2026-06-06 05:39:49
Inspired, as so many are, by Robert, I'm going to attempt #Junited2026 — sharing one link to another blogger every day to celebrate some of the excellent writing out there.
I may not make it but we can but try.
The physical act of framing and taking images with a phone just does not feel right. I know I am in a dwindling minority here. Humanity loves taking photos like this. But I don’t.
On Using a Proper Camera by Florian Ziegler
Sighted people have a casual, almost dismissive, relationship with the weather; they glance out the window or check an app. The weather is a visual fact; a piece of data. For me the weather isn't data — it's a symphony…
The Acoustic Signature of Weather by Robert Kingett
There was a couple of buskers, one guy with a guitar doing pop covers and my favourite busker, the Pan Pipe player from Ecuador. It's always a pleasure to hear music from the Andes Mountains of South America in Wigan. Wigan might be an old mining town, but the place is quite cosmopolitan at times.
Frugal Film Project 2026 - Compact - May by Jim Graves
Then there's AI. Sigh. I'm currently on a job hunt and I considered this time to be perfect to get a better grip on vibe-coding, vibe-designing, vibe-everything—the things that my future job will expect me to be good at. But at the mere thought of the "new way of doing things", I recoil. I've been having my objections with big tech for years—that's just who I am: looking for software alternatives, swimming against the stream, thinking maybe a little too much about how we use software in general. I haven't found a way to fit AI into my way of being a user.
Drowning in the City by niqwithq
The idea that a great photograph is created in a single, perfectly-timed instant is both deeply appealing and fundamentally wrong. Stepping into the world and courting serendipity may yield a beautiful accident, but pressing the shutter is only the beginning. The real work begins later, when those frames return from the field to the sorting table, where photography becomes art.
The Myth of Intent in Photography by David M. M. Taffet
2026-06-05 22:07:39
Following on from the enigmatic "Tape 05" earlier this year, Scottish electronica legends, Boards of Canada, have dropped a whole new album, "Inferno", which is –in a word– "lush". Sticking to their classic formula of chopped up spoken word over wash synths, the whole album seeps into your mind leaving you feeling unsettled. This is a good thing. At times channelling Nine Inch Nails, others Aphex Twin, this is a darker –bassier– album than their previous output. I like it a lot.
I've seen a few people chatting about Bulgarian Cartrader so I thought I'd check them out. Not least because of the "genre defying" tag that accompanied some of the recommendations. I was not as impressed as other listeners. Album opener, "LAB" gives you a good idea of what to expect. Props due to Daniel Stoyanov for, in another life, writing songs for both Peter Fox and Seeed.
Remember Them Crooked Vultures? Josh Homme, John Paul Jones, and Dave Grohl's supergroup? They wanted to be called "Caligula" but the name was already taken by 1990's Australian greebo outfit, Caligula. Their 1994 debut "Rubenesque" takes less than an hour to rattle through 15 tracks of fuzzy guitars, crickly drums, and slightly nasal singing vacillating 'twixt Clint Mansell and the quieter parts of "Pretty Hate Machine" era Trent Reznor. All topped off with an unpretentious cover of The Miracles' "Tears of a Clown". I can see why they toured with Ned's Atomic Dustbin and PWEI; similar "breakbeat plus fuzzbox" vibes — "Checkpoint" is pure Poppies. Immense!
2026-06-02 23:13:22
There's something prehistoric about the trees round here. They mark out boundaries of farming land but it's impossible to tell whether the trees or the farms came first. In all honesty, probably a bit of both; land will likely have been originally earmarked by natural landmarks such as this ancient tree before, much later, hedges and fences were erected to make those boundaries inarguable.
2026-06-02 06:04:27
Happy New "Love Island" Day!
Here are a few photos from my phone from the last month with neither rhyme nor reason to the theme.
2026-06-01 02:24:28
As much as I was enjoying "Left Hand Of Darkness", it's not a holiday read. I didn't DNF it as much as set it aside for when I got home. I started to read a scandi-noir thriller (classic poolside fare) only to discover, one chapter in, that I had already read it! Sara Taylor to the rescue; "Boring Girls" is written by the lead singer of a metal band I like and is about a teenage killing spree. Really well written and excellent holiday fodder — light and funny and interesting AF.
The heatwave in Britain while we were away caused an explosion of growth in the garden. Back to, yes 5' weeds, but also a flurry of flowers; columbine, buttercups, clematis, and a huge solitary poppy — even the strawberries are making a go of it! The huge climbing rose is covered in fragrant pink flowers and the smaller white rose is not far behind.
Perfect morning weather for long dog walks. Living up to her name, our retriever picked up a fledgling jackdaw from a hedgerow. She dropped it on command (Good girl!) and the little fella was fine; spread its wings to look menacing and "flew" away back under the hedge.
Ten days of beer fueled lethargy, while lovely, left me feeling a bit urgh so, striking that hot iron before it cools, I pulled on a pair of running shoes and jogged around my old running circuit. Stats were too embarrassing to share but I felt good afterwards and plan to keep it up. Famous last words.
2026-05-30 03:58:20
This interesting debut novel gripped me from the off with its "Virgin Suicides plus Carrie vibes". Rachel is an outsider in high school; mildly bullied but mostly ignored. A chance overhear of a death metal band plunges her into a world custom built for outcasts.
The book spends its majority trucking through forming a band, nascent gigs, Rachel's mild obsession with a specific painting that becomes really important later, themes of joining a scene and finding kinship; found family when your parents don't "get" you. But also frustration that there are assholes everywhere with the self assurance of any smart 15 year old. I should know — I was one!
Spoiler/Trigger Warning
The main events of the book are kick started by a sexual assault. It's not extremely graphic but it's worth flagging.
Taylor is clearly drawing on her experiences of being in a band and this gives those scenes a depth and colour that is lacking elsewhere in the book. Some contextual inaccuracies pulled me out of the narrative a little; we don't have "school buses" in England, for example.
An interesting theme as it's something I'm into outside of reading. I could have done with a little more killing and a bit less band rehearsal though.
All said, a good debut novel from a musician I like. When it lands, it lands well.