Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy

I hate this attitude, nobody needs to watch any act of extreme violence. It is fine to read about it from trusted sources. There is no moral requirement to watch traumatic media.

Went to the Imperial War Museum in Salford and saw this sculpture of Mussolini

The notion that social media should be a welcoming and nonhostile environment for political journalists is crazy. It's a view you could only conceivably hold if it was your first day of being on social media

Considering there are news outlets with close to 1m followers ranking below anonymous accounts with sub 40k, you can see why switching to Bluesky remains chiefly a moral argument

United sacking Amorim

A very nice detail from Marty Supreme was Mauser's period-correct wristwatch

Ruining it for the hardworking punters who safely enjoy a flutter on US war crimes every day. I'm sure the Betting and Gaming Council will make their views clear on this

More proof that financial constraints make for better films (don't read if you don't want to see Marty Supreme spoilers)

Has Josh Safdie considered making a different film?

Adam Curtis was the worst thing to happen to the video essay - why bother constructing an argument when you have snappy editing, haunting music, and most importantly archive footage

Every other opinion column in an English-language paper these days is just 'random Labour/Democrat apparatchik explicitly opposes the concept of civil society'

This is the most revealing part of the piece. Even in their wildest dreams, their radicalism is conservative

Every new front for the culture war happened 3 years ago in the UK already

Stranger Things finale

The funny thing about this is that the first instance of the opposition getting airtime to rebut the government was...Hugh Gaitskell attacking the Eden government over the Suez crisis

A lot of posts (not unfairly) saying that the government is mega unpopular because of their hatred of anyone who's ever had a vaguely progressive thought, but I think people wouldn't actually mind this if their bills went down

I do think that people get weird about the boxing day hunts in part because they're such an obvious sign of class divides. You need equipment, the right outfit and even then, as you stride towards the football net with your baseball bat people will judge you if your wife has the wrong kimono.

New (vintage) tool: this is a watchmaker's lathe. It will allow me to fabricate parts, like bushings, balance staffs (and just about everything else depending on the available accessories)

(BALD)

Some filing practice today. Filing these steel rods flat enough to stand up on their own. Pic 1 is the set up, bench vice and no. 1 file. Pic 2 is before, Pic 3 after, and pic 4 is the finished article with both rods filed flat

Another vintage tool I picked up. This Seitz jewelling tool is more versatile than it's modern Chinese counterpart. It will allow me to not only replace jewels, but ream worn out jewel settings so they can be either rebushed or their jewels replaced

Assembled these custom watches for a couple of friends of mine

Been really enjoying these Instagram videos by Peter Glomb, a Swiss-trained, American watchmaker at Wristcheck. Here, he's repairing a rare version of the Patek 96, first introduced in 1932 and widely regarded as the watch that set the template for dress watches. IG peterelliotglomb

Hairspring progress thus far. Someone had clearly tried and failed to move the regulator, bending the hairspring around the stud. Hairspring work is among the most difficult tasks in watchmaking, one false move can wreck hours of progress

Today's work: this Roamer Searock Automatic features a MST 522 movement (meaning the watch is around 50 years old). It currently isn't running. Upon opening it was very evident why - the hairspring is bent and the movement has been drenched in oil

Hoshoryu was gifted a giant soy sauce after becoming Grand Champion in London.

Finished the service on this Seiko. It features one of my favourite day/date quick change mechanisms, to change the date you press the crown, with a long press the change the day

Today I'm finishing up this Seiko 6119C for a friend of mine. Since the watch is from 1976 parts are scarce, where a NH35 (the modern Seiko workhorse movement) costs £40 today, a replacement 6119C balance alone costs £60 and had to be imported from Palestine

Above all, the police approach in that decade culminated in the unlawful killing of 96 people and decades of cover-up.

Jenrick casting 1980s British football hooliganism as something that was easily dealt with by police and not an era defining issue which we're still living with the consequences of today... He's genuinely the most unserious person in British politics rn

Some of today's work, regulating a Seiko NH35 movement (as featured in Trump's watches)

More vintage mechanical watches for sale via my eBay. The Phenix features a rare German Buser movement. The Rila is a great example of how brass wears over time (my guess would be 50-60 years) compared to stainless steel

Today's work: reassembly of a Tissot 781-1

A time lapse of me dressing 3 sets of tweezers

Vintage mechanical watches currently for sale via my eBay include: A Seiko 5 from approx 1980 A gold plated women's Citizen A women's Sekonda manufactured in the USSR All are in working order.

you did your best to have as many high information people on that march at least fella x

More assembly of the Elgin 485

After much adjustment & readjustment this balance is running as it should. Mechanical watchmaking is not so very different to what it was almost 100 years ago, but it's now much easier. On modern, shock-protected movements this is a much quicker, relatively hassle free job

Identified a major fault during reassembly. One of the cap jewels is cracked - one likely cause of it stopping and starting. This photo is taken at maximum magnification under the microscope

The Elgin from 1931 features a blue hairspring with a Breguet overcoil. Blued hairsprings were phased out due to being more susceptible to magnetism, and less robust than modern alloys - they are however, very pretty

New mainspring installed in an Elgin from 1931

My favourite vintage watch I've come across this year is this Raketa, made in the USSR. The bezel flips open when the crown is pushed, enabling the visually impaired to feel what time it is

The Seiko 6119C quick set date function

7 hours of work later: success