoming Felon 47 with a state visit, this would be a good way to show it. stoptrump.org.uk/protest/

I remember when pro-Brexit types would say "Bet you're glad we left the EU now - look at them all with lunatic far-right political parties threatening to take power. Couldn't happen here in Britain." That aged well. We should have Remained, and we should #RejoinEU .

I can't believe it's come to this, that sane people even need to tell the government that the UK leaving the ECHR is not what we want, that it would be a moral failure on our nation's part, and would jeopardise our standing as a reputable humane nation. Yet here we are. Please consider signing this.

If we want MPs to listen to ordinary people, then ordinary people need to contact their MPs - and this means me and you. It took me a while to cotton on to this, but I got there... The UK Parliament's website tells you how. A couple of hints, from my experience: 1/

Pin wash heaven/hell on the M3 Stuart. I'm certainly getting lots of practice. I'm going to avoid kits of vehicles with riveted armour for a good while, after this is finished. Anyway - pin wash is done! Just the final assembly, chipping and a sandy pigment application to go, now. #HistScaleModels

This is needed now, more than ever, I feel. BBC News has become little more than a PR mouthpiece for Ref*rm UK Ltd in the past year or so, pushing reams of self-fulfilling prophecies about how the far right are, supposedly, steering the political news agenda. Please sign this petition. Thank you!

"Sentient beings are numberless; I vow to liberate them all. Vexations are endless; I vow to overcome them all. Approaches to Dharma are inconceivable; I vow to master them all. The Buddha's path is unattainable; I vow to attain it." Morning zazen. Happy Friday, everyone! #Zen #Buddhism

Yes, Earl, I just brushed this entire handful of fluff out of your coat. Don't pretend you aren't doing your autumn moult. #Cats #BlueSkyCats

Fucking hell, it's like playing whack-a-mole. Just had to add three more mute settings, to try to stop terrible poetry appearing in my feed. I've tried to be reasonable and compassionate about this - I know the people who're writing this poetry like it, and we don't all like the same things, but...

Here's a humorous, non-serious idea I had for "helping" people maintain correct posture for zazen. Behold - the Bodhisattvatron (TM)! It's better than being beaten with a kyosaku, but not by much. Remember, folks - a bell is a bodhisattva! #Zen #Buddhism

Six current members on the Federal Reserve Board, and only one is a black woman. Guess which one Felon 47 tries to fire.

We need more iambic pentameter or old Norse skaldic metre in modern poetry. I'm a bit bored of people just swapping word order, or digging out weird synonyms ("thesaurus poetry"), or just ending lines before the edge of the page. I've muted as many poetry-related tags here as I could find.

Interior of the M3 Stuart done. "Good enough" = looks right when glimpsed through the fore hatches, once I've attached the upper hull. My chipping looks as if it was done with a blunt 2" chisel. Oh well - this is why I need an airbrush! So cramped for a four-man crew. #HistScaleModels

I've got no problem with flags, in themselves. They can look very pretty. I think they look best when different flags fly next to each other, though, so here am I, joining in with the current UK craze for flying flags. I look after my EU flag. It won't be left to get tattered and turn into litter.

Yesterday I fell and injured my thumb in the shower, because I'd got distracted by explaining to an imaginary audience the Buddhist doctrine of the Trikāya. Earl Cat isn't distracted by concepts, though.

Whinge alert. I'm an old hand at meditation, looking for a good short online intro to mindfulness of breathing practice for a friend. I'm struggling to find one that isn't full of chatter, often New Age woo-woo bollocks about "energy". Look, it's simple. Instruct on motivation, posture, method... 1/

May all beings be well, may all beings be happy. May all beings be free from suffering and free from the causes of suffering. May all beings come to complete and unexcelled Buddhahood, whether they like it or not.

The lentil-weaving liberal middle class population of my leafy north Leeds suburb have really lost the plot. I asked my street's WhatsApp group for any spare corks, to make a makeshift handle for a bodging tool for a craft project. Tumbleweed. Why aren't these people drinking posh wine?

Postie's been. It's sheer good luck that both these items arrived in the same delivery. I'm particularly looking forward to my first go with cast metal track links and pivots, on my M3 Stuart build. Am I a proper modelmaker now (rhetorical/trick question)? #HistScaleModels 1/

Boney was a warrior, Way-hay-yah! A warrior, a terrier, Jean François!

Leeds Autisticon is happening! 10 October 2025, at a new venue on the university campus. This is an event close to my heart, and I'll be volunteering as a steward/guide/runner/dogsbody on the day - so come along and say hello. #Autism #Autistic

OK, #HistScaleModels , I've given in: two recent builds have convinced me it's time to get an airbrush. I've done really well with hairy sticks for years, but it's time to upgrade. So, advice, please. I know the specs I want from the brush and compressor, but - anything else I should buy? 1/

When I moved from the data-ripping F*cebook to Bluesky, I decided also to tell people less personal stuff about myself online. So: I've recently passed two significant happy milestones in my life, but I don't feel like telling you all what they are. Still happy, though. Message ends. 😉

The interior of the 1:35 M3 Stuart turret and turret basket are done. The incongruous Heer infantryman, also 1:35, shows just how cramped the two-man turret was. Look at those tiny seats, and the narrow space either side of the gun! #HistScaleModels

Lincoln Cat is, once again, "helping" me build my 1/35 M3 Stuart tank kit. #HistScaleModels #Cats

Not long ago, social media posts were all "Look! I gave eight completely unknown, unaccountable apps my photo, and they showed me what I look like as a Viking/Roman/Dutch milkmaid! Awesome!" Now people are moaning about one app using their pic for age confirmation, to help stop kids seeing pr0n. 1/

"The Four Elements are originally empty. The Five Skandhas have no inherent existence. In my belief, there is no Dharma to be grasped." (Zen monk Tao-yu) "You want it all, but you can't have it. It's in your face, but you can't grab it." (Mike Patton, "Epic") Faith No More is Buddhadharma. #Zen

There she was, just a-walkin' down the street, singin' "Buyaka buyaka, Junglist posse in the place!"

My chronic pain medical condition means that I rarely dare go to see a film, but last night I went to see "Friendship". What a mistake. The film might as well be titled "Let's All Laugh At Autistic People". It was cringey and cruel from beginning to end. I like dark humour. This wasn't humour.

Trying to paint these track link parts, but my cat Lincoln is doing his thing of lying on top of my left forearm, immobilising it. Anyone else in #HistScaleModels ever hit this problem during their builds? 😁

I disregarded the sign in the Refilling Station shop; I refilled my olive oil bottle myself, instead of asking the staff to do it. This is what civil disobedience looks like in leafy middle class Chapel Allerton. Breakin' the law, breakin' the law! Come and get me, coppers.

Earl Cat came and joined me on my mat, at this evening's video conferencing zazen and Dharma talk with the Western Chan Fellowship. Clearly he attained kensho, and is now having a well earned doze on my lap.

Bit of Buddhist ecumenism this evening; the weekly Chán (Chinese precursor to Zen) sit, which I attend, had a load of visitors from Bodhicharya (Tibetan Buddhism). We managed to avoid holy war, despite very different approaches to the Dharma. More of this sort of thing (but no deity visualisation)!

I dreamt last night that I'd coined a new word, i.e. my subconscious _did_ coin a new word: it's "scorety" for "two hundred". Logical, eh? Eighty is eight tens, and scorety is a score of tens. Not enthusiastic about this? It didn't catch on with the rest of the people in the dream, either.

Question for #HistScaleModels - gloss or matt white, for the interior of a British M3 Stuart tank circa 1942? Gloss would be easier for the crew to wipe clean from oil smears etc, and one internet chat source says gloss. But kit instructions and most internet sources say matt.

You might be cool, but you'll never be "pensively smoking a pipe while commanding a moving tank" cool. New addition to the kit stash: Border's 1:35 Crusader Mk III. #HistScaleModels

Tamiya's (infamously inaccurate) 1969 Panther Ausf. A kit: a wonderful Christmas present, which I decided to show some love, using putty Zimmerit and the cream of my spare parts stash. It turned out amazingly well! Bored of German tanks now. Time for a change. ##HistScaleModels

Bloody hell, the Arthurian legends are tedious. They're just knights killing each other for no good reason (e.g. "Why do you fight everyone who passes this way, sir?" "It is my custom, sir."), then being sad about it - every single story. At least the Norse legends are inventive with their violence.

Came back indoors after some gardening, to discover a cockchafer beetle on my neck. I returned it safely to the garden before it started trying to chafe my cock. Phew, lucky escape there.

Please donate to the National Rejoin March IV, if you can. I just did. We Rejoiners don't have Putin or Steve Bannon to fund us with millions of shady dollars, like F*rage and the Leavers do - our movement is a proper grass roots one, and our events are funded by people like me and you. Thank you.

Trying to get back into a regular running habit. Today, I was complimented on my EU flag vest top by someone I passed. It's always nice when that happens. There is a LOT of grass roots pro-EU sentiment in the UK - a majority, in fact - and politicians ought to admit it. #MarchForRejoin

Tidied up the Zimmerit, and applied a coat of primer. Tomorrow, I can start painting. Woohoo! Lincoln Cat is excited, I can tell. #HistScaleModels

On the bench now: a Christmas present from 2024 - Tamiya's very very old 1:35 Panther Ausf. A kit from 1969. I just had to apply Zimmerit! Does anyone else use the putty method, these days, or is that a bit too 1980s? #HistScaleModels

This works (for now, till Google inevitably discontinue the feature). If you have to use Google, rather than DuckDuckGo which doesn't hoover your data every time you use it, then do this to tell Google to shove their AI slop.

The annual National Rejoin March will be on Saturday 18 October - deets below. We Rejoiners never went away, and our marches get significantly higher attendance than demos/riots by the Leaver crew - our movement is alive and well, although you wouldn't know it from the mainstream media coverage.

Nattō, food of the gods, for breakfast. I'm not saying that my loving nattō was an essential for my girlfriend when she was considering getting together with me, but it was definitely a big point in my favour.

After seven months, at last I'm calling this Tamiya 1:35 late Jagdpanther done. Great kit, but I slowed myself down by trying new stuff: finding etched metal Schürzen; enamel paints for "airbrushing without an airbrush"; etc. Thank flip it's over. #HistScaleModels

Well, I may be only 33 years late, but I finally got around to doing that Laplace transform question which I avoided when I took the Natural Sciences IB Mathematics paper at the end of my second year as an undergraduate.