What was your #childhoodcinema? For me, it can only be the (old) Romford Odeon. Opened in 1936, bought by Oscar Deutsch in 1943 and rebranded as an Odeon in 1949, closed in 1990 when Odeon opened an 8-screen multiplex in Liberty 2. Mostly definitely a place of faded grandeur - a 🧵. 1/5

Stabbed myself in the hand with a craft knife while trying to open my presents on my 18th birthday. Do you know how often you get asked for your date of birth in A&E? Some of the nurses were positively gleeful when wishing me a happy birthday.

How would a NATO member go about invoking Article 5 if another NATO member attacks them?

Merry Xmas, all! (and in these turbulent times of generative AI, may I present you with Edwin Morgan's completely human-made The Computer's First Christmas Card)

I'm actually grudgingly impressed by Donnie's latest bout of petty verbal diarrhoea. It usually takes both innate skill and diligent practice to be so vindictive or to display so little class.

Then: The Long Dark Now: still The Long Dark Honourable mention to Firewatch, which I played for the first time in 2017 even though it was a 2016 release.

Things that weren't on my bingo card for 2025: Calibri is woke.

However:

Rather fun piece from @zoesqwilliams.bsky.social on the UCAS personal statement. I'd note that most places don't use them for selection in admissions (even in the Russell Group) and the most benefit comes from the applicant's self-reflection. Why do you want to study X? Are you prepared for it?

I mention microfiche and microfilm to my students as part of the history of hypertext (i.e. Paul Otlet and Vannevar Bush). Alas, yesterday’s lecture was about early calculating machinery starting with the Pascaline, and I got blank faces when I talked about dialling in numbers like using a phone.

Para la cena esta noche: Tacos de birria de res Arroz Mexicana Guacamole Salsa bandera Elote (worth having started last night so that the beef could marinate well)

Bit late on the update here. The 18yo and his friends racked off the elderflower mead and bottled it earlier this month (cue a sticky kitchen and an explosion of fruit flies in the house). Despite it having settled nicely, they still produced at least one bottle of cloudy muck in the process. 1/2

Our eldest got up early this morning and fed Steph the cat before he headed out. He left us a note telling us that she’d been fed. Steph, on the other hand, would like to say that the note carries no evidential weight and should therefore be disregarded. #caturday

Flipping Nora. Just seen (and heard) G-PBYA flying over our house again. The 13yo is going to be *so* gutted that he didn't see it - he's off at camp this weekend.

When you see "WSJ controversy" trending, and you wonder whether there's new fallout from the jamboree in Saemangeum back in 2023, or whether the organisers for Poland in 2027 are starting early. #scouting

Received an email from Labour this morning begging me to rejoin and stop Farage. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so blind to the reasons for the collapse in their support. 1/

Mouse Guard Call of Cthulhu And rather ironically, Traveller.

Given the conclusive denial from Stanford, this is more than just "doubts". The Tories really aren't sending their best, are they?

Horst Wessel, but from Temu.

Jack Straw can fuck off into the heart of the sun (as obviously also can David Blunkett and the current Labour leadership).

Peter Kyle is dangerously deluded. His history of uncritical AI-boosterism (and of only listening to the same) makes him a poor choice for Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Only in Norn Iron will you find sectarian (mock) Lego in toy shops. That said, I’m kinda disappointed that the King Billy (and his horse) on the banner aren’t also Lego.

*planning a day trip from the north coast down to Armagh* Me: well, there’s a route through Cookstown and Dungannon Her (who was born in Norn Iron): … Her: are there any other routes? Me: via Portadown and Craigavon? Her: Dungannon it is.

Rather excitingly, the hatch of the pillbox under Harry’s Shack has finally rusted away, so you can get a rather fine view of the interior, showing both embrasures. (photos courtesy of child the elder)

And for those of us who are fans of British WW2 hardened field defences (and who doesn’t like a nice bit of reinforced concrete?) there are not one but two pillboxes, one at each end of the Strand. edob.mattaldred.com/map/e24495 edob.mattaldred.com/map/e24494

I don’t usually agree with what’s in the Times, but I think that they were right when they declared this the best beach in the UK. #Portstewart #norniron

I’m a bit late to this (I’m camping with the scouts, time is an illusion, etc), but the 9th was the thirtieth anniversary of the death of Jerry Garcia, lead guitarist and vocalist of the Grateful Dead. 1/5

Needs more Nathan Barley.

N: Orkney, UK (59° N) E: Chiba, Japan (140° E) S: Margate, South Africa (31° S) W: Victoria, BC, Canada (123° W)

And the next mead project: after the bread-yeast-redcurrant mead, I bought the elder teen more champagne yeast and a new hydrometer, as well as finings, yeast nutrient, and dried elderflowers. He set it fermenting while we were away, and it was lively enough to coat the sideboard next to it.

A belated update on the redcurrant mead. I helped the elder teen rack it off a week ago, and it’s actually not too bad. Fairly low ABV (he didn’t make note of the OG because he’d broken his hydrometer) which I’d guess was in the 4%ish range. A bit sweet, but otherwise drinkable.

Looks like it’s frog season. :( #caturday

In the grand scheme of things, losing £50 because I was foolish enough to back a Kickstarter from Unbound is just irritating. The way that authors have been treated by Unbound/Boundless is unconscionable.

We're just normal men. We're just innocent men. (in my head, Greyfriars Bobby speaks with the voice of Hacker T. Dog and no one can convince me otherwise)

@issy.gark.net’s choices were, of course, far superior to my own. (but then the film societies that she was involved with had far superior programming to the ones I was involved with)

“You’ve inherited a cinema, what’s your first double feature?” For those of us who have run film societies, this is a tricky question because we’ve already grappled with this question many times and it’s hard to pick just one.

This is why you shouldn’t play with spoons. #scouting

Benefits of working from home: being in when the big chile restock arrives. Particularly looking forward to trying the aperitif liqueur.

Post your favourite Doctor Who. Wrong answers only.

I was today years old when I found out that Christine Noonan - best known for her role as The Girl in Lindsay Anderson's 1968 film if.... - also appeared in Babylon 5. This is rather galling considering how many times I've seen both.

The adult teen and his friends have been making mead again. Decisions have been made but lessons have not necessarily been learned.

Lots of early commentary on the latest Starship failure. No-one yet bemoaning the lost opportunity for a Nedelin 2: Electric Muskaloo.

Almost run over by Stephen Hawking in the lingerie section of a Cambridge department store.

Perfect. No notes. #СлаваУкраїні

Steph sez “I think you’ll find that it’s my jumper now.”

What’s the cover art that got you started in the TTRPG hobby? Here’s mine: (and for this I have to thank the schoolmate who sold me his Traveller for £5 in 1985 - wherever you are, Nick Fernandez, thanks!)

A rather frustrating article that concentrates on over-the-counter drugs/treatments and gadgets. As a long-term hayfever sufferer, the *only* thing that made a difference to my quality of life every summer was immunotherapy.

I did not expect to hear the phrase “brilliant pebbles” on the radio this morning. I knew that the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty died in 2002 when the US withdrew, but I wasn’t anticipating the resurrection of one of the (admittedly less crazy) bits of Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative. 1/