Recently updated blogs

This is an update to an earlier blog post I wrote on rules and OSR games, which was published in the zine Mixed Success, which you should also check out. Playing four sessions of Thor Olavsrud & Luke Crane’s Torchbearer had me thinking about how we engage with the rules of the games we play. Torchbearer is a machine that produces a story of grotty dungeon exploration. Its rules are …

Genre: ThrashCountry: ChileYear: 20241. The Search Won't Fall​2. Long Distance (The What's To Come)3. Helpless World4. 44 Minds5. The Blind Divine6. Absolüt7. All The Powers8. Full Paranoia9. Margarita10. Bulldog11. Critical Defiance3rd album by Critical Defiance. Once again this is firmly rooted in the old school, but with a subtle modern touch. Once again they don't disappoint. Lots of speed and heaviness, drums that make the whole room shake, razor-sharp, incisive …

This week, my neighborhood had a few power outages. Bad news for the uptime of my self-hosted sites! 😅 After the power came back and my server started, Gunicorn services failed with the following error: [2024-11-08 19:13:18 +0000] [1806] [INFO] Starting gunicorn 23.0.0 Error: Already running on PID 1401 (or pid file 'gunicorn.pid' is stale) Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE Failed with result 'exit-code'. Gunicorn usually deletes the PID file …

I’ve talked in a previous post about my love for the show GameCenter CX, a Japanese show where comedian Shinya Arino is tasked with beating a retro game by a certain time limit. The show is an hour long, and the main challenge is broken up by a couple of shorter segments throughout. The recurring … Continue reading "My Top 5 Game Center CX Segments"

As someone who’s always looking for ways to make more eco-conscious choices, I’ve recently made a big change in our home cleaning routine. After diving into the world of refillable…

Golf video games are one of my passions, ever since World Class Leader Board and Microprose Golf on Atari ST. These days my favourite golf games are still the old ones. In particular I have a soft spot for T&E SOFT’s New 3D Golf Simulation series with its blue skies, bright colours, and FM synth tunes. This series has a long history so I thought I’d do my best to …

Here’s a list of blog-shaped things to read, and keep reading, from Liz Henry, one of those people I’ve “known” online for what seems like forever, and I very much approve of the notion of information garden parties, seeing as how I’m very much for reasons feeling the scroll fatigue and leaning into and falling back on the notion of just saying what I can to those of a mind …

I developed the theme used on this site from scratch and have made it available as free open source software. You can see the code hereGitHub - nickabs/transmission: transmission Ghost themetransmission Ghost theme. Contribute to nickabs/transmission development by creating an account on GitHub.GitHubnickabsIf you are running Ghost on your site, you are welcome to try out the theme. You can download a copy of the installation zip file from the …

theneondreaming: Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, by John Moses Bauan.Although the photo was posted in September, I suspect it was taken during the Thanksgiving to New Year period, when the buildings are lit with a series of light bulbs (not neon). It is odd not to see the verticals lights also lit, so maybe this was a special occasion?The photograph is also heavily colour graded, by the way. Don’t expect it …

While the original ‘story’ has been in the headlines for some time, the Horizon Post Office Scandal caught the public’s imagination following the televised drama on British TV (Mr Bates vs The Post Office) in January 2024. But like any dramatised narrative, choices were made about what was and wasn’t included. Make Good: The Post Office Scandal by Pentabus Theatre Company is a musical that is currenly touring the UK. …

This recipe was one of those, that from the title alone, I knew I wanted to make. Combining two flavours that I’ve never tried together is sure to pique my interest. And, this apple tart with tahini did not disappoint. NYT Cooking is the source of the recipe. The dough is a basic pie dough made by hand using the fraisage technique. I did it during lunch, and left it …

Welcome to my new podcast. It’s called Who Voted For This, because that is what I think when I muse on the state of housing, benefits, homelessness, disability support and social security in general. It’s is also what I think when I listen to the asinine politicians who’ve orchestrated the whole shambles and can’t see a support service without wanting to wreck it This is the first in a series …

Barnett v. Raoul, S. D. Ill. The beginning is unusual, and the end is wonderful: "Most importantly, considering all of the evidence presented, the Court holds that the provisions of PICA criminalizing the knowing possession of specific semiautomatic rifles, shotguns, magazines, and attachments are unconstitutional under the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution as applied to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment. Therefore, the Plaintiffs' request for a permanent …

When you’ve flown 52 different aircraft types (and counting), you often get asked what your favourite is. So, it was a welcome change when I was asked to choose the ten worst aircraft. No holds barred, the more brutal, the better, was the brief; but, despite my best efforts, I can only think of seven […]

Smithsonian magazine offers a summary of the topic: “Ornamental Hermits Were 18th-Century England’s Must-Have Garden Accessory.” Includes many illustrations and a short video of Gordon Campbell’s comments. URL: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/ornamental-hermits-were-18th-century-englands-must-have-garden-accessory-180982469/