Recently updated blogs

Building an unlikely brand from the ground up Unlikeliest, for sure. Luckiest, definitely. Since returning from the UK I’ve worked methodically to put together Hold Fast Bespoke LLC. It hasn’t happened over night, but piece by piece the blocks have fallen into place. I think it’s fair to say that I owe my success to my winter white coat. The coat that’s opened many doors. The Dream Collaboration Yes, it …

GALSWORTHY ? WELL WORTH SEEING With late Victorians, there’s plenty to bite on: a rising bourgeoisie aflame with parvenu ambition, piety , pannier skirts ,patriarchs, an empire nobody can grasp the idea of losing, and under it all the fresh energy of women deciding they have had enough. Then roll it on a decade or two and everything changes, WW1 leaves old certainties grasping at straws, and cue the roaring …

This will be one of the most boring blog posts I've ever written, but bear with me as it's mainly an aide memoir for me. A few years ago we bought a light fitting for the landing that has ten (yes, ten) individual lights, and hence needs ten individual lightbulbs. Not a problem, I thought, as we have been led(!) to believe that LED lighting lasts years and years where …

Happy Friday <3 made it through another week, huh? Now stop being a pussy... This is 160, featuring: Dagur, Angela Schilling, Piana, Beck, MIDI Janitor, Claire Rousay, Moin, L'Rain, Lyndsie Alguire, Automatic, JooJoo

A post on the Transit Toronto Facebook page here has revealed that two cars from Toronto's Scarborough RT rapid transit line, which closed in 2023, have found their way to the Halton County Radial Railway. The cars are TTC 3026 and TTC 3027, a married-pair set of "people mover"-type automated cars built in 1986 by UTDC. Not only were these cars built for automated, or driverless, operation, but they were …

I was in town for some shopping but it I couldn't resist visiting a pub which only opened yesterday, so I headed up Seel Street to 1936 Pub Co's newest outlet, St Peters Tavern:Wow! 1936 have outdone themselves with this one. The interior on three floors is stunning. Almost all fake, I think, except for the stained glass windows which look original. The usual stag's heads (Where do they get …

I have a new, open access article published in Finance & Society, on the legitimation crisis of contemporary wealth-based capitalism and the existential unease that results.

When I heard that Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded was coming out, I was genuinely excited. Hitman in 3 in VR? Sign me up for sure. After all, Hitman is known for its immersive environments and complex gameplay, so bringing it to virtual reality had all the potential to be a game-changer in the VR space… But it’s not that great unfortunately. First off, let’s talk about the visuals. If you’re …

Fig. 1: Elder female couple gaze out in Thelma and Louise (Ridley Scott, 1991, USA) This blog considers the psychological conundrum of ageing within the academic workplace, offering an autoethnographic approach, reflecting upon passing moments from film and TV, that are both treasured, and engrained in the author’s psyche. “Drive Louise! Drive! Drive the car!” Gena Davis shouts at Susan… Source

This is a guest blog for Silent London by Maria Wyke, professor of Latin at University College London. Worn out from watching Paul Mescal battle with CGI baboons, rhinos and sharks in the Roman arena? Or trying to avoid the Marvel-style struggle for the future of the Roman empire playing out in a cinema near you? Then you … Continue reading Beyond Gladiator: the ancient world on the silent screen …

Kingsley wasn’t above trying this sort of thing herself: in 1912, she wrote a funny article about her attempts to sell her play (it was “as long as Hamlet and just as exciting.”) She had no more success than aspiring film writers. One hundred and ten years ago this month, Grace Kingsley wrote two articles that demonstrated how eager people in Los Angeles were to break into the movie business—just …

taking advantage of today's gift of wild and wet weather, i head to oneroa beach for a walk whilst the car is having it's annual warrant of fitness check up in the village. revelling in the grey skies, rain and wild seas, i send a video message to a friend in the uk — because i'm thinking of her, and i'm also trying to entice her to visit someday.the perfect …

I’m working for a Government department again. A fairly classic brief: we‘re designing a replacement for a 25 year old service used by a relatively small number of people but it captures an important set of data from a specialist group of users.It is basically digital forms. The old one being impenetrable grey forms on small grey screens with cryptic acronyms and truncations on all the labels. It comes with …

still stronger claims of self-authority in OSI’s new AI “definition”

In this day and age, you would think that with a push of a button a book could be released simultaneously all over the world, in all formats. Annoyingly enough, we are not at that day and age. We’re still dealing with contracts and subsidiary rights, licenses, and a bunch of other things that would bore you witless, were I to attempt explaining—presuming I could explain in any remotely intelligible …