Trying to get to sleep so obviously I'm wondering if Gorillaz was technically one of the first Vtuber idol groups.

Tired: fix the light seals Wired: cover all the gaps in electrical tape, then the rest of the back too so it looks deliberate

I was about to say I did pretty well at not buying any Japanese car mags on my last trip, but I actually came back with these... (and they are legitimately for research!)

Happened upon this for a work thing rather than with intent to buy (low-20s mpg and £735 VED not great incentives at the moment), but remember when Ford put that 2.5-litre turbocharged Volvo 5cyl from the Focus ST in a Kuga? www.ebay.co.uk/itm/22724628...

Think my guaranteed smile-provider is a Honda Del Sol, like this one at Rustival last year. Could really do with finding a tidy one of these at some point.

In case you're wondering, "raid" makes an excellent search term on Leboncoin.

Rewatched the Star Wars prequels. Dialogue remains truly abysmal. On the other hand, the lightsaber battles are still brilliant, complete other level to eps 4-9. The Jedi are so dumb though. They missed so many glaring red flags, the daft buggers deserved to get Order 66'd.

Snap of the current cameras all together. Left to right from top: Yashica ME1, Ricoh KR-10, Reto UWS, Pentax Optio S30, Praktica SlimPix 5200, Fujifilm X-T2, Olympus 35 RC.

Think I can just about stave off the desire to buy another car for a bit (particularly given the uncertainty around global events), but getting the itch for finding another cheapo camera, last one I bought was the Reto UWS back in October.

Guessing this is London, and as usual with cars like this, a big fat handshake to anyone pottering around the capital in something this cool.

YouTube algorithm recommending me this old Fifth Gear vid from 2003. Their £6500 budget equates to bang-on £12k today www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls_8...

Thinking about how we've traded theatre and pride in owning devices like this for convenience. I mean, convenience is great! But pumping out some songs from an iPhone and Bluetooth speaker is basically an unconscious act. Firing up an audio stack made listening to your favourite stuff an event.

Mild and dry again today so got another hour or so of anti-screen time this afternoon.

If Aston wants to cure its Honda engine vibration problems then it should simply remove that K24 on solid engine mounts that it installed after watching one too many engine-swap videos.

Can't remember if I've previously posted any shots of the RX-8 I rented in Japan last year. Was rough around the edges, and I managed to flood it at one point, but good fun to drive. That rear three-quarter's the best angle, I think.

The MX-5 is a good five-footer but up close the front end definitely needs more attention than a wash, clay bar and T-Cut can handle 😬

Having my semi-regular daydream about an NB coupe www.carsensor.net/usedcar/deta...

Someone's fitted one of my favourite Renault wheels to a Twizy - the very concept-car looking ones that went on the Clio 16v, before the 172 came out. They sort of suit it I think? Clio pic included for reference. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/29807712...

Only downside to @smithandsniff.bsky.social's sponsored roundabout idea is the possibility that one day someone illegally street racing in an RS3 ramps off it and destroys a home for orphaned puppies and it'll make national news as the "Smith & Sniff roundabout".

Car listings are similarly afflicted. "The 1999 Ford Focus is a five-door family hatchba..." OH SOD OFF I JUST WANT TO KNOW IF IT'S BEEN SERVICED PROPERLY

I'm not going to, but someone else should so I can live vicariously www.carandclassic.com/l/C2022539

Some Tokyo at night to go with the Tokyo in the day. In order, Akihabara, Harajuku, Akihabara, and I *think* Bakurochō.

April 2010. Nissan was geeing up interest in the Leaf by bringing one of the prototypes around the country for people to have a drive in. It came to the city I was living in at the time so I had a go, just around a short coned-off course.

Skimming back through photos on my phone and found a bunch from a day driving various Renault classics from their French heritage fleet. This 1947 Juvaquatre coupe was a highlight. Still the oldest car I've driven.

『自分BMCミニです！通してください！』 ｺﾞﾛﾘ「ほんとかなぁ～？」 #SUPERBATTLEOFMINI

More video goodness. Twelve and a bit minutes of excellent lightning footage from the ever-excellent Pecos Hank www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NPN...

Another timeline cleanse from Drumeo, inviting Chad Smith back to smash another song. This time Won't Get Fooled Again by The Who. Nails it www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFU1...

I know expectations aren't sky high when you're getting something for free, but I really liked my Paseo. Handling was decent fun, gearshift very sweet, rode well, great visibility, and felt well-built.

Could've sworn this was already on YouTube, but Best Motoring has uploaded one of my favourite battles. All tuning shop cars, every one of them under 1000kg www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmdS...

Imagining an alternate reality where people have been prodding at screens in cars since the dawn of the automobile. Then someone comes along and invents controls with tactile feedback, that could be changed almost instantly, sometimes without even looking at it. It'd blow their minds.

It's red 1990s saloon time again. I prefer the Megane, but this Orion is still pretty smart angliacarauctions.co.uk/auctions/275...

Reposting this to remind myself it was *two days ago*. Roads are like an episode of Deadliest Catch today.

I make no apologies about continuing to bang on about Japan but after rainy and even snowy drives there the cars I rented were always spotless, whereas after 100 miles in the UK this is the state of my rear arches.

Ways in which night driving has become awful in a relatively short space of time: 1) Headlights too bright, completely drowns out your view 2) Too much traffic, so night vision never gets a chance to recover 3) Taller vehicles, which exacerbate 1 and 2 4) Insufficient road marking maintenance

Poor Photography Take Blogger (PhD) has blocked me. Fair enough, some people don't like confrontation. It's a shame though as I was going to suggest their next article title, "Is A Blog For Some, Just An Excuse For Lousy Opinions?"

Given the weather's turning for the worse again over the next few days, decided there was only one thing for it.

Lot of words here to say very little of meaning. To admit in the second paragraph that the photographer's work isn't to your taste and then go on to assume they're in it for nothing more than fancy gear is pretty narrow-minded. I wonder how many videos you watched to come to this conclusion?

It is both sunny *and* mild outside and I feel like a human being again for the first time this year.

Was so focused on getting a shot with the train going over the bridge in the first photo, that it's taken me until now to notice there's a plane in the background too.

Bad time for me to have a bunch of money in the bank account from selling the Rallye www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12767863...

Akihabara and Ochanomizu. One of my favourite areas of Tokyo for multiple reasons.

E92 M3 GTS has always been big money, but I drove one several years back and it's one of the best examples I can think of, of how a front-engined, rear-drive sports car should feel www.carandclassic.com/car/C2017687

Found another jetwash. Only trouble with cleaning this thing is you can then see how stone-chipped the front end is, but at least the mud's gone. Gave the under-arches a going-over too. (Old photo, far enough away to not see how bad the paintwork looks)

Still collecting the insane AI slop ads for that farming game when I see them in the YouTube feed. Fair to say they give of mixed messages as to what that game involves.

Fully approve of the car choice in Daft Punk's latest video www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsXu...

Some shots from Kousanji Temple on last year's trip.

Would've quite liked to clean the MX-5 this arvo - mild and dry out - but the one and only DIY jetwash within any reasonable distance of me is, like about 50% of the time I try to use it, absolutely fucked. No point taking it to the hand car wash places as they don't do a proper job.

This is... striking www.ebay.co.uk/itm/33643780...

Can you imagine what people would be paying for these today on BaT if Nissan had actually made it?

From a 1998 issue of Car on Honda UK moving away from Rover. So much subtext contained in the phrase "their production is different"...