Recently updated blogs

The Discovery Channel’s new series “Lost Monster Files” (LMF) is promoted as a cryptozoology program that uses a team of experts that consult the archives of “founder of cryptozoology”, Ivan T. Sanderson, in their investigations of modern claims of unclassified animals. The first episode, titled Carolina Chupacabra, aired on 9 October 2024. Here is my review about the content and conclusions. Not a promising start There is not a lot …

“That summer the countryside had suddenly become an unknown world. A ghost story without the ghosts but they were expected any minute.” Rainy Day Women (1984), written by David Pirie, was one of the later episodes of the BBC’s Play for Today television anthology drama strand and blimey, it’s stunning, thought provoking, unsettling, shocking and at points politically radical stuff. Viewed today it’s almost difficult to comprehend that challenging work …

It’s Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, so I’m out at Squam, eating delicious food and spending time with family. When I was living on the west coast that wasn’t really in the cards, so we’d host our own, which was a delight, but it’s nice to do the big family one again. Styling RSS I’ve mentioned before, I use Vienna as my RSS reader. I like it generally, but I wasn’t satisfied …

Crouched, hunched, bent-double on a floor, wooden, carpet, concrete. One input, one output, mediated via a BOSS ME-50 multi-effects pedalboard. Looping, delayed, pitch-shifted, crunched. Over the last few years, I’ve performed occasionally as Snails in Joyland, an improvised noise act which prides itself on being simple and crunchy. I say occasionally, because it works out to be at a frequency of about once per year. I like taking Snails to …

I'm slogging through my ballot, looking at California proposition 33. This proposition says that cities could impose rent control on more types of housing. Opponents say: Beware! NIMBY jerks will use this to prevent new construction by imposing unreasonable rent control so that new projects don't "pencil out." That sounds bad to me, but I'm not a real estate development expert. I dunno whether this is a real problem with …

Messages for Ludwig The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein is buried in Ascension Churchyard in Cambridge, a lovely peaceful cemetery where my late wife Carol is buried. So I often go there, and when I do I sometimes stop by Wittgenstein’s grave, because visitors often leave mementoes and sometimes messages. As on this day over a decade ago. Quote of the Day ”Capitalism eats quality and shits quantity.” William S. Burroughs Musical …

Dear Darling Ones, To be fair, my brain weasels aren’t working overtime. I have that XTC song stuck in my head and I inserted “weasels” in the lyrics. Have I mentioned lately that I’m kinda the Weird Al of my house, if Weird Al just inserted random words or his own name into songs? Actually by brain weasels are right on time. This week is a gauntlet of medial appointments: …

My relationship with David Edgar's plays has been mixed: I think my still-strong memories of enjoying Pentecost in the '90s make me always want to give his new work a try, but the RSC's most-commissioned modern writer was also responsible for the notoriously dreary Written on the Heart, and after last week's meh Here In America I felt a bit of trepidation towards the second of his premieres this autumn. …

On this week’s episode of WeeklyTrek — TrekCore’s news podcast — host Alex Perry is joined by Infinite Diversity co-host Thad Hait to discuss all the latest Star Trek news. This week, Alex and his guest discuss the following stories from TrekCore and around the web: TrekCore: Watch the New STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS Season 5 Trailer (06:55) TrekCore: Fans Can Visit STAR TREK: PICARD’s Enterprise-D Bridge Set as Part …

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I'll be moving at the end of the month, which means I've been going through the dark, dusty, forgotten corners of my apartment, looking for things that I'll be taking with me and things that can maybe be recycled and thrown away.I recently found a pile of DC Comics promotional stuff, originally sent to me in big envelopes along with review copies, which …

Cabel Sasser’s XOXO talk is required watching for all inhabitants of earth. Put the 19 minutes aside and watch this.

Continuing the narrative surrounding a cycling holiday in the Cotswolds, 40 years ago, you left the previous Mrs PBT’s and I sheltering in our tent, away from the cold north wind. We were waiting for the pubs to reopen because, unlike in these more enlightened times, licensed premises were forced, by law, to close each afternoon, for a two-and-a-half-hour period. This bizarre practice was a hangover from the Defence of …

Through much of U.S. restaurant history, smells were a problem. Partly this was because of a lack of ventilation that caused the build up of odors of all kinds blended together in a miasma. Then there was also the ideal of the smell-free middle-class dining room where even delicious kitchen aromas were frowned upon. All this kept numbers of people out of restaurants. Eventually this began to change. Better ventilation …

Hono Natsuna’s Pupposites Attract volume 2 continues to be cute. (I reviewed volume 1 previously.) The new character this volume intrigues me. Chako dresses very hip and modern, but her job is very traditional. She has a Shiba Inu that wears a cute kimono-like wrap, and she calls him Aniki, which means “big brother” but can also mean, in a way, “mentor”. She listens to his guidance, too, which is …

In October 2014 I posted an item on this blog about a trip my wife Dianne, daughter Becca and I made to Capitol Park in Tuscaloosa, the site of Alabama's state government from 1826 until 1846. Naturally I included many photographs taken on that bright sunny day. In January 2023 my son Amos and I made a trip to T-town primarily to visit the Paul W. Bryant Museum. I'll be …